Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 433 Marcus' POV Her question hung between us, heavy with all the vulnerability we'd laid bare in the last few minutes. When I finally answered, my voice came out softer than I expected. "Don't you see?" I asked, shifting slightly so I could look at her better in the dim light of the elevator. "The time for me to pull away from you has already passed." I felt her tense in my arms, like she was bracing for an answer she didn't want to hear. "I had two chances," I went on, letting brutal honesty take over. "One in that hotel bed, after the first night we spent together. Remember?

Another when you asked me to go to the Maldives. Remember that? You were desperate, needing to escape everything, and you asked me to go with you on your honeymoon. I should've said no. I should've let you move on with your life and gone back to mine." The memory was so vivid I could almost feel the hotel sheets again, hear her breathing beside me, feel the internal war raging inside my chest. "But instead I thought, okay, the sex was incredible and I want her again," I admitted, making Madeline laugh softly. "So you didn't let me go," she murmured.

"And then I had a second chance when we got back from the Maldives," I continued. "When everything was chaos. When you were dealing with the pressure from your family and from Dominic. I could've just disappeared, like we'd originally agreed. I didn't have to get involved." I paused, remembering how that option had crossed my mind, especially after the threatening photos. "Instead, I asked you to marry me. 11 Madeline laughed. "So what changed?" she asked, her voice curious, not accusatory. "I don't know exactly," I answered honestly. "I just couldn't do it. I couldn't let you go.

so many years of protecting myself from feeling anything real for someone," I went on, "when it finally happened, it

echoing strangely in the confined space. "You drive me crazy most of the time," I teased, feeling her shift as she tried to swat me playfully. "Stubborn, impulsive, always making dangerous decisions without thinking about the consequences-" "Marcus!" she protested, but I could hear

the passionate kisses I'd had in my life. "Now I understand how hard it must have been for you to choose to protect me," she said when she pulled back, "and not just... ignore

in the middle of the night just to make sure you're still breathing beside me." She went quiet for a moment, absorbing my confession. "Thank you," she said finally. "For choosing to stay. For choosing to fight for me, even when it must have seemed easier to walk away."