Billionaire Games Boxed Set 1-3 (41 page)

“We have a movie studio at our disposal,” he said. “Or at least we will in two months. Shall we find a project for you to star in?”

As appealing as that would’ve been to her a year ago, it didn’t carry the same weight now. She hesitated and glanced away. “I seem to have lost that bug.”

“Okay…” His voice trailed off and his eyes darted back and forth. He sucked in a breath, and said, “Why don’t you come to work with me?” His eyes brightened as he said it. “Help me run Mont Claire. I need someone I can trust. And who better than you?”

“You mean it?” Tasha’s hopes escalated. Working alongside Andre—well that, she just realized, was now her dream.

“I do.” He gave her a nod and a smile. “And we can start now. I was just coming to tell you that I have to go away on business, to prepare to take over Mont Claire. But now, instead of merely traveling with me, you will join me as not only my wife, but also my business partner.” There was a giddiness in his demeanor now. “There is much to do. We’ll be gone for several weeks.”

Tasha swelled with eagerness. The prospect of running a billion-dollar corporation with Andre made her feel more alive than she had in months. “I’m probably going to have lots to learn.”

“And I will gladly teach you,” he said. “But I think you’re going to be more useful than you know.” He winked at her.

“This is so exciting. When will we leave?”

“Soon. The day after tomorrow.” His eyes made a powerful contact with hers. “We’ll be gone several weeks. You’ll want to get started packing.”

“Several weeks as in three or four? Or more like a couple of months?”

“More like a couple of months.”

“That’s a lot of business to attend to.”

“Mont Claire has a great number of holdings.”

“Boy, I’ll say.” She glanced around the room. “So I guess I should pack a little of everything?”

“A lot of everything.” Andre chuckled. “I know you have your favorites, and by all means bring those. If you discover you need anything later, we’ll buy it while on the road.”

T
asha had to admit that she liked directing packing more than the actual packing. Last evening, she’d given her maid Rose and a couple of the other house maids a list of the things she wanted to take, and this morning they were filling her suitcases.

That left Tasha with some time to go into Marseilles and pick up a few things. She was sure she could pick them up on the road, but half the fun of going away was picking up last minute items. She left word of where she was going with Rose, and headed for the garage.

On the ground floor, Tasha learned that all three chauffeurs were already out. Andre had said something about hiring another driver, but as of yet, it hadn’t been done.

“That’s okay,” she told Parker. “There are other cars in the garage, right?”

Parker nodded.

“Well, have one of them brought around for me. I’ll drive myself.”

“If that is Madam’s wish.” Parker headed for the garage.

Tasha went back to the central stairway and headed up to the second floor’s main entrance to wait for the car. She reached for the doorknob, but changed her mind, deciding to check with Camille to see if she wanted to join her.

She trotted up the stairs and headed for the nursery, figuring that’s where she’d find Camille. In her place, that’s where Tasha would be.

Peeking her head into the room, she saw Camille sitting in the rocker, holding Juliana. The lights were turned down, soft music filled the air, and the baby was sleeping peacefully. Seeing the glow emanating from Camille’s face, Tasha smiled.

“Hey…” Tasha whispered, standing in the doorway.

“What’s up?” Camille asked in a hushed voice.

“I’m going into town.” Tasha tried to match her tone. “Wondered if you wanted to come with me. We could do lunch.”

“I wish I could,” Camille said. “I’m interviewing today.”

“Interviewing? Interviewing for what?”

“A new nanny.”

“A new nanny?” Tasha was starting to feel like a parrot. “What happened to Cecily?”

Camille hesitated. “I wish I knew. She up and quit.”

“Really?” Tasha’s voice showed her confusion. “I got the feeling she thought herself rather grand working here.”

“Maybe she found something else that she thinks will make her feel grander.” Camille chuckled.

Tasha pushed away from the doorjamb. “Okay…well, you know Andre and I are leaving town tonight. We’ll be gone a while,” she said with a bit of remorse. Tasha hated leaving behind her one true friend. “Stay in touch, okay?”

Camille got up and put Juliana in her crib, covered her with a light blanket, then turned toward Tasha. She sucked in a breath and moved toward her. “You and I,” she said, reaching for Tasha’s hands, “are going to be seeing plenty of each other. We
are
family now, after all.”

