The Bet Read online

  “You’re welcome,” Cara said in a voice that indicated she was taking all the credit.

  “Okay, thanks. Yes, I’m glad I went. I have to sleep, Cara. Can we talk tomorrow?”

  “I’m not moving,” Defiance was written all over her friend’s face. “I’m not moving until you give me a run-down of the wedding.”

  “I can’t.”

  “What do you mean you can’t?”

  “I can’t talk about it. I signed an NDA with Tobias. I can’t let out any details about the wedding.”

  “Who’s going to tell?” cried Cara indignantly. “I won’t.”

  What Tobias didn’t want was for anyone to sell photos to the press. And she had none, nor would she have uploaded them or sold her story, and she knew Cara well enough to know her friend wouldn’t pass on anything Izzy told her but, damn it, she had college tomorrow and a ton of notes to catch up on.

  “Were there any hot guys?” Cara asked.

  “I have no idea.”

  “What was her dress like?” Cara clearly didn’t give a hoot about the NDA.

  “Nice.”

  “And Tobias? How did he look? What did he wear?”

  “He looked okay.”

  Cara rolled onto her back and started up at the ceiling. “Somehow, I can’t see how Tobias Stone would have looked just okay on his wedding day.”

  Izzy sighed loudly. “He wore linen trousers, and a white shirt. It was all very casual because it was too hot to wear a suit.”

  “Casual?” Cara propped herself back on her elbow with a renewed interest. “How did they look together?”

  “They looked good.” They had. “They make a pretty nice couple.”

  “Is she nice?” Cara whispered.

  “She’s nice, and normal, like you and me.”

  “Lucky cow.”

  Izzy considered her friend’s reply. Was Savannah lucky? Izzy knew her story very well by now, since Cara had drummed it into her head plenty of times, how the poor woman had made good by marrying the rich billionaire. It was the stuff of fairytales, and Izzy wasn’t one for fairytales unless they were of the type where Jack vanquished the big evil giant. Those were her types of stories. Not so much the princess-being-rescued ones.

  Maybe, given the circumstances, and what she had seen of Savannah and Tobias, maybe Savannah was lucky. Taking away the money, and the beautiful island, and all the trappings of wealth, when it came down to it, there was something between this couple that she hadn’t seen in the Shoemoneys—a deeper sense of love and belonging. She had seen it in the way Tobias looked at Savannah, in the way the two of them held hands, automatically, in the way their hands and bodies reflected a closeness that all new lovers seemed to share.

  Based on all she had seen, she had decided to accept Savannah’s offer to her of babysitting Jacob on weekends. It made sense, because starting this coming weekend, while Tobias and Savannah were on their honeymoon, Jacob would be at home with his grandparents. Savannah had been thrilled when she had accepted.

  She hadn’t had to think about it much. Every dollar counted. She had books, bills and rent to pay. The income from babysiting would help. She could fit this in around her other jobs.

  “Please, Cara,” Izzy whined, yawning again, and this time raising her arms towards the headboard to have a good stretch. She’d been up for almost 22 hours.

  “I’ve got to be fresh for class. I’ve got a ton of notes to catch up on.”

  Cara sat up slowly. “This wedding was wasted on you,” she wailed. “If I’d have gone—”

  “If you’d have gone, Tobias would have had to put a blindfold on you and gag your mouth.”

  “Tobias Stone can do that to me anytime.”

  Izzy shook her head. “That man has eyes for nobody but Savannah.”

  “Give it a few months. They all stray, eventually, especially these filthy rich types. Risk-takers, that’s what they are, and easily bored, too.”

  Izzy didn’t think so. “Not Tobias. He’s smitten. It’s not only with Savannah. He’s pretty close to Jacob.” She had seen him with the boy on many occasions, and it wasn’t as if he was trying to be overly loving, as if he was putting on an act in front of Savannah, she had seen Tobias break away from his circle of friends and go and see what Jacob was doing, and then he would stay and spend time with him.

