Rebecca Winters - To Marry For Duty

“In June we planned a trip to the Riviera, the perfect place for all of us to meet an exciting man. The whole point was for Greer to meet one who would cause her to forget about becoming a millionaire.

“Greer went along with it because she was carrying out Daddy’s last wish. But she had no intention of getting married, only of getting a playboy to propose to her while we were on vacation. Then she would turn him down flat for the sheer fun of it.

“We pretended to go along with her plan. Then to our amazement she met Maximilliano di Varano of the House of Parma-Bourbon, the man of her dreams, and she ended up proposing to him! They were married inside of six weeks, and now live in Italy.

“That was terrific. It meant Olivia and I could go back to New York and do our own thing. But then,” her voice shook, “Olivia fell in love with Max’s first cousin, Lucien de Falcon, also of the House of Parma-Bourbon. They were just married a few days ago and will be living in Monaco.”

The doctor nodded. “So now you’re free to do your own thing.”

A sob got trapped in her throat. My own thing. “I don’t know what that is anymore.”

Dr. Arnavitz sat forward. “The end of the Three Musketeers may be the end of your girlhood, but it’s the beginning of Piper Duchess’s life as a woman with new worlds to conquer. Europe is as near as the next plane ride.”

“I know,” she said in a dull voice.

But Nic was there. After the way he’d rejected her, she refused to give him the satisfaction of thinking she was aware of his existence.

“Are you still working at your Internet business?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I’m an artist. I draw illustrations for wall calendars with slogans that appeal to women. You know like, ‘If you need to get it done, ask a woman.’ Greer thought up the slogans, and Olivia did the marketing.”

He smiled. “Does it provide you with a good living?”

“Yes. They’re selling well throughout the U.S. and are going to be distributed in a couple of cities in Europe.”

“Lucky you. Why don’t you turn the tables on Greer?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your sister wanted to be a millionaire by the time she was thirty. You wanted to get married. So get busy seeing how much money you can make by the time you’re thirty.

“Broaden your horizons. There’s always South America, Australia, the Far East. Set up office space. Hire staff. Become a tycoon. Make it into an empire. Who knows what the future holds in store for you?

“If you stay in that basement apartment and remain angry, no one will feel sorry for you. Not every woman has your intelligence, your talent, your health, your lovely blond looks, your ability to do whatever you want. There’s nothing to stop you except your own unhealthy self-pity.”

Ooh.

Dr. Arnavitz knew how to hit where it hurt. But that’s what she was paying him $200.00 a half hour for.

Speaking of half hour, her time was up. She thanked him for seeing her and told him she’d think hard about what he’d said.

On the drive back to the apartment in her dad’s old Pontiac, the doctor’s admonition kept swirling around in her head.

Become a tycoon, he’d said. Hire staff.

By the time she reached home, she’d made up her mind that she would become a millionaire before she was thirty. It would prove to Nic she didn’t need him.

The second she got back to her apartment, she marched into the living room which she and the girls had turned into an office, and phoned Don Jardine. He was Greer’s former boyfriend, the man who’d never stood a chance with her. It was Don who owned and ran the company that printed the calendars they sold and distributed throughout the States.

“Hi, Don!”

“Piper—I didn’t realize you were back from Europe. How did everything go?”

She noticed he didn’t ask about Greer. Smart man. Piper planned to take a leaf out of his book and never ask her sisters about Nic.

“Olivia is now married to Lucien de Falcon. That’s how things went! I’ll let you be the one to tell Fred the news.”

Fred was Olivia’s former boyfriend, and Don’s friend.

After a prolonged silence, “That’s two down. There must be something in the Varano genes that’s fatal for the Duchess triplets.”

Don must have been reading Piper’s mind. No doubt there was a scientific explanation for the fact that she and her sisters were all enamored of men who belonged to the same family.

Once she read about two male twins in England who fell in love with the same woman. She loved them both, so the three of them settled down together and lived happily ever after. At the time Piper read the story to her sisters, all three of them rolled on the floor with laughter, but Piper wasn’t rolling with laughter now.

“Not this Duchess triplet!” she declared with vehemence.

“Does that mean there’s hope for Tom after all?”

“No.”

Tom was Piper’s ex-boyfriend and another good friend of Don’s. Once upon a time all six of them had enjoyed waterskiing and going to movies in a group. As Greer had always pointed out, there was safety in numbers.

Truer words were never spoken. Once Max had gotten Greer to himself, that was the end of the girls’ lifelong triumvirate. It started the domino effect. Olivia fell under Luc’s spell. As for Piper…

Piper was a fool who would never, ever throw herself at a man again.

“I have a business proposition for you. It’s big.”

“How big?”

“Want to fly to Sydney, Tokyo and Rio with me to find out? Depending on the outcome, we’ll incorporate and offer shares on the stock market. Are you interested?”

A long silence ensued. “How soon do you want to get together to talk?”

“Tonight if you’re free. First off we need to come up with the best savvy corporate attorney we can find.”

“Agreed. But what about Europe?”

Her body stiffened. “Forget it. I’m never stepping foot on that continent again.”

“You don’t mean that, Piper. Your sisters live there.”

“Then they’ll have to come to me if they want to see me.”

“What am I missing here? I thought garnering new markets was the reason you were in Spain last week.”

“I thought so too until I found out it was a setup. I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“If you want me for a business partner, I’m afraid you’re going to have to. How were you set up, and more importantly, why?”

Still bristling with rage Piper said, “The Varano cousins used their powerful influence and money to pay Signore Tozetti to be our European distributor.

“It was a clever move on Luc’s part. He lured Olivia back to Europe through a lucrative business offer so he could win her forgiveness for his utter cruelty to her. His cunning plan worked so well, they are now on their honeymoon!

“But I don’t want any part of the money our calendars might make over there. We didn’t win that contract from Signore Tozetti on the merits of our talents alone.”

Piper would divide any profits made in Europe between her sisters. She didn’t plan on keeping a penny of the money Nic had anything to do with!

“I can’t say I blame you for that,” Don murmured.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“I understand a lot more than you think. You’re the artist after all. A brilliant one I might add.”

“Thanks, Don.”

“It’s true. One day you’re going to be famous, Piper.”

That’s what Olivia had said before they’d both found out they’d been set up.

Mother and Daddy would be so proud to know your drawings are going to be famous all over Europe, Piper.

We don’t know that yet, so let’s not count our chickens.