By Chance

  By Chance

  Accidental Billionaires Book 2

  SJ Abbott

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  What’s Next

  About the Author

  Also by Sara Jolene/SJ Abbott

  Writing as Sara Jolene

  Let’s Be Friends

  One

  Seth smiled and felt the tension of his week start to ease from his shoulders. Her laugh did that to him. It had a way of making the rest of the world melt away. It had other effects as well, but the most embarrassing one was thankfully hidden beneath the table. When Shannon suggested they have weekly meetings, Seth had agreed … but for him they were about getting to spend some time with her as much as they were for the well-being of Genesis Inc. After his business partner, Aaron’s crazy ex served them with papers outlining all of Lily and Oaks’ complaints that would become the legs they’d rest their case against Genesis Inc. on, they’d all decided they needed to take the legal aspects of their business more seriously.

  Shannon had come into the company not more than six months ago but had already proven herself as an irreplaceable asset in many ways. She'd suggested the meetings as a way for her to touch base with the team, and to make sure that all three heads of the company knew what direction to look. In no time, she’d become the compass by which Aaron, Seth, and Gideon took their lead. Things had never run so smoothly. Shannon’s organization and dedication had Seth wondering if Bella had been avoiding certain tasks on purpose. It was almost like she’d been trying to hold on to some of the cards in her deck so she had a tether to Aaron. She’d turned out to be crazy enough for it to be true.

  “As I was saying, Amanda thinks that one of you should start making at least monthly trips into the city, so they can review everything and update you on the case and all their findings. As the date gets closer, the appointments will need to happen more often.” Seth watched as Shannon looked at each of them in turn before stopping and meeting his gaze directly. “I was thinking that since trips into the city will become more and more frequent, we should look into getting permanent accommodations set up in Manhattan for you three. I’ve taken the liberty of checking around, and I found a great two-bedroom sublet on the outskirts of Central Park. Or as another option, there are suites at several hotels that rent on a long-term basis. You could consider those.” She slid a folder across the table toward him. “I’ve printed up all the information for you. Let me know which ones you’d like to see, and I’ll set up virtual tours and interviews.”

  Seth opened his mouth to thank her, but in the moment he hesitated, Aaron spoke. “Thank you, Shannon.” Seth watched as Aaron pushed himself from the table. “If there isn’t anything else, or if one of you could update me later. I have something I need to do.”

  “More like someone you need to do.” Gideon tried to whisper. Shannon and Seth laughed as Aaron sucker-punched Gideon in the arm on his way out the door. Gideon stood, and they tussled with each other for a minute before Aaron finally left.

  Seth had lost interest in what they were talking about. He was too busy watching Shannon. He was mesmerized by the way her chest rose and fell as she chatted with Gideon.

  “Seth … Seth. Dude. What do you think?”

  Seth shook himself. “Sorry. What?” he asked as he lifted his head to look at Gideon.

  “I asked if you thought renting was the best option. We have a lot of business in the city, and I’m just wondering if it wouldn’t benefit the company to purchase property in Manhattan. It wouldn’t have to be extravagant, just a place to crash when we head into town. Maybe we could even find something with space for a studio. We could save a lot on advertising if we hired a photographer and shot our own photos.”

  Seth nodded. Gideon was right. They spent a lot of time in Manhattan. It only made sense for them to have a place there. “Yeah, I think it would be better to buy. We could convert something if need be.” He turned from Gideon to Shannon. “Do you have time to find us an agent?”

  “Of course,” she told him.

  “Are you sure? I know the holidays are coming up, and things get crazy around here this time of year. Plus, you must have plans with your family.” He was fishing. He hoped she didn’t notice though.

  Shannon stood. “Things are busy, but I can handle it all. I promise.” She started walking toward the door. She smiled and touched his arm briefly as she passed. He felt every last drop of blood rush down his neck and pool in his lap, causing his mouth to go dry and his head to fill with what felt like buzzing bees. He gathered himself, shifting in his seat before responding. “I have no doubt.” And then she was gone, and he could breathe. He let himself relax back into his seat.

  He closed his eyes as his head touched the back of the leather chair. It was cool against his skin.

  Gideon’s voice swept through the room. “So, want to go down this weekend and check out a few places? I’m sure Shannon will have worked her magic by then. After all, she has all day and she works fast.”

  Seth’s eyes flew open and he sat up straight. His eyes flared around the room before coming to rest on his best friend. “Can’t. I have to go home for the weekend.” He touched the home button on his phone that was sitting on the table in front of him. “I should have left by now. I may or may not be procrastinating.”

  Gideon stood and started to button his suit coat. Where Seth and Aaron had been forced to adjust to the money they’d started making, Gideon had grown up with the finer things. He knew how to look the part. Each of his suits cost as much as all of Seth’s put together. Seth made sure he didn’t look like a shmuck, but Gideon was on a completely different level. He could go from the office to the runway and no one would bat an eye.

  “Can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want to go home. After all, Suzie is there.” Gideon winked at Seth as rage boiled, bringing the blood back to Seth’s head.

  “Sister, man. She’s. My. Sister.”

