While she stood there staring blindly in Cesar’s direction, the idea that had taken root in her mind last night had turned into a fully fledged plan. She couldn’t leave the grandstand fast enough to put it into action.
Without hesitation she worked her way through the crowds to reach the cue of taxis outside the race track. “The Accademia Hotel,” she told the driver.
“Si, signorina.”
Once back in her room, she would phone her sister Piper, who was already in Genoa, Italy, on business.
Some mockups of their calendars in Italian were ready for them to examine. If they thought the finished products looked good, she’d run off a bunch for Signore Tozetti to distribute in the Parma region. Provided they sold well, it could mean a lot more orders down the road.
Olivia was supposed to be there to help make the decision before they flew home to New York together. But she’d changed her mind about leaving Europe just yet, and she trusted Piper’s judgment completely.
Her sister wouldn’t approve of Olivia’s plan to go after Luc. Neither would Greer. Luckily she wasn’t around to quash Olivia’s idea. Thanks to Maximilliano di Varano, the love of Greer’s life, Greer was on her honeymoon.
It had taken a very special man to break up the Duchess triplets, three blond sisters who caused a minor sensation at birth and bore a strong resemblance to each other without being identical.
Max had taken one look at Greer with her amethyst eyes, and the dedicated bachelor had fallen so hard, Olivia knew he would never recover.
Since their nuptials four days ago in the private chapel of the Varano family palace in Parma, the two lovers had been honeymooning at an intimate hide-away somewhere in Greece.
The look of desire and adoration in Max’s eyes after kissing his bride at the altar revealed to the whole world how he felt about Greer. There was no telling how long he planned to keep her to himself, but Olivia had a hunch it would be at least a month before she and Piper heard from their sister. Long enough for Olivia to follow through with her daring scheme…
With Greer married off, Olivia’s world had changed. She was feeling a heady new sense of freedom both physical and psychological. She figured Piper was enjoying the freedom, too. Without Greer around to tell them how to think and what they were going to do next, Olivia could finally be master of her own destiny.
It wasn’t that she didn’t love Greer. On the contrary, she adored her. Still, it was a relief not to have to face her and hear her say, I told you it would be a mistake to go off with Cesar. If you do that, then you’re the kind of stupid, naive, dumb blond he seduces after every race.
Despite the fact that Luc’s antipathy toward Olivia had made her do it, heat filled Olivia’s cheeks to realize that once Greer had left on her honeymoon, Olivia had gone off and done the exact, stupid thing Greer had warned her not to do.
In fact it was Greer who’d told Olivia she wasn’t in love with Fred. Olivia had already figured that out after meeting Luc, but she’d gone on dating Fred for the six weeks prior to Greer’s wedding in an effort to forget Luc and prove that Greer’s power over her wasn’t absolute.
Unfortunately she’d paid for it in the end when she’d been forced to tell Fred that it was really over. She’d been very unfair to him by leading him on, and was still smarting from the pain she’d caused him. One piercing glance from Greer with that “I told you so, now you’ve really done it” look, hadn’t helped matters.
What really miffed Olivia was the fact that even though Max had claimed Greer for his wife and taken her away, Olivia was still battling her sister’s powerful influence over her. She could just imagine Greer’s reaction if she knew what Olivia was planning now.
You’re what? Are you insane? Didn’t we all learn a very important lesson the first time around?
“Signorina?” the driver called over his shoulder. They’d arrived at the hotel. She’d been so immersed in her new strategy, she hadn’t even noticed!
After paying him a bundle of Euros she didn’t even bother to count, she got out of the taxi and rushed inside, anxious to set things in motion.
Once she’d confirmed tickets on a flight to Nice leaving in two hours, she phoned Piper at her hotel in Genoa.
After relating the spectacular news that Cesar had won the Italian Grand Prix, Olivia told Piper what she was intending to do.
“You’re what?” Her sister sounded suspiciously like Greer just then, which didn’t help matters.
“I’m going back to Monaco to force Luc to make my trip good. It’s payback time.”
“Say that again?”
“You heard me,” Olivia answered defiantly. “We were cheated out of our first trip to Europe because Max and his cousins thought we were jewel thieves and they ruined everything!
“By the time the whole business got straightened out, our vacation had to be aborted because Max wanted to be alone with Greer on the Piccione. Luc owes me ten days on that boat!”
“It’s Fabio Moretti’s boat! August is still high season. Some other tourists have probably chartered it. Don’t forget it’s the Moretti’s livelihood.”
“I’m sure Luc will be able to work something out with Fabio. We paid three thousand dollars each for a trip along the Riviera that never happened!”
“Technically you’re right, Olivia. But in return we acquired Max, the dream brother-in-law who has treated us like the Duchess of Parma herself while we stayed at his family’s royal palace. That beats any vacation I can think of.
“Besides, what are you complaining about? Your dream came true when Cesar whisked you off to Monza for the last three days. I thought you were crazy about him. At least that’s what you told Fred.”
Conscience made Olivia bite her lip. “I had to tell Fred something that would help him retain his pride. If I’d been truthful and said I couldn’t picture him as my husband, it would have hurt him a lot more.”
