Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 715

Chapter 715

Gwen’s POV

Lunch with Mia was exactly what I promised Nick it would be. A controlled break. A public place. A conversation that looked normal to anyone watching from the outside.

Mia talked about the chaos at headquarters. The sideways glances. How certain members of the board had already settled on their version before any investigation had even begun. I listened, responded, sorted priorities in my head the way I always did. But under the table, my leg wouldn’t stop bouncing.

Every sentence from Mia was a reminder that time had become the enemy. That I was fighting two wars at once. The one making headlines and the one happening inside a house in Montelira, behind a locked door.

Matthew’s plan was still there, spinning, fitting pieces together on its own, like my brain didn’t know how to shut off. He was right about one thing. We could still catch her.

Just not today. Not right now.

Today I was putting the plan in a mental drawer and locking it. Today I was going to be a wife before I was a strategist. Today I was going to be Gwen before I was Kensington. Today I was going to find out if I was having a boy or a girl.

When I got to the hospital, Nick was at reception, standing there with the kind of elegance that came naturally to him and still somehow required effort. Not an effort to be handsome. He didn’t need that. An effort to truly be present. He held an envelope of test results in his hand, and when he saw me, his face changed. A small, almost imperceptible smile, like something inside his

chest had finally loosened.

Nick tipped his head, his forehead resting lightly against mine for a second in the middle of the hallway, like that gesture was a silent way of saying thank you without words. I caught his scent. Soap, wood, the same smell I associated with our apartment when he had just gotten out of the shower and hadn’t yet been swallowed by messages, lawsuits, phone calls. I wanted to freeze that moment, because I knew how rare it was.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

I almost laughed, because it was the question of a man who was breaking on the inside but still had room to worry about me.

“I’m here,” I replied.

We went up to the obstetrics floor, and the waiting room felt like a scene from another life. Couples with folders, women with bigger bellies than mine, a TV on with a program no one was watching, old magazines on the table. I sat beside Nick and laced my fingers through his, feeling his thumb rub over my hand in an automatic, protective motion. He stared straight ahead, but I could see his mind working. Always working.

“If he or she is feeling shy…” he started, his voice low.

“She,” I cut in, without thinking.

He turned to look at me, and I felt my own body freeze for half a second. It had been a reflex. A wish slipping out.

Nick raised an eyebrow.

“Did you just decide that on your own?” he asked, with the barest hint of humor.

I took a breath and squeezed his hand.

“I didn’t decide,” I corrected. “I just… really want it.”

I wanted it because I had already loved a little girl I never got to hold. And I didn’t say that out loud, afraid it would seem unfair to what was coming now. That wasn’t it. If it was a boy, I would love him the same way. A child is a child. Love is love. Period. I didn’t want to compare. Didn’t want to replace. I just wanted that part of my story to exist without being only pain.

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Nick looked at me for a long moment, like he was storing it away. Then he gave a small nod and rested his hand over mine.

“Then I’ll start negotiating with the universe for a boy,” he joked. “Three against one is cheating.”

Our name was called, and we stood up together. I felt Nick’s body grow more rigid as we walked down the hallway. I rested my hand on his forearm, and he breathed like he was remembering I was there.

The doctor welcomed us with the calm of someone who had seen a thousand stories and still managed to treat each one like it was unique. She shook Nick’s hand and gave me a brief smile.

“Let’s see how this baby is doing today,” she said as she prepped the machine.

I lay back on the exam table and held Nick’s hand tight. The cold gel touched my skin and I shivered, more from nerves than

temperature.

“Breathe,” Nick murmured.

“I am,” I lied.

The doctor placed the transducer and I felt my throat tighten. At the same time, a small, almost unfair calm settled over me.

“Everything looks good,” the doctor said, relaxed. “Strong heartbeat. Growth is right on track.”

Nick let out a breath like he had been holding it for weeks.

“Thank you,” he murmured, not even realizing he’d spoken.

The doctor adjusted the angle, asked me to turn a little, pressed gently against my stomach, and smiled patiently.

“Let’s see if he or she decides to cooperate with the parents’ curiosity today,” she commented.

Nick made a low sound, almost a laugh.

“She’s already bossing us around before she’s even born,” he said.

Warmth spread through my chest, because that was exactly it. Life asserting itself even when adult life wanted to control everything.

The doctor stayed quiet for a few seconds, focused. I didn’t ask anything. Neither did Nick. We had both learned, the hard way, that anxiety doesn’t speed anything up.

Then she looked at us.

“Do you really want to know?” she asked simply.

Nick and I answered at the same time,

“Yes,”

The doctor smiled, turned the monitor a little more toward us, and pointed carefully.

“Congratulations,” she said with quiet joy. “You’re having a beautiful baby girl.”

The air left my lungs like I’d been hit. At the same time, it felt like someone had switched on a light inside my chest.

Nick didn’t speak for a moment. He just stared at the screen, his eyes slowly filling, like his body was trying to understand that he could feel something good without paying for it immediately.

Then he leaned down and rested his forehead against mine.

I felt his breath falter.

Chapter 75

Two tears slid down his face before he even tried to stop them.

“Bella’s going to have a little sister,” he murmured.

?

I swallowed hard, because his words carried everything. Fear. Hope. Guilt. Promise.

I rested my fingers against the back of his neck and answered, my voice low but steady.

“And soon, the four of us will be together.”

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