by Alix Nichols
“That’s not why I’m here.”
“How did you find me, anyway?”
“I hired a professional who tracked you down within days.”
She tilts her head to the side. “And you’ve waited three months before confronting me. Why?”
“I wanted to know what your deal was, so I gave my PI the time to compile a solid profile.” I hesitate before adding, “Besides, your foster sister was shot, and you were busy looking after her. I wanted to wait until Chloe had fully recovered.”
“You’ve met Chloe?” She sounds surprised.
“Of course.” I shrug. “Jeanne introduced us.”
She blows out her cheeks. “What do you want, Darcy?”
“Just to talk.”
“About what?”
“I have a proposition that might interest you.”
She looks me over. “Unless your proposition is to give me a magic wand that would turn you into a piglet, I’m not interested.”
“I obviously can’t do that, but what I can do is—”
“Hey, Elorie, are we still on?” Diane calls to a fellow cashier who passes by.
Elorie smiles. “Only if you and Manon let me choose the movie.”
“Fine with me, but I can’t vouch for Manon.”
While Diane and Elorie discuss the time and place of their outing, I resolve to draw Diane somewhere else before making my offer. Preferably, somewhere that’s on my turf rather than hers.
“Can we go someplace quieter?” I ask Diane after Elorie leaves.
She sighs. “OK, but don’t take it as a good sign.”
“Understood.”
I do take it as a step in the right direction, though.
She follows me outside and into the car.
“To Le Big Ben, please,” I say to Greg.
He nods, and thirty minutes later, Diane and I are seated in a private booth at my favorite Parisian gentlemen’s club, which I also happen to co-own with Raphael as of three weeks ago. We’ve kept the old manager, who’s doing an admirable job. I’ve continued coming here with Laurent or Raph, as a longtime patron who enjoys the subdued elegance of this place and its unparalleled selection of whiskeys. The staff may not even realize the club has changed hands. It’s easier this way—and it removes the need for socializing with them.
“So,” Diane says after the server brings my espresso and her cappuccino. “What’s your proposition?”
“Marry me.”
She blinks and bursts out laughing as if I just said something outrageous. Which I guess it was without prior explanation.
Maybe I should start over.
“Here’s the deal,” I say. “You and I will date through April.” I make air quotes when I say “date.”
She looks at me as if I’ve lost my mind.
“You’ll move in with me in May,” I continue. “About a month after that, we’ll get married.”
Diane makes a circular motion with her index at the side of her head and mouths, “Nutcase.”
“A month into our marriage, I’ll cheat on you,” I continue, undeterred, with a quote unquote on cheat. “And then you’ll leave me.”
She gives me a long stare. “Why?”
“It doesn’t concern you. What you need to know is that I’m prepared to pay fifty thousand euros for a maximum of six months in a pretend relationship.”
“Why?” she asks again.
“You don’t need to know that.”
“OK, let me ask you something I do need to know.” She arches an eyebrow. “Why me?”
I shrug.
“If you continue ignoring my legitimate questions,” she says, “I’m out of here before you finish your espresso.”
“You’re perfect for a plan I’d like to set in motion,” I say. “And as an incentive for you to play your role the best you can, I’ll quadruple your fee if my plan succeeds.”
“How will I know if it succeeds if you won’t even tell me what it is?”
“Trust me, you’ll know.” I smirk. “Everyone in my entourage will.”
Diane leans back with her arms crossed over her chest. “Can’t you find another candidate for your shady scheme? It couldn’t have escaped your notice that I humiliated you in public.”
“I assure you it didn’t,” I say. “But what’s really important and valuable here is that it didn’t escape other people’s notice, either. A picture of my cream-cake-covered mug even ended up in a tabloid or two.”
She gives me a smug smile.
“At the time, I told everyone I didn’t know you, but I can easily change my tune and confess we’d been dating.”
“This doesn’t make any sense.”
“Believe me, it does—a whole lot of sense—if you consider it in light of my scheme.”
“Which I can’t do,” she cuts in, “because you won’t tell me what your scheme is.”
True. “Anyway, I’ll tell everyone we’ve talked it over and made up.”
She says nothing.
“Mademoiselle Petit… Diane.” I lean in. “Your parents—and yourself—are not in the best financial shape right now. I’m offering an easy solution to your woes.”
“Ha!” she interjects with an angry gleam in her almond-shaped eyes. “Says the person who caused our woes!”
She’s right, of course, but not entirely. Before going in for the kill, I did offer to buy out her father’s fragrance company. The offer wasn’t generous by any measure, but it was reasonable given the circumstances. Charles Petit’s artisanal workshop wasn’t doing terribly well. In fact, it was of little interest to me, with the exception of the two or three of his signature fragrances that were worth the price I’d offered. Charles is a lousy businessman—but he’s a true artist. He created the fragrances he sold, and he also created for others. I would’ve offered him a job in one of my labs had I not been one hundred percent sure he’d decline it.
As it happened, he also declined my fifty thousand, calling me a scumbag and a few other choice epithets I won’t repeat in front of a lady. Fifty thousand euros isn’t a fortune, but seeing as he stood no chance against me, he should’ve taken the money.
