Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 466 Madeline's POV Christian left as soon as the security team arrived, promising to come back once he had more information about the attack. Now our building was completely taken over by security, from the entrance downstairs to two men stationed strategically outside our apartment door. It felt surreal, watching our normal life turn into something straight out of an action movie. Men in dark suits with discreet earpieces moved through the hallways, checking every corner, every shadow, like our safety depended on constant surveillance.

I stayed in the apartment with Olivia, Zoey, and Marcus. All of us were stuck in a kind of emotional limbo, replaying the terrifying fact that we could have died-and that we'd been saved by mere minutes. If Zoey's boot hadn't been such a hassle to take off and put back on, if I hadn't offered the anti-inflammatory, if we hadn't gotten distracted by the camp photos... we'd be dead right now. It was impossible to fully process. Death had passed so close that I could still feel its cold breath on the back of my neck.

Annabelle called just a few minutes later, and Zoey didn't even need to put the phone on speaker for all of us to hear fragments of the conversation. Annie's voice was high with panic and fear, carrying that tightly controlled hysteria of someone who had just realized how close she'd come to losing the people she loved. "...it's all over the English news-the Kensington jet that exploded..." I heard clearly, and my stomach clenched as I imagined how that headline was spreading around the world. . "Annie, breathe," Zoey said, trying to keep her voice calm despite her own tension.

all fine. We weren't on the jet when-" "...I almost went into labor from the shock!" Annie practically screamed on the other end, her voice breaking with a mix of relief and lingering terror. "Are you and Avery okay?" Zoey asked immediately, her concern overriding everything else. "I should be the one asking if you are okay!" Annie shot back, and I could clearly hear her

incredibly close, but that we were alive. I realized this same conversation would repeat itself over the next few hours, as more people found out what had happened. Then Matthew called. Then her parents. Then Gwen. Each

more than necessary-while still being honest about the danger we were in. Even Olivia got a call from Luke,

No one outside this room knew I was supposed to be on that jet, so there were no frantic relatives or friends trying to confirm I was alive. It was a strange, melancholy realization to be at the center of a tragedy narrowly avoided, and yet have no one out there desperate for news about

perfectly organized lives? I was lost in those dark, spiraling thoughts when I felt Marcus's hand gently stroke my hair. I hadn't even realized I'd leaned back on the couch close enough to him, or that my body had grown visibly tense as I processed the loneliness of my situation. His touch was soft, comforting in