“Okay… I can buy that, but what about Cesar?”
“He’s a friend. Even if he weren’t, he’s spoken for.”
“By whom?”
“By the entire female population of Europe!”
“Yeah, well Greer already told you that.”
Olivia ground her teeth. “Greer doesn’t know everything.”
“Yes, she does.”
“She didn’t know we talked Daddy into setting up that phony Husband Fund that brought us to Europe in the first place.”
After a moment of quiet, “That’s true. It’s probably the only secret we ever kept from her.”
“Yup. And it worked!” A satisfied smile broke out on Olivia’s face. “We finally got her married off. Now we can do what we want, and I want to go on the vacation that never happened. Don’t you?”
“Maybe one day. At the moment we’ve got a calendar business to run.”
“Has Signore Tozzeti decided if he wants to take us on as a client?”
“Not yet. He says there are a few other people in his company he needs to talk to, but they’re on vacation, so he won’t be able to get back to us for a while.”
“Great.”
“That’s why we’ve got to go home and see about enlarging the market there. Otherwise we’re not going to be able to pay the rent. We need to do it now!”
“You sound just like Greer!”
Greer was the oldest triplet by a matter of minutes. Yet Olivia, who’d been born last with Piper in the middle, had always been dominated by Greer, their natural born leader.
Over the years she had made the decisions about everything, whether Olivia or Piper liked them or not. For the first time ever, Olivia could do what she wanted without having to hear Greer’s opinion.
“With Greer gone, someone needs to talk sense into you. What’s the real reason you want to stay? You and Luc looked like mortal enemies after the wedding ceremony, so I don’t understand why you would dare confront him again—oh, no—tell me it isn’t true.”
“What?”
“Tell me you haven
’t fallen for Luc de Falcon—”
Her cheeks turned to flame.
“Olivia? You can’t!”
“What do you mean, I can’t?”
“Because you just can’t, that’s all.”
“Why?”
“Think of Greer.”
“That’s all I’ve ever done. We’ve had to do everything her way because she always took charge. Now she’s married, I want to think about moi for a change.”
“Then you need to think again because Luc is Max’s first cousin.”
“So?”
“So, Greer married Max, and Luc has become her family, too. You can’t horn in!”
“Excuse me?”
“Look, Olivia. She’s found her heart’s desire in Max. This is her world, her turf. We need to leave well enough alone.”
“It’s a free country,” she retorted.
“No, it’s not, and you know exactly what I mean.” Olivia did know, but she didn’t like Piper reminding her. “Greer needs time to make a new life with Max. He married a triplet, and don’t think he isn’t worried about it!
“At the wedding feast he didn’t make that crack about the three of us being joined at the hip, heart and brain for nothing. We have to help Greer cut the apron strings, which means we need to back off and give our sister her space.”
“Luc lives in Monaco, not Colorno, Italy.”
“That’s not the point. The cousins are super close. Besides, it just wouldn’t work for you to get involved with Luc, even if he were interested, which he…isn’t.”
The slight hesitation before the last word set off alarm bells inside Olivia. “How do you know?”
“Because…I just do.”
“What do you know that I don’t?” she fired.
“More than you want to hear.”
She blinked. “How come?”
“Because it might hurt you.”
Hurt? “You mean you’re not going to tell me?”
“No. I promised someone I wouldn’t,” Piper’s voice trailed.
“I see.” She slid off the side of the bed and stood up. “Well in that case I plan to proceed as if you hadn’t warned me. With a little hard work I’ll make him change his mind.”
“You’ll be playing with fire.”
“Then that’s my problem isn’t it.”
“Don’t snap at me, Olivia. I know you’re feeling as lost without Greer as I am. You simply don’t want to admit it.”
She tossed her head back. “I admit it feels strange to be two-thirds of a whole. In time I trust we’ll both get over it.”
“Until we do, please come home with me.”
“Not yet, Piper.”
“Listen to me. You don’t mess with a man like Luc. In more ways than one he’s a different breed from anyone you’ve ever known. Besides, and this is probably the most important point, he has the distinction of being the only male who never fell under your spell. You can’t win them all, Olivia. Trust me on this.”
“Are you through, Greer?”
“That wasn’t very nice,” Piper came back in a quiet voice.
Olivia clutched the phone tighter. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m tired of people telling me what to do.”
“Translated you mean, Greer and me.”
Since the answer was obvious, Olivia didn’t say anything.
“Whatever happened to all for one, and one for all?”
“There’s no more all.” She prided herself on keeping a steady voice.
“You and I have each other. I don’t want to see you in any more pain. It’s been hard enough on us to lose Daddy.”
At the mention of their father who’d died in April, Olivia’s eyes smarted. “I don’t intend to stay in pain. My plan is foolproof.”
There was a long, resigned silence. “What is it exactly you’re intending to do?”
“Get him to propose, at which time I will say yes.”
“Not that again! Luc already knows about the Husband Fund scheme, so it won’t work on him.”
