Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 618 Nicholas' POV The next morning, | pulled two old bikes out of the shed. Christian had accepted my invitation to see the vineyards up close, and | was more nervous than | cared to admit. As nice as he'd seemed at dinner, he was still Gwen's older brother. Protective. And after the disaster the night before, with my ex-wife barging in and turning everything tense and ugly, | couldn't help worrying about the impression that had left. Did he think my life was a mess? That | brought too much trouble into Gwen's world? "Ready?" | asked, adjusting the handlebars on one of the bikes.

Christian smiled and grabbed the other one with easy confidence. "Always." We rode down the dirt path between the rows of vines, the momning sun still soft and golden. The air was crisp, carrying that familiar scent of damp soil and fresh green leaves. Christian pedaled beside me, his gaze sweeping over everything with genuine focus. It wasn't the distracted glance of a tourist snapping pictures. ---- "Sangiovese?" he asked, like he was confirming something he already knew. "Yeah," I said, impressed he could tell just by looking.

"Pretty much everything here is Sangiovese." He stopped his bike and got off to take a closer look. He brushed his fingers over the leaves, studied the clusters just beginning to form, and checked the spacing between the vines. "The terroir here is interesting," he said. "Limestone soil, good drainage. That's gold for Sangiovese." | blinked at him, surprised by the technical depth. "You really know your wine." "A little," he replied modestly. We kept riding, heading down toward the older sections of the property. Christian asked about pruning techniques, irrigation schedules, pest management.

Not casual questions. Informed ones. "Funny," | said after a while, "Gwen knows a lot about wine too. Is that a family thing or something?" He hesitated for the briefest second before answering, "Something like that," he said lightly, though it was clear he ---- didn't want to go into detail | figured that was the end of it. But after a few minutes of comfortable silence, the only sounds our tires crunching against gravel, he added, "Our grandfather owns a property in Castoria. Some vineyards too. Nothing unusual for someone who grows up around farmland here." | nodded, letting that sink in.

explained the knowledge, the interest, the easy familiarity with it all. We stopped at the highest point on the property, where you could see nearly the entire stretch of vineyards below. Christian got off his bike and looked around, thoughtful "Have you ever considered organic certification?" he asked. " With this size, it would be doable. And the market pays a lot better." "| have," | admitted. "But the

in phases. Start with a smaller section. Test it. Learn from it. Document everything so when you're ready to apply

our family. If we lose it, we lose everything." Christian went quiet for a moment, studying the view with that thoughtful expression again "Have you ever considered lightening the weight without losing the soul?" he asked finally. | frowned. "What do you mean?" "I'm not talking about

there's a powerful last name behind it, holding up the financial structure." | ran my hand along the trunk of one of the oldest vines, almost like | was soothing it. ---- "I've seen

the identity. And when they're done, maybe the place makes more money... but it's not the same. It's not ours anymore." Christian didn't respond right away. After a few seconds, he reached out, plucked a nearly ripe grape, and popped it into his mouth, thinking. "Yeah, maybe,"

her. | straightened my shoulders, that familiar mix