The Billionaire's Longshot: Betting on You Series: Book Three (3 page)

Lizette laughed. “Oh, don’t think you are getting out of planning the bachelorette party. The rest will work itself out. I mean, both my mother and Jon’s mother will be hurt if I don’t ask them for help. All you have to do is to take care of yourself and that little one.”

Lizette was right. Elaine needed to focus on something much more important right now than this one event. After all she had done for Jill in the past, she owed it to Elaine to make this right.
Tonight, Ross, we finalize this one way or another.

They finished breakfast and headed out the door. “Let me give you a ride back to your apartment,” Lizette offered.

“Thanks, but I’ll walk. I have to work off those delicious hash browns I just ate.” She laughed.

Truthfully, she didn’t want to head home where she had nothing to do but wait. She waved to her friends as the car pulled away. Crossing the street, she walked toward Central Park. The fresh air would do her good. Wishing she had planned this better, she put on her backpack and decided on a brisk walk. She missed her early morning jogs outside, and the treadmill just wasn’t doing it for her.

Her initial concern about entering the park alone was quickly dismissed. The park was mostly populated with mothers walking or jogging and pushing strollers. Only a few minutes into her jog, the muscle aches worked themselves out. Stress always made her body hurt. For the first time in days, she seemed relaxed. With a genuine smile, Jill greeted people as they passed, almost feeling at home in this new city.
I have to start doing this every day.

She came to an area that appeared to be quieter than the rest, almost vacant. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man dressed in a suit and dark glasses walking on the edge of the woods.
Creepy.
Then she noticed the second man on the left.
Interesting.
The men were intimidating, yet official, and clearly there for a purpose.
Security for a diplomat? Could the President in the area?
She’d never been one to pass up an opportunity and this felt like one. Since they weren’t stopping her, she decided to keep walking.

She could feel them watching her, but she pretended not to notice. It was a public place. There were no signs posted. She could easily say she had no idea she wasn’t supposed to be there.
Stay calm, keep walking, and don’t make eye contact.
She hadn’t been this excited since she’d scored backstage passes to Taylor Swift.

She noticed two women jogging toward her. Their hair was pulled back in ponytails and they were both wearing workout clothing. They didn’t look nervous at all. Looking around, she noticed two additional men in the distance also following behind the women. They were obviously someone important. But who?

Now only ten feet away, she stopped in her tracks. It couldn’t be, could it? One of them was easily recognizable:
Abigail Corisi!

A person would have to be completely out of touch with social media and the news to not know the woman many now considered American royalty. It had been a few years since the initial storm of stories of how a schoolteacher had won the heart of the infamous technology billionaire, Dominic Corisi. Their whirlwind romance had captured the world’s imagination. Each version had been bigger, wilder, more romantic. Some said he kidnapped her. Some said she saved his company and he gave her an island to thank her. Whatever the truth was, the two were a power couple unrivaled in the media. Dominic had the financial power; Abigail had the heart of the people. Crowds parted for them naturally.

Excitement flooded through her and blocked what common sense should have told her. Jill dashed to meet her, and stopped, a mere two feet from her. “Hi, Mrs. Corisi,” she said breathlessly, suddenly at loss for what else to say. Later she’d probably think of a thousand questions, but in that moment all she could do was stand there with a giddy grin on her face.

The two women stopped at her greeting, hunching over to catch their breaths. Abigail Corisi met her eyes and asked, “Do I know you?”

Beside Jill a deep masculine voice said, “Step away from Mrs. Corisi.”

Abigail raised a hand toward the wall of a man in a dark suit. “She’s fine, Marc.”

Jill’s hands were shaking, She was now flanked on either side with the earlier men. A moment ago, all of this had felt like a good idea. Right then, beneath the scrutiny of these men, her actions felt rash, unnecessarily impulsive.
Story of my life.

“Who are you?” the man Abigail had called Marc demanded.

“I’m Jill . . . Jill Aragao.”

“What’s your business with Mrs. Corisi?”

“Business? None. I saw all of you. Then I saw her. I just wanted to meet her.” Her lips quivered.