“Yes, it will. He thinks I’m interested in Cesar, so he’ll jump at the chance to save his brother from a fate worse than death by taking me on Fabio’s boat. While we’re basking in the sun, I’ll find ways to thaw out his heart until he’s unable to resist me. By the time we dock at Vernazza, he’ll have proposed.”
“You’ll never break him down, Olivia.”
She clutched the phone tighter. “Want to bet?”
After a pause, “I don’t bet when I already know the outcome. I repeat. You’ll live to regret this.” Piper’s voice sounded like Greer’s at her most prophetic. “Come home with me and we’ll find you a nice American guy to date.”
“After Fred, no thank you.”
“Not like Fred. Europe doesn’t have the monopoly on exciting men.”
“Sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself!”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’ve already met the man I want for my husband, Piper. There’s no talking me out of it.”
“You think he’s hurt you now…you just wait!”
Olivia refused to let the secret Piper was withholding about Luc get to her. “We’ll see.”
“It’s your funeral, but whatever happens, call me tomorrow. I have to know where you are and where I can reach you or I won’t have any peace. I should be in Kingston by noon at the latest.”
“I promise to phone,” Olivia vowed. “Have a safe flight. I’m glad Tom will be there to meet you. Be sure he takes a look around the apartment for you first.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
Now Olivia was doing what she’d accused Piper of doing—telling her what to do. Running her life. “Okay, I won’t. Talk to you later. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
After Olivia hung up, she sat down to write a letter to Cesar. She needed to couch her words carefully.
“Dear cousin-in-law,” she began. Once she’d explained that her heart belonged to another, she thanked him profusely for the wonderful time he’d shown her, thanked him for his kindness and generosity and praised him for his latest win.
“May all your wins in the coming years be as successful. I remain your friend and greatest fan from the U.S. Olivia Duchess.”
Pleased with her message, she sealed it in the envelope and took it downstairs to leave with the concierge.
“I don’t know when Monsieur Villon will come back to the hotel to check out, but as soon as he does, will you make certain he gets this?”
“Si, signorina.”
“Grazie.”
After paying her bill, she carried her suitcase outside to the limo. The hotel provided transportation to the airport. Hopefully she was leaving soon enough to avoid the mass of tourists who probably wouldn’t jam the terminal until tomorrow after a night of nonstop partying.
Once she reached Nice, she would take a taxi to the Falcon Villa in Monaco and surprise Luc. If her plan was going to work, it was imperative she catch him off guard. Forewarned and he might disappear on her. She couldn’t let that happen.
CHAPTER TWO
“PLEASE wait for me.”
The chauffeur de taxi nodded while Olivia approached the front door of the villa. It was seven-thirty on a hot August evening. She could still feel the heat rising from the street.
A maid answered. She recognized Olivia from her previous visit in June. When Olivia asked if she could see Luc, the other woman explained he didn’t live there with his parents, yet Olivia distinctly remembered Luc claiming that he did!
Cross because it had been a deliberate ploy on his part to keep his private life private, she was forced to ask the maid where to find him. She learned he had his own home, the Mas de Falcon. Olivia wasn’t familiar with the word.
The maid wrote down the address for her. Olivia thanked her, then gave it to the taxi driver. He nodded and they took off once more, heading for the region above the city.
In a few minutes they drove down a p
rivate road that opened up into a charming courtyard filled with pots of flowers. There she discovered an exquisite pale pink, two-story villa with light blue shutters at all the windows. Apparently this was the back of the house.
Like an eagle’s eyrie, the mas sat perched on a hill overlooking Monaco-Ville. The view would be magnificent.
In front of the garage at the side of the house were two vehicles: a truck that had to be several years old, and a black sports car. Hopefully that meant Luc was home, but she wouldn’t know until she rang the doorbell.
Assuming he employed staff who could call another taxi for her in case he wasn’t there, she paid the driver, then waved him off.
Determined as she’d ever been in her life, she walked up to the back entrance with her suitcase. “Be home, Luc.”
With her heart pounding out of rhythm, she pushed the buzzer and waited. When there was no answer, she rang again.
On the third try, she heard noise like someone swearing. Shivering a little, she was glad she didn’t understand French.
Then the door opened to reveal Luc himself, dressed in low-slung cutoff jeans and nothing else. Though she could see scarring on the shin bone of his leg beneath the knee, he looked so blatantly male with the dusting of black hair on his well cut chest and physique, she couldn’t think or talk.
In that dizzying moment, she didn’t notice that his mouth had formed a white line of anger. Not until her eyes wandered helplessly up his hard-muscled body to his striking face.
“What in the hell are you doing here?” Despite the anger in that low, grating voice, she loved his French accent when he spoke English.
“What are you doing answering the door without your cane?” Olivia fired back. She wasn’t about to be intimidated by him. “You don’t have to prove how macho you are in front of people, especially me. We’re family now,” she added just to irritate him.
His hands went to his hips, a gesture that emphasized his total masculinity. “Is that your unsubtle way of telling me you and Cesar ran off and got married after the race?”
She laughed. “Wouldn’t you hate it if I said yes, thereby proving that I’m the ultimate groupie who was out for everything I could get from your brother, and did!”
To Win His Heart Page 2