  Plenty of times she’d seen him examine some of the toys he had been playing with. It went beyond being interested on the surface. The way Tobias was with Jacob was so different to the way Gideon Shoemoney had been around his kids, and even though Jacob wasn’t Tobias’s real son, Tobias seemed to have more love for that boy than she’d seen Gideon Shoemoney show for his own flesh and blood.

  She felt sorry for the Shoemoney children. They might have been privileged, and would never worry for money or for getting by in the world, but when it came to love, to having that strong foundation that only parents could give, those children lost hands down. And Jacob, for all that his parents had split up, and he had come from a broken family, that boy seemed to be the more grounded and happier child.

  “I’m not getting anything more out of you, am I?” Cara asked, sliding off the bed like a petulant 5 year old.

  “Tomorrow.” Izzy yawned. “I promise I’ll reveal the details tomorrow.”

  “And you don’t have any photos? You really don’t have any?”

  “No. Sorry”.

  Cara looked dejected. “What’s his brother like?”

  “A jerk”. The reply came easily.

  “What’s Gisele Steiner like?”

  “She wasn’t there.”

  “She wasn’t there?” Cara’s face brightened. “Those rumors are true then.”

  “What rumors?”

  “That they split up.”

  “Great.” As if she cared, though it went some way towards explaining why he’d had his tongue rammed down Kay’s throat that night.

  “Great?” Cara repeated.

  “As in ‘please leave.’ I need to get to bed.”

  Cara sauntered towards the door. “Did you get to talk to him?”

  “Yes,” Izzy walked towards the door and ushered her friend out.

  “What’s he like?”

  Izzy yawned. “A jerk. He’s a real jerk. He thinks he’s god’s gift to women.”

  “He’s a player,” Cara stuck her foot so that the door wouldn’t close. “Did he try it on with you?”

  “Who didn’t he try it on with?”

  “Really?” Cara squealed.

  “You need to let me get some sleep.”

  “Tomorrow—you’ll tell me more tomorrow?”

  “Yes,” she replied, letting out a harsh breath before closing the door. She thanked her lucky stars she’d never have to see Xavier Stone again.

  Chapter 11

  “Xavier?” Savannah’s father looked at him in confusion, before opening the door wider to let him in. “Tobias and Savannah aren’t back for a few weeks.”

  “I expect he already knows that, don’t you, dear?” The woman he recognized as Savannah’s mother came to the door and gave him a grandmotherly smile. “Let him in, Dale.”

  Her husband gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry, son. I was only following strict orders here.”

  “Don’t worry,” Xavier told him. “Tobias can be a real control freak when it comes to these things. I completely understand.”

  “He was very explicit in his instructions about Jacob, as you can imagine, and Savannah still worries about Jacob.”

  “I didn’t want Jacob to get bored.” He smiled sweetly at the boy’s grandparents. “Not that he’s getting bored with you, that’s not what I meant. I’d like to take him out for the day somewhere. Catch a movie, or something. Do some kids’ stuff.” Only he wasn’t sure, now that he was here, exactly what kids’ stuff a little boy would want to do.

  “He’s in the pool, with Izzy.”

  “Is he?”

  Jackpot. He had to fight hard to hold back the
smile. Izzy here already, and in the pool? Hopefully wearing a bikini.

  The stars were on his side.

  “I’ll go find them.”

  Tobias hadn’t cared much for the pool and sauna and the other amenities situated in the basement of his condominium—he’d preferred to run alone, hitting the streets of New York in the silent hours, or spend time venting his frustrations and anger out in the boxing ring. But it didn’t surprise him that Jacob would make good use of it. And he was thankful for that.

  “Did you bring your swim trunks, dear?” He heard Savannah’s mother call out after him, just as he closed the door behind him,

  ~ ~ ~

  “Catch me!” Jacob shrieked, and splashed wildly as he tried to get away.

  “I’m coming!” Izzy waded after him, but slowly, allowing Jacob plenty of time to get away.

  The return to college after Fiji had been hard. It had been crazy of her to think she could slip back into her normal routine, and relatively boring student life after those glorious days of walking on white, powdery sand, in the heavy heat, with the aquamarine sea gently lapping at her feet.

