Page 2 of The Billionaire Invitation

“There’s no one better for the job than you,” she added.

“The Moretti Foundation could use the press.” He hadn’t meant to sound dismissive, but she took it that way.

She clucked her tongue. “You’ve always been good at that.”

“What? Ass-kissing?”

She let out a sharp laugh. “Being a philanthropist is more than ass-kissing. Your grandfather knew that. He just ran out of time to grow the foundation into what he’d envisioned.”

Her voice caught at the mention of her father. Arthur Moretti was the reason Dante had left Chicago eight years ago. He’d left school a year shy of attaining a business degree, and had left the woman he’d been in love with for three years. Then he’d built a future from the phone call that had changed everything.

At first, he’d managed the trusts and kept watchful eyes on the staff. Everything had been run past him. He’d been thrown into the deep end and had swum like Michael fucking Phelps. He supposed he had his almost-business degree to thank for that. At least in part.

Rule three: Find the event planner and compliment them on a job well done, if it is, in fact, well done.

An oft-overlooked gesture, but an important one. Every event planner started somewhere. If they were genuinely great, it gave Dante an excuse to introduce them to the wealthiest people in the room, who always had something to plan.

He planned on pressing the flesh and extracting large donations from the trussed-up crowd tonight.

“I’m glad you decided to spend a few weeks in Chicago with your siblings.” Simone set her can of soda aside. “I loved Christmas when you kids were small. Watching your eyes light up at the obscene pile of presents under the tree. But then you all”—put-upon sigh—“grew up.” Simone Moretti could play the Mom-guilt card like a boss. “And when you became adults, it was hard to justify being around Octavius.”

“Because he’d been dating Vera at the time?” Jaylyn’s mom.

“Oh, hell, he wasn’t dating her. He was dating a lot, though. You four might have siblings running around you’ve never met.”

He bristled at the idea. Not because he didn’t love his brothers and sister, but because Dante had always considered himself a stable person. And Octavius, with his hippie-commune tendencies that bordered on polygamy, well…wasn’t.

“I never had a problem with the women your father dated. Especially the mothers of you amazing kids.” She shrugged. “I’m having coffee with Keaton Killdeer while I’m in New York.”

“Tell her hi from me.” Brody’s mother was a soap star. She had always treated Dante like a son.

“She might be angling to snag a walk-on for the film I’m working on, but I don’t begrudge her ambition.” Simone winked. A California progressive from birth, his mother was as chill as they came. “Anyway, I’m not in charge of that decision.”

Which brought him to…

Rule four: Find the person in charge of the event. Talk business, but only after they do.

Since the person in charge tonight was Dante via Eli, he could skip that rule entirely.

Once the plane was on the ground, he paused to kiss his mother’s cheek before sliding into a limo. The driver loaded his bags and then drove straight to the Four Seasons downtown. The event was undoubtedly underway, but Dante casually straightened a cufflink and took a few deep breaths as if he had all the time in the world.

Because the only rule left was the only one that had ever really mattered.

Rule five: Stay unruffled. Be seen, be bold, talk money.

He expected an easy in-and-out. Two hours. Three, if an extra drink was required.

He thought he knew what to expect inside. But in a few minutes, he would realize he hadn’t been prepared at all for what he’d find.

And damn if he didn’t end up breaking rule five before the night was through.

CHAPTER TWO

Honesty Benitez had always enjoyed public speaking. If she hadn’t gone to school for nutrition, she liked to think she would have made a great international speaker. Alas, she enjoyed sticking close to her Chicago home, so she’d fallen back on her second love for a vocation: food.

Right now she was leaning on that love of public speaking, and her ability to engage an audience, for strength. Because standing behind this podium and reminiscing about her late brother would have otherwise taken her legs out from under her.

It wasn’t easy to talk about Christian, but it became almost impossible whenever her eyes landed on her parents, Freddie and Solana, who sat at a table in the front with tears in their eyes.