It was better than nothing.
But Charles Petit proved to be more emotional than rational about his business. And he ended up with nothing. Worse than nothing, actually. I heard he took to drinking, got kicked out by his wife, and had a heart attack. Or was it a stroke?
Anyway, my point is, at least some of those misfortunes could’ve been avoided had he sold his company to me.
I open my mouth to say this to Diane, but then it occurs to me she must already know about my offer. She probably also shares Monsieur Petit’s opinion that it was indecently low.
“Can we skip the whole dating and marrying nonsense,” Diane says, “and go straight to the part where you grovel at my dad’s feet, thrust a check for two hundred thousand into his hand, and beg him to take it in the hopes he might forgive you one day?”
I sigh and shake my head.
She stands. “The answer is no.”
“Why don’t you think it over? I’ll be in touch next week.” I set a twenty on the table. “May I offer you a ride?”
“Thank you, Monsieur Darcy, you’re very kind.” She bares her teeth in a smile that doesn’t even try to pass for a real one. “But I prefer the métro.”
Chapter 3
Diane
“Will you remind me again why we’re on a bus just before the rush hour?” Elorie gives me a sour look, hugging her counterfeit Chanel bag to her chest.
I admit, it was a mistake. But I’m not admitting this out loud.
“It takes us straight to the bistro I’ve been telling you about,” I say. “Like a taxi.”
Elorie snorts. “Taxi, my foot! When I take a cab, I sprawl comfortably and give this baby”—she points at her bag—“its own seat. Whereas now—”
She jostles the woman on her left. “Madame, you’re stepping on my foot!”
The woman a
pologizes and shifts a couple of inches, which is no mean feat, considering how packed the bus is.
Elorie turns back to me. “You said the bistro was in the 9th, yes?”
I nod.
“At this rate, it’ll take us an hour to get there.”
I’m about to suggest we get off and find the nearest métro station when two school kids jump out of their seats and make their way to the exit.
We take their seats immediately.
“Ah,” Elorie says. “This is better. Not a taxi by a long shot, but still.”
We’re on this bus because I’m taking Elorie to celebrate at La Bohème, my favorite bistro in Paris. Perhaps even more than its amazing cappuccinos and out-of-this-world chocolate mousse, I love that bistro because it’s home to two terrific chicks—Manon and Jeanne. Headwaiter Manon is my gym and movies companion, and she’s the sweetest person I’ve ever met. Proprietor Jeanne’s personality is so mood enhancing she should charge a supplement every time she tends the bar. Jeanne also happens to have a brother, Hugo, who happens to be my sister Chloe’s fiancé. In other words, she’s almost family.
How cool is that?
Regardless, I’d half expected her to declare me persona non grata for crashing her latest reception and assaulting one of her guests. The guest in question—Sebastian Darcy—is her husband’s friend and political backer, which makes my smashing a cream cake in his face an even bigger affront. But Jeanne just laughed the incident off, saying the bash had been too stuffy and in serious need of an icebreaker.
Which I kindly provided.
The Manon-Jeanne combo makes me feel truly welcome at La Bohème. So much so that I forget I’m far away from home in a metropolis of eleven million people, suburbs included. The vast majority of them are crammed into tiny apartments and deeply convinced they’re the most evolved representatives of the human race. Here in Paris, if you say bonjour to a stranger on the street, they think you’re either a nutcase or a hooker.
“How’s the quest coming along?” I ask Elorie.
The quest is shorthand for Elorie’s newfound mission—locate an eligible billionaire and get him to marry her. Elorie defines “eligible” as currently available, reasonably young, and passably good-looking.
She launched the project three months ago on her twenty-sixth birthday, and she’s been working hard on it ever since. Not very successfully, judging by the sound of it. But what’s three months when looking for a soul mate who meets such high standards and such specific… specifications?
“I’ve made good progress,” Elorie says.
I bug out my eyes. “I want a name!”
“Not so fast, ma cocotte. My progress is theoretical at this point.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t you oh me.” Elorie wags her index finger from side to side. “Would you launch a business without conducting a market study first?”
“I guess not.” I narrow my eyes. “Do you approach all your dreams as a business?”
She shrugs. “Not all—only the ones worth pursuing. Anyway, as the saying goes, if you practice without theory, you shall fall into the ditch.”
“There’s no such saying.”
“You sure?” She puts her chin up. “Well, there should be. Anyway, I stand on much firmer ground today than three months ago all because I’ve done enough research to write a thesis on the topic.”
“Maybe you should write one,” I mutter.
Elorie is the most entertaining person I’ve ever met and I love her, but her pragmatism does rattle me sometimes. Then again, I’m well aware I’m a country-fried prawn who still hasn’t wrapped her head around big-city attitudes.
“Ha-ha, very funny!” Elorie pauses before adding, “Anyway, I’ve now read all the tutorials and how-to articles I could get my hands on, and I’ve analyzed several real-life case studies.”
“I’m impressed.”
“Me, too,” she says with a wink. “I’ve never taken anything so seriously in my whole life.”
“Mesdames, messieurs,” the bus driver says into the speaker. “This bus will not continue beyond Opéra. You can wait for the next one or take an alternate route.”