Abigail interjected softly, “Marc, does she seem like a threat to you?”

Jill couldn’t see the man’s eyes behind the dark glasses, but the strong hold of his jaw indicated he wasn’t willing to dismiss the risk that easily. “Are you here alone?” he asked, his voice still cold as ice.

“Yes,” Jill said in a rush. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come over. I just wanted to say how much I admire Mrs. Corisi. Her charity work is well-known.”

“That is so nice of you to say.” Abigail turned to Marc. “Could you give us a few minutes to talk?”

Marc signaled to his men to move back. He turned to Jill and nodded curtly. Jill wasn’t sure what that move signified, but she took it as, “I’ll be watching.”

Once they were alone, Abigail extended her right hand said, “Let’s try this again. Call me Abby. And this is Lil Walton, my sister.”

Looking over her shoulder briefly to confirm she wasn’t going to get pounced on, she smiled and shook Abby’s hand. “Jill. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”

“Don’t worry about them. Dom, my husband, can be a little overprotective.”

Lil wrinkled her nose. “He’s had reason to be.”

Abby shuddered. “I don’t even want to think about that. Let’s keep walking. I hate to just stop.”

Lil made a comical face and stage whispered to Jill. “Don’t let her fool you, she was begging to stop five minutes ago.”

All three of them started walking down the park path in the direction Jill had come. With laughter in her voice, Abby said, “I’m glad we decided to leave the kids home for our first jog of the season. I don’t think I could have pushed a stroller over that last hill.”

Jill nodded in understanding. “I always hate to start working out when I haven’t in a while, but once I’m into the routine I wonder why I ever stopped.”

Lil gave her sister a playful pat on the back. “See, Abby. That will be us in a week. Or me in a week and you in a month. At your age it might take longer.”

“Oh, I’ll show you what people my age are capable of,” Abby said with a laugh and raised her hands as if she were going to strangle her sister.

Lil jogged ahead a few steps, then turned and jogged backward in front of Abby. “To be afraid of you, I’d have to think you could catch me, and we both know that’s not going to happen.”

Jill burst out, “Wow, you’re not at all how I imagined. You’re so . . . normal.”

Abby cocked her head to one side. “What did you think we’d be like?”

“You’re Abigail Corisi,” Jill said as if that answered the question. When she realized it didn’t, she added, “Intimidating. Stand offish. Not so approachable and funny.”

Abby waved a hand in explanation. “I raised this one after our parents died, and I was a middle school teacher until just a few years ago. Trust me, I wouldn’t have survived either without a good sense of humor.”

Still jogging backward in front of Abby and Jill who were walking, Lil said, “I wasn’t so bad.”

Abby winked at Jill. “It’s all good now that she has kids of her own. I get to watch them drive her crazy.” After they walked a little more together, Abby asked, “What do you do, Jill?”

Not guts, no glory
. “Funny that you ask. My friends and I have started an event-planning business. We cater to non-profit organizations. There is a huge event taking place that you might enjoy.”

“A ball?”

Far from it.
“No, this will be much different. It’s a fundraiser to support pet therapy dogs for wounded soldiers. People will be allowed to bring their dogs. It’s a very casual event, shorts or jeans. We will be auctioning off some wine to raise money and awareness for the cause.” At least that is the plan she was presenting to Ross tonight.

“What a unique idea. Will it be held in Central Park?” Abby inquired.

I can’t believe she didn’t brush the idea off. Oh, my God, if she says yes, New York’s most elite will fly out just because she’s there. Stay calm.
“No, it will be held in Napa Valley at the Whitman estate in two weeks. Would you like me to add you to the guest list?”
Please say yes. Please.
If she could sell this to the Corisi family, how could Ross say it wasn’t a good idea?

Abby paused, then looked at Lil who nodded. “What do you think, Lil? I always wanted to see Napa.” She fished through her purse and pulled out a business card, handing it to Jill. “Send the details here. We don’t have a dog, but maybe this will change my husband’s mind. Judy has been wanting a puppy.”

“Sounds awesome. I’m in,” Lil added cheerfully.