  Gideon had made it to the door. “I know. But just because she’s off limits doesn’t mean she’s less hot.”

  Seth tried to let the coolness Gideon always seemed to sport settle over him. He knew Gideon would never try to do anything with his sister. Gid flirted with her and he talked about her, cracking jokes and everything, but he wouldn’t act on any of it. There was a code between them. Best friends didn’t sleep with their buddy’s sisters … especially if those buddies were man-whores like Gid.

  Now that his temporary moment of anger had forced the blood to recirculate, his “issue” with leaving the room had resolved itself. Seth

  got up and followed Gideon.

  “I’d better head out. I’m supposed to be there before dinner. Some sort of family thing before the party starts.”

  Gideon stopped next to Seth. “Come on, man. Come to the city with me. We’ll have a chill weekend. I know you’d rather do that than go home.”

  Seth stepped into the doorway of his office. “Of course I would, but Suzie would kill me if I missed the rehearsal.” He let that information settle on Gideon with a huge smile on his face. He could tell the moment it registered.

  Gideon let out a mock sigh. “So, she’s marrying that tool Dr. Todd then, huh?”

  Seth laughed and nodded. “Yeah, she is. But he isn’t a tool, not really. And he’s good to her. She’ll be happy.”

  Gideon gave Seth an understanding nod. “I know she will. And I’ll wait to look at places until next weekend when we can go together. I�
�ll just have to find something else to keep me busy this weekend.”

  Seth didn’t even bother suggesting Gideon take Aaron. Aaron wasn’t leaving Julie’s side. They’d been attached in any way they could manage since the moment the cuffs wrapped around Bella’s wrists and they’d become free to be together. “Sounds good. I’ll be back Sunday afternoon at some point.”

  “Just try to remember … WWGD if you’re presented with any confusing opportunities this weekend.”

  Seth looked confused for a second, and then the acronym showed itself to him. He shook his head, chuckling at his friend’s childishness. “WWGD … What Would Gideon Do.”

  Gideon winked and left Seth standing in the doorway as he went to his own office. Seth immediately turned and went for his desk. He grabbed his keys and the stack of folders he needed to review and stuffed it all in his messenger bag. He looked down at his bag. He loved it. It was the bag he’d carried all through college. It fit him, unlike the fancy clothes. He’d never pictured himself as a suit-and-tie guy … but then again he’d never pictured himself an adult toy tycoon, either. Who would have guessed the latter would lead to the former? Certainly not him.

  Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he remembered he’d left the folder Shannon had given him on the table in the conference room.

  After backtracking for the folder, Seth stopped at Shannon’s desk on his way to the elevator. “Sorry we won’t be needing this stuff now,” he told her as he set the folder on her desk.

  She looked up, her blue eyes ensnaring him. “No worries. I’ve already called some agents. I should have an inbox full of potential properties before you return.”

  “Great, and thank you again,” Seth said, just standing there and staring at her like deer in headlights.

  Shannon’s usual smile straightened, turning into a concerned sort of half-smile. “You okay?” she asked. Her quiet tone moved Seth. She seemed like she actually cared. His heart kicked up and his body began to betray him, effectually forcing his eyes from hers.

  “Yeah. Just not looking forward to the weekend so much.”

  Shannon perked back up a little. “Maybe you’ll meet someone.” Her smile returned, but as Seth caught one last glance at her eyes, he thought he saw hesitation there, almost like she was testing him. Confusion swirled in his head, causing a knot of thoughts that tangled him and Shannon together. He tried to return her smile but didn’t quite manage it before he bolted through the door to the stairwell. He was in no state to stand there waiting for the elevator; maybe he’d be less embarrassed of his heart beating excessively from physical exertion as opposed to attraction, like it was at the moment.

  Seth pulled the door open and started down the stairs. He hit the fifth floor when he remembered how high he’d been to begin with. It was working though. His heart rate elevating allowed his mind to become distracted … he wasn’t thinking of Shannon anymore. He focused on the rhythm of his heart beating and continued down until he hit the ground level. There was a door that led directly outside, but he thought he might set off the alarm if he let himself out that way, so he decided to go through the lobby. He didn’t mind, though. The lobby was one of his favorite places in the entire building. It was open and clean—plus, the front entrance was the best part. He’d been insistent on including the revolving doors. The moment he saw them, he released a breath, bolting toward the freedom that was just beyond them.

  Two

  “Mom, stop. Seriously.” Seth rolled his eyes and tried to tug himself from his mother’s meddling grip but failed miserably … the struggle had turned his tie into a sort of noose. “You know I am part-owner of a multi-million-dollar company, right? I promise I can tie my own tie.”

  “If that were true, it wouldn’t be crooked and look like you slept in it, dear.” Cindy Ellison was a force to be reckoned with, but you wouldn’t know it to look at her. She was petite and almost fragile looking but looks were deceiving … and Cindy took full advantage of that. Allowing people to underestimate her and then sneaking in to pack a punch when they least expected it was her specialty. She’d grown up in a small apartment with just her mother, her father having passed when she was too young to remember him. It was a hard life for her and Seth’s grandmother. Women at that time were mostly taken care of by men. Seth knew his mother a difficult childhood, but she’d worked her way through high school and then college, finally becoming a highly regarded comparative literature professor at Syracuse University where she’d met Seth’s father, Dr. Richard Ellison.

