Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

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.

the plan in a mental drawer

to be a wife before

to be Gwen before

to find out if I was having

there with the kind

effort

He didn’t need that.

effort to

held an envelope of test results in his hand, and when he saw me,

small, almost imperceptible smile, like something

second in the middle of the hallway, like

I caught his scent.

gotten out of the shower and hadn’t yet been swallowed

freeze that moment, because

“Are you okay?” he

because it was the question of a man who was breaking on the inside but still had

“I’m here,”

obstetrics floor, and the waiting room felt like a

with folders, women with bigger bellies than mine, a TV on with a

through his, feeling his thumb rub over my hand in an

stared straight ahead, but I could see

Always working.

feeling shy…” he started, his

I cut

me, and I felt my own body freeze

been a

A wish slipping out.

Nick raised an eyebrow.

“Did you just decide that on your own?” he

a breath and

didn’t decide,”

it.” I wanted it because I had