Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 369 Marcus' POV "Aphrodite?" I repeated, moving toward her slowly when she didn't answer my first question. She stood frozen in the middle of the room, her face completely pale, staring at the floor where her phone had smmed against the marble. Her hands were visibly shaking, and she looked like she was in total shock, like she'd seen a ghost. I dropped the towel without thinking and pulled on a pair of shorts lying on the bed, my mind already shifting into protection mode. Something was very wrong. Aphrodite wasn't someone who rattled easily. I'd learned that over the last few days.

For her to look like this, whatever she'd seen on that phone was serious. "What happened?" I asked again, gently touching her arm. She just shook her head, still staring at the broken device on the floor. I picked up the phone carefully and noticed that despite the fall, the screen still worked, though cracks spider-webbed across it. The messages were still open. I started scrolling through the photos, my jaw tightening with every image. It was us. Everywhere. From the moment we arrived at the airport to intimate moments I had thought were completely private.

Someone had been following us, photographing us, documenting every second of our week. "What is this?" I murmured, more to myself than to her. "Who the hell is watching us?" I kept scrolling, a growing fury building in my chest. This wasn't just an invasion of privacy. It was something far more sinister. The photos were too professional, too carefully composed, clearly taken by someone with resources and a very specific motive. When I reached the second-to-last image, I stopped.

a moment that should've belonged only to us, captured through a long lens like we were animals in a zoo. But it was the last photo that made my blood run cold. It was me. From behind. Completely unaware. Probably taken today during our outing. And there was a red laser dot perfectly centered on the back of my head, the scope

a wedding will be waiting for you.] "Son of a bitch," I muttered through my teeth, a violent mix of rage and protective instinct surging through me. It was a direct threat. Not just against Aphrodite, but against me. Whoever was behind this wasn't just blackmailing. They were willing to kill to get what they wanted. "Who are these people?" I asked, turning to face her. "Who's threatening you?" She finally

this much power over her? "They both want me to go back and get married," she continued, running her hands through her hair in a nervous gesture. "They both need... that family arrangement. Without the wedding, everything they planned Is apart." I felt

after everything we had shared, her past still found a way to reach us, to contaminate the present, to threaten the fragile bubble we were living in. "And what do you want?" I asked, keeping my voice steady despite the storm raging inside me. She froze, as if the question had caught her completely off guard. She thought for a long moment and when she finally answered, there was a bitterness in her voice that cut deep. "Well, clearly I don't want them using that gun." The resigned way she said it made something snap inside me. As if she'd already given

need to worry about me," I said, my voice growing firmer. "I know how to protect myself. And I know how to protect you." She shook her head hard, panic flashing in her eyes. "No, you don't understand," she said quickly. "My ex-fiancé is involved in illegal