People gripe and boo and begin to move toward the doors.
I spread my arms in apology.
Elorie rolls her eyes.
We get off and continue our journey using the most reliable means of transportation in Paris—our feet. The air is cold and humid, which is no surprise in February, but at least it isn’t raining.
I look up at the leaden sky and tone down my gratitude—it isn’t raining yet.
“Feel like sharing your theoretical findings?” I ask, tucking my scarf inside my coat in an attempt to shield myself from the cutting wind.
Elorie considers my request. “OK. But only because you’re my friend and you always pay for the drinks.”
“Aww.” I place my hand on my heart. “You put ‘friend’ before ‘drinks,’ you wonderful person.”
“Listen up—because I won’t repeat this,” Elorie says, choosing to ignore my irony. “The single most important action you can take is to hang out where billionaires do.”
“In Swiss banks?”
“For example.” She nods, unfazed. “Don’t tell me you believe Kate would’ve snatched William if her clever mom hadn’t sent her to the University of St Andrews, where the cream of British nobility goes?”
“I must confess I haven’t given the matter much thought.”
“Then thank me for opening your eyes.”
“Thank you,” I say dutifully. “But we have a problem—I’m too old for college, and it isn’t my thing, anyway.”
“That’s OK,” she says. “It was just an example.”
“Phew.” I’m doing my best to keep my expression earnest. “What a load off!”
She glances at me sideways and shakes her head. “What I’m telling you isn’t funny, Diane. It’s precious. I’d be taking notes if I were you.”
“Sorry, sweetie. Go on.”
“I’ll give you a few pointers,” she says. “Go horseback riding, join a golf club, or book yourself into a high-end ski resort. If you’re targeting a specific man, go exactly where he goes.”
“Some people would call it stalking.”
“I call it lending fate a hand.”
“OK,” I say. “What about the rich perverts who frequent BDSM clubs? Should I get a membership for one? And what about the polygamists who make their wives wear burkas? Where do you draw the line?”
“Where he buys me Louboutin pumps, Prada sunglasses, and Chanel purses to wear with my burka.” She arches an eyebrow. “If I can travel the world in his private jet and have my own wing in his palace plus three or four maids at my beck and call, then sure, why not. Bring on the burka.”
I stop and put my hands on my hips.
Elorie stops, too.
“Aren’t you a little too cavalier about this?” My voice betrays my feelings—equal parts incredulity and concern. “Let me be more specific. We’re not talking a burkini here. We’re talking the works with gloves and an eye grid. And other wives.”
Elorie tilts her head to the side, thinking. “Ten maids, my own palace, and my own jet.”
I’m too dumbfounded to speak.
“What?” she says. “Don’t look at me like that. Everyone has a price, and so do you.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Of course, you do. You’re just too ashamed to admit it, which is kind of sad.”
Does she really think that?
“Or maybe you’re fooling yourself that your affections can’t be bought,” she says, her expression pensive. “Which is even sadder.”
“Please, believe me when I say I don’t care about money.” I stare her in the eye. “I don’t mind having some—just enough to get by—but I wouldn’t make the slightest sacrifice just so I can marry a rich man.”
Elorie rolls her eyes, clearly not buying it.
“If you want to know the truth,
” I say, “I find rich men repulsive. They’re so full of themselves, so convinced of their superiority! They gross me out.”
“What, all of them?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Without exception. They mistake their dumb luck for divine providence and their lack of scruples for business acumen.”
Elorie narrows her eyes. “It sounds like you’re talking about one rich man in particular. And I think it’s Sebastian Darcy.”
The moment she mentions his name, I realize I’ve spent the past few weeks doing exactly what Elorie just advised me to do—researching a rich man. But there’s a difference. I haven’t been investigating him for a chance to marry him. I’ve been probing into his life in the hopes of finding a weapon to destroy him.
I didn’t find any.
And then, three days ago, he showed up at my workplace and handed me one.
Sure, what he’s offered is a stick rather than a hatchet. But it’s up to me to take that stick and sharpen it into a spear. Our ancestors killed mammoths with spears—I should be able to skewer a man.
“He’s superhot, by the way,” Elorie says. “I’d marry him even if he was a mere millionaire.”
“He’s a jerk.”
“Who isn’t?”
I start walking again. “So you meet the billionaire of your dreams, then what?”
“Duh.” She rolls her eyes. “Then I make him fall madly in love with me.”
“Of course! How?”
“By being gorgeous, self-confident, and classy.”
I clear my throat audibly.
“What was that supposed to mean?” she asks, turning to me.
“We’re cashiers.” I give her a hard stare. “We may be called cute but gorgeous and classy are beyond our reach.”
I expect her to object that you can be classy on a budget, but instead she puts her arm around my shoulders and gives a gentle squeeze.
“Finally,” she says with an approving smile. “Diane Petit has demonstrated there’s a realist hiding in there, underneath her principles and other bullshit.”
Her words sting a little.
“My dear,” Elorie says as we turn onto rue Cadet. “I’ll reward your bout of honesty by giving you the single most precious piece of advice anyone has ever given you. Or ever will.”