Tasha shrugged and tried to ward off the tears pooling around her eyes. “I’m just being a big baby.”

“You and I have been friends for so long…”

“Yeah, and isn’t this what we’ve always dreamed of?” she asked herself as much as Camille. “To be married to two brothers so we’d officially be in the same family.”

“Yeah.” Camille laughed. “I guess neither of us considered that marrying rich brothers would mean lots of time away from home.”

“Well, at least not ones as rich as Andre and Julian.”

They both tamped down their laughter, for fear of waking the baby.

A
fter two days, the call Cecily had been waiting for came.

Peter Wittmeyer’s breathless voice delivered the news, “Tasha just left the de Laurent estate. And she’s alone.”

“Are you sure it’s her?” Cecily asked.

“Positive. She’s in a convertible.”

“Direction?”

“So far, it looks like Marseilles.”

“Great.” Cecily paused, mentally checking her excitement. It was too early for that. “With any luck at all, she’s heading for Marseilles.”

“Wherever she’s headed,” Peter said. “I’ll be right behind her.”

“Keep me posted,” Cecily said. “I want to know every move she makes.”

T
asha had made a few stops in Marseilles. First, to pick up a pair of red shoes she’d seen in a boutique window over the weekend. Then a local drugstore just around the corner from her favorite bistro, where she perused the aisles to get a few travel-sized toiletries. Andre had told her there was no point, but some things were a hard habit to break. Maybe someday she’d get used to the idea that jet-setting around the globe was common practice, but so far that hadn’t happened. Right now, Tasha was giddy about the upcoming weeks of travel ahead of her and Andre.

She’d been so wrapped up in the idea of running Mont Claire with Andre that when she strolled past the pregnancy tests, it slammed into her that she still hadn’t gotten her period.

Tasha stopped. Various notions flitted through her mind. How many days had it been since she’d thought her period should be starting? She counted mentally and moved her fingers in unison. Upwards of ten now. Tasha ran the facts through her head. Bloating, no. Pre-menstrual cramps, no. And that one pimple that always popped up on her chin, no. Breast tenderness, check. Tasha reached for one of the packages like it might be hot or something. Once she latched on to it, she tossed it into the hand basket she was carrying.

She’d take it when she got home. That way, when she and Andre left that evening, she’d know one way or another.

Tasha finished her business at the drug store and headed around the corner to grab a bite at the bistro. She was one of those rare people who could eat alone and never give it a second thought.

She’d settled in at a table by the window and ordered an iced tea. After the waitress brought it, she doused it with Splenda and stirred it with her straw. Just as she was about to take a sip, she saw someone approaching. Glancing up, she saw Cecily, Camille’s newly ex-nanny looming over her.

“Cecily.” Tasha set the glass down on the table. “Imagine seeing you here.”

“May I?” Cecily gestured to the empty chair across from Tasha.

“Sure.” Tasha shrugged. “Why not?” She waved her hand at the empty chair and sipped her tea with the other.

“Are you alone?” Cecily asked.

Tasha nodded. “Yeah, everybody’s busy.” She shrugged. “But I still have to eat.”

“As do I.” Her shaky tone didn’t match the big smile she’d plastered on. Something was going on, and Tasha intended to find out what.

“So I’m told that you’ve left our employ.” Tasha looked her straight in the eye. “I thought you were happy with us?”

“Oh, I was.”

“Then why’d you quit?”

“Quit?” Her tone rose an entire octave and then fell again before she added, “Is that what he told you?”

He?
A bad feeling was starting to gather around Tasha. “Did you or did you not voluntarily leave our employ?” she asked uneasily.

“I did not.”

“What exactly are you implying, Ms. Mason?” Overcome by the feeling that this wasn’t a friendly meeting, Tasha moved the conversation to a purely professional level.

“I’m not implying anything.” She raised a high chin. “It’s a fact, I was fired.”

“By whom?” That feeling of dread that’d been creeping up on her wrapped itself fully around her.

“Your husband.”

“What?” That didn’t make sense to Tasha, and it showed in her voice. “Why on earth would my husband fire you?”