She’d never imagined when she had decided to go for a jog that it could potentially change the entire outcome of this event.
The Corisis and the Waltons?
Her guest list went from bleak to unbelievable. “You have no idea what your attendance will mean to the event. I could hug you.”

Lil glanced around. “You should do it, just to see how Marc would respond to that.”

Abby shook her head in mock disgust. “What if he tackled the poor woman?”

Feeling at ease enough to joke with them, Jill said, “Most memorable walk in the park ever.”

All three of them laughed at that. Lil turned and fell into step beside Jill. “He is cute, but he’s taken. You do not want to get on the wrong side of his wife. Your body would never be found.”

Jill looked over her shoulder one more time at Marc, then back to Lil. Something in Lil’s tone implied it was more a warning than a joke. Jill wasn’t about to test her theory. “I think I will pass on the hug this time.” She laughed.

As they came to the end of the path, Jill knew her time with the two ladies was up. She shook both of their hands and walked away with a huge smile on her face.

This day was going to be tough to beat.
It feels like a dream.
Giving her arm a pinch she winced in pain. Picking up her pace she headed back to her apartment with a totally refreshed attitude.
Wait until Elaine and Lizette hear about this.

“Where the hell
have you been? I was about to call the Coast Guard,” Drew said.

Funny, you take a person’s advice, and they still ride your ass.
“Off the radar. It was only a week. You would think I’d been gone for months by the voicemails I received.” Instantly his thoughts turned to Jill. Her first message had been sweet, but by number four it had been hard to miss the startling change that had screamed,
I want to strangle you!
Even when she was angry, her voice was sexy as hell. He was tempted to bed her and be done with it, but she was so entwined with his friends, it wasn’t possible. She would require more, and that wasn’t something he could give.

“I only said if you were dead I hoped you’d left me something good in your will,” Drew teased, as usual.

Ross said dryly, “Don’t worry, I left you my mother.” Drew had been in the process of sipping his coffee. Ross’s comment was effective as he watched his friend cough, half-choking.

As it subsided he responded, “I better die first if that’s the case. She made it clear I wasn’t welcome back at the house after my last visit.”

Ross’s mother was overly dramatic at times, actually most times, but the last time he had taken his friends to his family home they were twenty-one, on spring break from college. It was a day none of them were likely to forget, mostly his mother. He had never seen her so mad. If looks could kill, not one of them would have walked out of the house that day.

Her face had gone fifty shades of red when she’d entered the formal dining room to find Trent, Brad, and Drew in the final leg of their beer pong challenge. He and Jon had conceded defeat about four beers earlier and lay slumped over in chairs along the wall, too drunk to move. His mother had let out a high-pitched shriek that echoed throughout the house. Drew had been in the middle of chugging his beer after losing again to Trent. He’d turned quickly to find her standing right behind him. Shocked, beer had spewed from his mouth all over his mother’s pristine white dress. Ross had tried to get up and intervene, but all he had been able to do was stumble across the room, grab one of the antique vases off the table, and vomit his guts inside it.

His mother’s voice had changed from high-pitched to a deep angry growl. “Roosevelt, I told you if you associate with these kinds of people you become them. Look at you.” Her piercing eyes had been filled with disgust and judgment.

The rest of the night was a blur, but the morning after had been too clear. His father was not one who got involved in anything outside of the business, but this time he had.

He had calmly informed Ross of the travel plans he’d made for his friends to return to the East Coast. “I strongly suggest not having them back. Your mother is not the most forgiving person.”

He had known that first-hand. He had sworn then never to mix friends with family again. He’d been able to keep to his word.
Until this damn event.

“She’s probably forgotten all about it. Just don’t show up with a keg, and you should be all set.” Ross laughed.

“No beer? Are you sure I can’t send a donation instead?” Drew grinned.

I wish I could do that myself.
“Not this time. This event means a lot to Jill, Elaine, and Lizette. If you don’t show up, you’ll never hear the end of it.”
And neither will I. Besides, why shouldn’t my best friends suffer through this with me?
If he remembered clearly, they practically volunteered him for co-hosting the event in the first place.

“Like the good ol’ days,” Drew said sarcastically.