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— content to let his handsome son become the face behind the brand, even if he wasn ’ t quite onboard with Hugo actually running the company.
    “ I feel like Prince Charles, ” Hugo complained to Bailey, but otherwise he went about his job, quietly making changes that were strengthening the bottom line in the cutthroat world of 21 st century department stores.
    Bailey didn ’ t do anything quietly. Or behind the scenes. And some of her promotions had become the stuff of local legends.
    Every year she chose a palette for her wardrobe, totally ignoring whatever the “ Pantone Color of the Year ” choice was, buying ten signature pieces, which were then donated to a series of charity consignment shops at the end of each season. Volunteers at the shops were already salivating.
    The year Bailey had come to work for Prince, she ’ d created the concept of a Christmas charity give-away inspired by Chicago ’ s own queen of media, Oprah Winfrey and her “ favorite things. ”
    Bailey commissioned a box big enough to hold a custom-curated collection of trinkets she collected and wore throughout the year, then held an in-store raffle to give the box of baubles away. Designing the box had become a coveted assignment among local artists, a gig guaranteed to get them tons of free feel good publicity.
    This past Christmas, the Prince ’ s Treasure Box had brought in $2.7 million dollars in raffle tickets and that money had gone to five charities selected by shoppers in a vote held on the store ’ s website.
    John Morgan had told Bailey he was very pleased with the way the promotion had turned out. He liked her and thought it a shame that she wasn ’ t interested in joining the family in a more permanent way.
    Since John Morgan ’ s retirement, he seemed to be taking an inordinate interest in Hugo ’ s love life.
    “ He needs a new challenge, ” Bailey said.
    “ Every time I go by his office, he ’ s playing with his tabletop labyrinth, ” Hugo said, who was genuinely worried about his father ’ s mental health.
    “ Be glad he didn ’ t get into coloring, ” Bailey told him. She ’ d been somewhat creeped out when her partner had brought home adult coloring books and spent hours working on them while the television was tuned to reality shows.
    “ Is coloring still a thing? ” Hugo asked.
    “ Let ’ s go to lunch, ” she said. “ I want to talk to you about a way we can change up our inventory a bit. ”
    Hugo frowned. “ Because I haven ’ t had an argument with my father so far this week. You want to talk to him about adding new brand names? ”
    “ Shoppers aren ’ t born, they ’ re made. ”
    “ That ’ s why we have an Instagram account isn ’ t it? ” he said. Hugo wasn ’ t really a social media person but Bailey enjoyed it, tweeting and pinning and snapchatting her way across the internet every day as part of her job.
    “ I need sustenance, ” Bailey said.
    “ It ’ s only eleven. ”
    “ I ’ m hungry, ” she said. “ I didn ’ t eat breakfast. ”
    Hugo sighed. When Bailey ’ s blood sugar was low, she got cranky. He knew he might as well surrender to the inevitable.
    “ Fat Rice? ”
    “ You know it. ”
     
     

Chapter 3
     
    “ What do you think of this? ” Ebeneezer Malcolm asked Allegra, brandishing a mock-up of a new ad for Zangari shoes. The tagline read, “ Made in America with Italian soul. ” The sole of the shoe pictured — a lace-up man ’ s Oxford — was red, white, and green like the Italian flag.
    She wondered if Ebeneezer was seriously suggesting they make the shoe soles tri-colored, like the trademark red soles on Christian Louboutin ’ s shoes.
    “ See, it ’ s a play on words, S O UL instead of S O LE. ”
    “ I got it, ” Allegra said. She ran the line through her head again a few more times. “ I like it but maybe not for dress shoes. It seems better suited for summer shoes. Sandals. Slides. ”
    Ebeneezer thought a minute. “ You could build