“Oh, he has a very good reason for wanting to get rid of me.” She was almost laughing now.

“And what might that be?” Tasha shifted in her chair, trying to ward off the uneasiness creeping up her back.

“He doesn’t want me to tell you the secret.” She was whispering now, like she had some deep, dark secret.

“But you’re going to.”

“That I am.” She nodded. “I gave him a chance to choose, but he didn’t like that idea.”

“Why don’t we cut to the chase?” Tasha was starting to get annoyed. “And you tell me what you think you know.”

“He had to marry you.”

Tasha looked at Cecily through squinted eyes. Andre didn’t have to marry her. But who told Cecily about the baby? “No one forced him,” she said in a hardened tone.

“Yes, in a manner of speaking, they did.”

“Who is
they
?”

“Well, not really a
they
so much as a
who
.” She hesitated, and Tasha figured it was on purpose. Tasha gave her a cold stare, which prompted Cecily to talk. “It’s the will. He married you because of the will. It said he
had
to get married and stay married for one year to inherit his uncle’s fortune.”

What?
Tasha’s heart thudded against her chest. This could not be so. “And if he didn’t get married, or doesn’t stay married for the required year…?”

“He forfeits.”

“His share?”

“The entire thing.”

Did that mean Julian and Lecie’s inheritances, too? She thought about asking Cecily, but Tasha got the feeling that Cecily wasn’t on her side, and she wasn’t doing this out of some misguided attempt to help Tasha.

She could guess Cecily’s motives. Somebody had put her up to this, possibly even paid her. But Tasha didn’t care about what role Cecily truly played in this charade. What she did care about was that Andre had failed to share a very important stipulation of his late uncle’s will with her—and Tasha wanted to know why.

“Would you excuse me?” She took the napkin from her lap and laid it on the table in front of her. Standing, she added, “I believe I feel a headache coming on.”

As Tasha walked away, she heard Cecily say, “I’ll just bet you do.”

Tasha’s first thought was to turn around and tell her off, but Tasha’s common sense told her not to bother. Instead, she headed for the door. She had far more pressing matters. Like why Andre had chosen to keep her in the dark.

And was she pregnant?

B
ack at Pacifique de Lumière, Tasha hurried to the suite she and Andre shared and dumped the shopping bags onto the bed. She rummaged through them until she found the pregnancy test. Clutching it in her hand, she sucked in a breath and headed for the bathroom. Inside, she closed the door, turned the lock, and took another deep breath.

This morning, Tasha had wanted desperately to be pregnant again, even though she hadn’t admitted it—until now. But in light of the impromptu meeting she’d just had with Cecily, she was now having second thoughts.

What if she were pregnant? Would it be a good idea to stay with Andre, knowing why he’d married her? If only he’d told her about the will’s requirements for inheriting. She probably would’ve been apprehensive, but at least she would’ve known he trusted her enough to tell her the truth. Yet, he hadn’t told her. And the way this thing was playing out, the whole deal seemed shady.

Tasha blew out her frustrations and tore into the test’s packaging. She couldn’t figure out her next step until she knew all the facts. And the fact of whether or not she was pregnant would determine her next move.

She dropped her pants and undergarments, sat down on the toilet and followed the instructions for taking the test. When she was done, she capped the test and laid it on the sink. After readjusting her clothing, she washed her hands and tried not to look at the stick, wanting to wait the full three minutes the instructions had suggested.

Tasha dried her hands on the nearby towel, then lowered the top toilet seat and sat down. She propped her chin in her hands and began to contemplate what she’d do if it turned out she was pregnant versus if she wasn’t.

If the test was negative, she’d simply leave and go back to LA. She was used to living on her own, taking care of herself. She might have been living in the lap of luxury for nearly a year, but it wasn’t so long that she had forgotten how to take care of herself. She’d go back to her old home, and her old dreams.

Tasha
closed her eyes, wanting desperately, but was half-afraid, to look at the stick. Her life was about to turn in a very different direction, no matter the results. Either way, it wasn’t going to be easy.

Had it been three minutes? Surely it had.

She opened one eye and let her gaze roll over toward the stick.