Page 10 of The Billionaire Invitation

“After he does.” Zander pointed to Brody. “Chloe has never been married. She wants a big wedding. So, a big wedding she shall have.”

“Really? She has played that way down,” Brody said.

“Chloe needs convincing to take what she wants. What she deserves. I’m good at spoiling her.” Zander offered the knowing smile of a man in love.

Love. That word caused a ripple of discomfort in Dante. He didn’t like to think about love or lost love. He preferred to focus on what he was good at, which was work, though it hadn’t started that way.

It’d been curiosity that had him applying for Northwestern. He’d wanted to know if he had what it took to be accepted. Plus, he’d been tired of bouncing around the globe. Of taking remote classes for high school. Their father had brought Dante and Jaylyn with him to Chicago for three weeks one summer, and Dante had been determined to stay put.

Jaylyn still hadn’t forgiven Dante for staying behind when O packed up and left again with her in tow.

Dante realized now that what he’d been chasing was stability. Meaning.

He’d found both at Northwestern. He’d also found love. It had blindsided him. Honesty had loved him so much, Dante had developed a deeper love for himself. With her, he had been less guarded, more open. With her, there’d been no obligation. No expectation. He’d been able to just…be.

He’d never experienced anything like it until her.

“How long are you in town, brother?” Brody took the cigar out of his mouth to ask.

“Two weeks. Or until you’ve all driven me insane.”

“Heading out tomorrow, then?” Zander grinned. “Jaylyn means well. She has been up our asses to have dinner at every possible occasion.”

“J needs a job.” Dante grunted to himself. She spent her time creating, but wasn’t one for commerce. A family trait that must have skipped over the lone Crane daughter.

“She made us wear matching pajamas for Christmas photos last year,” Brody groused.

“How’d the event last night really go?” Zander asked, changing the subject.

Brody leaned forward, clearly interested.

Rather than be glib, Dante told the truth. “She was easy to compliment. Hard to make small talk with. And it was an honor to support her charitable mission.”

“Were you trying to make up for something?” Brody asked.

“I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t part of it,” Dante admitted. “I don’t know if I ever told you this, but back then I asked her to move with me to LA.”

“You definitely never told me that.” Brody’s mustache twitched.

“So, she broke up with you instead?” Zander asked.

“It was mutual.” Dante hadn’t known how to handle what had been swirling around him at the time. His grandfather’s passing, his mother’s grief, or being named CEO of a foundation when he hadn’t the faintest clue how to run one. “Her family is here. She’s always been a Chicago girl. LA is not Chicago.”

“You were young. Figuring life out.” Zander set his cigar aside and reached for his scotch.

“Yeah,” Dante said, but at the time he’d worried he was more like his father than he would have liked to admit. That he’d started something only to not finish it. He’d turned tail and run in the middle rather than seeing it through to the end. The realization had cemented his commitment to the Moretti Foundation. That, and his mother reminding him that there was “no one better equipped for the job.”

“Eli didn’t tell you she’d be speaking at the event last night?” Brody asked.

“Why would he? He didn’t know we dated.” And Dante hadn’t asked for an itinerary. He’d been to enough dinners to know the basic structure. Plus, he had his own five rules to lean on. “I found out that her brother died when she announced it into a microphone to three hundred people.” He scratched his cheek. “If I’d have known I could have… I don’t know.”

“Grief is a solo sport,” Zander said with a tight nod. If anyone knew, he did.

“Keeping in touch usually doesn’t work out for the best,” Brody offered. “It’s easier if you have a clean break.”

“And easier when your ex doesn’t work on the same soap opera as your mom?” Dante teased him.

“Yeah,” Brody said through a laugh. “Much easier. Where are you staying while you’re in town?”