“Where the fuck is it?” Addison grumbled as she got down on her hands and knees and looked for the ring she had just thrown across the study. Spying it under a table, she snatched it up, returned to her desk, and sank into the executive high-back leather chair.

Holding the platinum band between her fingers, she glared at it, setting her jaw at what it represented. For most, it was a symbol of love and fidelity, holding promises of forever within its circumference, but for Addison, it didn’t spout love. It screamed hate. With her pulse rapidly increasing as her anger grew, she opened a drawer and dropped the ring inside, slamming the drawer closed with so much force that the tiny chain hanging from the switch of the green-shaded lamp atop her desk clinked against the glass.

Addison heard a rap on the door and looked up to see Fran ambling into the study carrying a bottle of champagne and two glasses. “Exactly where the fuck have you been?”

“I was helping Joanna sort out some details so we can get her name legally changed to Kane,” Fran said, placing the champagne and glasses on the desk. “And then I raided your wine cellar. Care for some?”

Turning the bottle so she could read the label, Addison said, “Do you have any idea how much that Dom Perignon is worth?”

“You can well afford it,” Fran said as she sat down and filled the glasses. “Besides – celebrations call for champagne.”

“And what exactly do you think I have to celebrate?”

“How about the fact you get to keep your company?”

“By living a fucking charade,” Addison grumbled.

“You agreed to it.”

“I didn’t have a bloody choice!” she shouted, slamming her hand on the desk.

“We’ve been over this, Addison. It’s done, and the papers are signed,” Fran said, sliding a crystal flute in Addison’s direction. “And speaking of that, you put on quite a show. Really turned on the charm for the registrar.”

With a sigh, Addison grabbed her champagne and emptied it in one gulp. “After being hounded by reporters for the last two bloody weeks, did you really think I’d want to add more rumors to the mill? I’m not stupid, Fran.”

“Stupid is not a word I would ever use to describe you. Stubborn, yes. Stupid, no.”

“Speaking of stupid, where is she?”

Fran winced. “Her name is Joanna, and you know it. She’s a nice woman, