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Unfortunately, this was the first time they’d attended a function together with Liza present. He mentally kicked his own ass again for putting the two of them in the same room.
Before tonight, Patricia had never had to compete for his unwavering attention, and she wasn’t taking it well.
“She’s an employee,” she said, haughtily. “She should dress like one.”
“Let me explain something to you,” Matt began, but before he could call her to task about exactly what Liza’s role was within the Initiative, they were interrupted.
“Patricia, I’ve been trying to get over here to talk to you all night,” Bethany Rogerson said, as she approached the table.
Patricia squealed as she stood up, the two women giving each other those stupid double-cheek air-kisses.
“Oh my God,” Bethany exclaimed. “You look gorgeous. Is that a Thom Browne?”
Apparently, seducing him and insulting Liza took a backseat to fashion as Patricia lit up. “Of course, it is. He designed it just for me. He said he absolutely loves dressing me.”
“Is it any wonder?” Bethany gushed. “You have a figure to die for.”
Patricia preened, then added, “You look nice too.”
“Oh posh,” Bethany dismissed Patricia’s obviously less-than-sincere compliment. “I’ve just been pea-green with envy as I’ve looked around at all the ball gowns. Juliet Marshall’s pink Carolina Herrera is to die for. And Liza Moretti looks stunning in that red dress.”
Patricia rolled her eyes. “Please. It screams bargain basement. You wouldn’t catch me flitting around in that twenty-dollar off-the-rack rag she’s wearing tonight.”
And that was when Matt hit his official limit of Patricia Eddington. Not just for the evening, but forever.
“If you ladies will excuse me.” Matt rose, grateful for the opportunity to escape. He rarely lost his temper, but Patricia was pushing him to the brink. “I need to have a word with the mayor.”
Bethany and Patricia didn’t spare him a glance, already comparing notes on their latest shopping adventures in New York and Milan.
Matt walked to the open bar. “Scotch and water.”
Once the drink was in hand, he shifted to the opposite side of the room, keeping the crowded dance floor between himself and Patricia, lest she wrap up her conversation too soon and decide to seek him out. He felt strangely out of control tonight, and that feeling didn’t sit easy with him.
“Mr. Russo.” Arnold Jackson stepped next to him, reaching out to shake his hand.
Matt shook the other man’s hand and fought to beat down his scowl. He genuinely liked the director of the Promise House—which wasn’t true of most people in this room—so it wasn’t hard to do. Arnold was an attractive man with thick gray hair, bushy eyebrows, and deeply grooved laugh lines by his eyes due to his permanent smile. In his early sixties, he had the energy of a much younger man, and Matt could only hope to age as well.
“Please, call me Matt. I’m glad you could make it tonight,” Matt said.
“I’m delighted to be here. I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you and the Initiative for all the work you’ve put into this event,” Arnold said. “I can’t begin to express how much good we can do with the money raised tonight.”
“I think that thanks should go to Liza Moretti. She did all the heavy lifting.”
Arnold slapped him on the shoulder. “The best thing the Initiative ever did was hire that girl. She’s a godsend for our community. Never seen anyone work harder. She’s one of our best volunteers.”
Matt tilted his head. “Liza volunteers at the Promise House?”
Arnold nodded. “Every weekend. Never misses. And there’s no job too hard or dirty that she won’t roll up her sleeves to do.”
“I didn’t realize,” Matt mused.
“She’s been a true champion for our cause. And the kids love her.”
Matt wasn’t sure what to say to that. It wasn’t that he didn’t know Liza was an extremely compassionate person. She’d proven that to him time and again when they went toe to toe on the Initiative’s goals, always pushing hard to bring real change for the poor, working overtime to help those who needed it the most.
He’d spent most of his life turning a blind eye to those less fortunate. Until he’d met Jess Monroe and heard her story, learning that she and her young son, Jasper, had been forced to stay in homeless shelters and even sleep in their car. She’d been living paycheck to paycheck, barely hanging on, until medical bills delivered the knockout punch, causing her to lose her apartment.
He’d hired her briefly to work at Russo Enterprises, but that ended when she fell in love with Tony Moretti and his roommate, Rhys Beaumont.