  New York in October was cold and miserable, in comparison.

  The whole of last week had been like a dream compared to the harsh reality of her world.

  Privately, she reveled in the knowledge that she had been to Tobias Stone’s wedding, even though nobody had any idea.

  It wasn’t big news among her friends, apart from Cara, and it wasn’t surprising given that Tobias wasn’t a famous celebrity. But she had seen a couple of magazines and newspapers, none with pictures of the wedding, but older pics of Tobias and Savannah and so-called ‘wedding news’. It gave her a chuckle in itself, that she had been there, had seen the wedding, had spent the time there, and was now back in the fold, and nobody but Cara knew.

  Savannah had told her that Jacob’s grandparents would be around to make sure Jacob was fine during the weekdays, but that she wanted him to have company during the weekends, and this she had no problem with. It was a nice and easy and fun way of earning extra cash. She had arrived early this morning, to find Jacob up and ready in his swim trunks.

  “You can’t catch me!” Jacob squealed.

  “Yes I can!” She waded towards him easily, and then touched his shoulder. He shrieked, then waved at someone behind her. She turned around, and her face crumbled when she saw him.

  God, no.

  What was he doing here?

  Xavier stood at the edge of the pool, thankfully still fully clothed. She swept her hair back, standing up in the water, watching, as Jacob swam to the pool edge.

  “Hey, dude. How are you doing?”

  “Having lots of fun.”

  “Hey,” he said to Izzy. “How you doing, Laronde?”

  She had to force herself not to narrow her eyes at him. “What does it look like, Stone?”

  “I told Savannah I would keep an eye on Jacob.”

  “That’s odd, because she didn’t mention anything to me about you being here”

  “That’s because—” He was about to say that it was none of her business, but if he was to have any chance of getting into her good books, this wasn’t the way to do it. “Because she’s probably busy enjoying herself.”

  “Are you coming in?” Jacob asked. “We’re playing tag.”

  No, Jacob, don’t do it. Don’t.

  “I didn’t bring my swim trunks, dude.”

  “Tobias has got lots.”

  No way. This couldn’t happen. It couldn’t. “I don’t think Xavier wants to get wet, Jacob.” She forced a smile. “We’re coming out soon.”

  “But we just got in!”

  She tried to keep her expression neutral. Thanks, Jacob. Thanks.

  Xavier crouched down, but she kept her distance, a couple of meters behind Jacob who was hanging onto the pool ledge, unfortunately, still trying to convince Xavier to come in. “I’m not sure Tobias’s swim trunks will fit me,” he said to Jacob, and then stared directly at her. “They might be too small.”

  “Gross.” Could he be any more big-headed? She shivered, more in disgust than fear. She didn’t fear Xavier, not in the way she feared Shoemoney. Granted, they were both slime balls, but she sensed that with Xavier it was more a case of bravado.

  “On second thoughts, kid, I don’t want to get wet. I’ll wait for you inside, buddy. How about that?”

  She glanced up at him, the tension releasing across her shoulders. Thank goodness he wasn’t.

  “Don’t you want to play with us?” Jacob’s wail echoed around the pool, and she breathed easier.

  “You play as long as you want, kid. It looks like you two are having fun anyways, and I’ve got a few calls to make. Don’t worry. I’ll wait for you.”

  ~ ~ ~

  “You didn’t go swimming, dear?” Jean asked him when he returned. He explained that he didn’t have his trunks on him. “And I have some calls to make.” But instead, he hovered around in Tobias’s den. Killing time.

  This bet was going to be harder than he’d thought. If not altogether impossible. But the babysitter was growing on him. She had an edge to her that other girls—who were always eager to please him—didn’t. He liked that. He liked that a lot. It made a change to find someone who didn’t laugh at his jokes, or give in too easily.

  And she looked good. It was a huge bonus. He’d had the advantage of seeing her in her bikini a few times now, and he liked what he saw.