  “There will be all manner of people at the dinner this evening that will no doubt be asking about your future. Now that you’ve got your Bachelor’s, its way past time to be thinking about furthering your education. Graduate school doesn’t happen on its own, you know. The last four years were just practice for the four-to-six you have yet to go.”

  Seth sighed, resigned and more than irritated under his mother’s fussing. “I’m not going to grad school, Mom. We’ve talked about this.” He lifted his hands and used them to cover and still the ones trying to get his tie to settle a hair’s breadth from his Adam’s apple. He looked her in the eye. “Mom, please hear me. Genesis Inc. is what I do. That’s not going away.”

  Seth held his breath as his mother’s eyes darkened, settling into a sadness that always made him feel guilty. She dropped her hands from his throat. “You can’t do that forever, son. What about having a family? That … that … company isn’t suitable to provide for children. Not everything is about money.” She began to turn her head to look around the room. “Were we poor providers? Did you not have everything you needed?”

  Seth let the panic that was filling his chest leak into the tone of his words. “Ma. Of course I did. You and Dad are great parents. We wanted for nothing. But that has nothing to do with my chosen profession. Genesis isn’t what any of us thought we’d be doing, but sometimes a simple choice changes your entire future.”

  His mother shook her head. “You still can go back to school. Be something else.”

  Seth tried to soften himself, to get her to finally hear him one last time before he put the last few bricks up on the mental wall between his family and his job. “Mom. I am not returning to school. I have no intention of leaving Genesis, ever. Aaron, Gid, and I love it. We’re proud of what we’ve built. I’m sorry that’s hard for you to understand. Now if you’ll excuse me, Suze is waiting for me in the kitchen,” he said before he placed that final brick on the wall. He wanted them to understand, and he hoped that someday they would. But for now, he’d stay behind his wall mentally and in his city physically so they could pretend he was doing something they considered acceptable. Seth swallowed hard and left the room, all his childhood training screaming at him in his head, telling him he was being disrespectful. He fought it, knowing that he’d made his choice … and though they didn’t like it, they didn’t have to.

  He went to meet his baby sister in the kitchen, as promised.

  “You are amazing. Dr. Todd better treat you right … does he know how lucky he is?”

  Seth smiled as Suzie looked over to the doorway. His heart warmed when he saw her face light up at the sight of him. She ran to him with her arms open.

  “You came!” she exclaimed.

  Seth scooped her up in a tight hug and spun her around a few times. “I promised you I would, didn’t I?” he asked as he set her back on her feet, releasing her.

  “Yeah, you did. But I know how you hate coming home so …”

  Seth shook his head at her. “Very true. But for you, I’d do anything.” He smiled, trying to push away the recent image of his mother lecturing him, of him walking out on her. “So, big day tomorrow. Are you nervous?”

  Suzie shook her head. “Not even a little. Todd is way too great for me to be nervous.” She hopped around in her long, flowy, pale pink evening gown. She grabbed his hand and started to pull him through the house. “Did I tell you about the honeymoon? Seriously, he’s the perfect man.”

&nb
sp; Seth laughed. “I’m not sure I need to hear about your honeymoon plans, little sis. Even if I am the family degenerate.”

  Suzie punched her brother in the arm. “Not that stuff. you perv. The running stuff. We’re headed down to South America, and we’re going to run the Inca Trail Marathon. I can’t wait to see Machu Picchu.”

  Seth shook his head and squeezed her hand. “That’s an amazing run, from what I’m told. You’ll have a great time.”

  “I’m so excited,” Suzie finished quietly, dropping her brother’s hand when they entered the foyer. Their childhood home had filled to the brim with wedding guests—all of whom had, at that moment, tried to squeeze themselves into the entrance way of the Center Hall Colonial.

  “We’d better get to the rehearsal so we don’t miss our dinner reservations.” Suzie’s small voice was buried in the packed space, so Seth stepped up, his voice rising above the chatter. “Everyone here?” He looked around at all the nodding heads. “Then let’s move out before all the oxygen is gone.” Suzie looked up at him and mouthed the words, “Thank you,” before she turned and followed the crowd out the door.

  The ride to meet Dr. Todd and his side of the wedding party at the church was quiet. Seth had ridden with his parents and his sister. The two of them tucked into the back seat like they had when they were kids. He could feel the tension that was rolling off his mother in waves, even if his father was oblivious. It was hard to believe he couldn’t feel it, but as usual he just drove mechanically to their destination. Seth and Suzie exchanged concerned glances the entire way there.

  Seth was relieved to arrive at the church, flinging his door open before his father put the car fully in park. He hated feeling like he’d disappointed them. He hadn’t grown up thinking they were closed-minded people, but knowing that they couldn’t get past what his company made to see that he had met some amazing people, and built a very successful business together in the process, was a quick lesson in all the things he never knew about his parents. He was grateful for his little sister, though. She was his connection to the life his family had expected from him. He was very excited to be there for her on her wedding day.