To Marry For Duty

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.

Signore Tozetti wouldn’t have paid us an advance to come to Spain if he didn’t believe he was going to make a bundle off you pretty soon. When he sees what you’ve done in just three days, he’ll be sending you everywhere; France— Switzerland—

Her hand tightened on the phone receiver. “You don’t become famous with a bunch of calendars.”

“Your calendars have only been a stepping stone. It’s time to branch out.”

He was starting to sound like Dr. Arnavitz. “In what way?”

“Commercial advertising over television and the Internet is hot. Think global and the sky’s the limit. Megacorporations spanning several continents pay seven and eight digit figures to the artist who can come up with the right worldwide image.”

She blinked. “How long have you been thinking this big for me?”

“Ever since I started printing the calendars for Duchesse Designs. You’ve got that touch of genius, Piper. Maybe with my help we can ignite it.”

“I like the way you think. Can you come over at seven?”

“I’ll be there with some ideas that have been percolating for a long time.”

“Did you ever tell Greer about this?”