  When he won, when she gave in, she wouldn’t be disappointed. He knew how to give women what they wanted, and he hadn’t been joking when he’d said Tobias’s swim trunks would be too small for him.

  3 months was good. It would take longer than the 1 month he’d previously envisioned, to see this bet through. Girls like Petra or Gisele could be won over in a matter of days. He’d managed to screw Petra on the first date, in his Ferrari. She’d ridden him in the driver’s seat, so impressed had she been by his car that they hadn’t even made it to dinner.

  And Gisele. With her he’d been in the Mile High club. They’d exchanged glances across the big ass seats in first class on a flight back to New York. He’d been on his way back from a business meeting and she’d gone for a casting in LA.

  But Laronde?

  Zero chance. She wasn’t a model or a movie starlet, and maybe that was the problem. This college girl was giving him the runaround as if she were the prize draw in a Miss America contest.

  Chapter 12

  “Why don’t you like Xavier?”

  Jacob’s comment almost made her speechless. “What do you mean? I do like him. I mean, I don’t hate him.” Not the way she hated Shoemoney.

  “You never look happy when he’s around.”

  “Uh, no. I’m fine. I’m happy. I’m having a good time.”

  “Then why didn’t you tell him to come and swim with us?”

  “Uh, well, because, you heard him, he didn’t have his swim trunks.”

  “He could have borrowed Tobias’s. They’re brothers. Tobias wouldn’t mind.” Jacob wiped his hand over his face. “Just like I won’t mind when my little brother wants to borrow my swim trunks.”

  Izzy blinked a couple of times. “A little brother?” Was Savannah already pregnant? Because, if she was, then WOW. It had to be the best kept secret of all.

  “Mommy’s trying to find a baby,” Jacob declared.

  “Trying to find a baby?” Izzy wasn’t sure she understood. Was Savannah having problems conceiving? Perhaps he meant she was trying for a baby? She didn’t want to question him, because she had a feeling it was the type of thing Savannah wouldn’t want anyone to know about.

  “That’s what she said to Tobias. I wish she would hurry up about it.”

  “You’d like a sibling, wouldn’t you?”

  “Yeah.” Jacob’s voice was sweet, and a little doleful.

  “Wouldn’t you?” She asked again, because the way he’d answered, she wasn’t so sure.

  “I ‘spose.”
/>   She placed her hand on his shoulder and bent her knees so that she was at face level. “You suppose so? Just a moment ago you sounded pretty excited.”

  “It’s always been me and Mommy.”

  And that told her all she needed to know.

  “I see.”

  He stared up at her with dewy green eyes. “I don’t mind sharing her with Tobias.”

  “Tobias loves you as much as he loves your Mommy.”

  “I know.”

  “So why are you worried, Jacob?”

  “’Cos if Mommy has a baby, I’ll have to share Mommy and Tobias with the baby.”

  She didn’t understand. “What’s wrong with that, Jacob?” she asked gently.

  “Tobias said that love was like elastic, and there’s always enough to go around, but Mommy and Tobias are going to be busy with the new baby and they won’t have any time for me.”

  “They will always have time for you.” She splashed some water on him to try to lift his spirits. “Parents always do.” She saw the flicker of disbelief skim across his face.

  “How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

  “I have a younger brother called Owen.”

  He seemed more interested then, as if what she said meant something because she wasn’t an only child. As if she might know what she was talking about.

  “And you only have one daddy?”

  “Uh. Yes,” she replied, not sure what he was getting to.

  “I wish Tobias was my dad, but he’s not. He’s going to be the real daddy for the new baby. He’s not going to be my real daddy.”

  “Uh,” for the first time, she found herself with nothing to say. No comeback, and it killed her, to know she was leaving this child without some kind words of reassurance.

  “I have another dad, and he’s not so nice.”

  She could see where this was going, even if Jacob didn’t know much about how children were fathered, and she wasn’t sure when that was taught to kids these days. He seemed hung up on something. “But Tobias loves you like a real daddy would.”

  “You’re just saying that because you want me to feel better.”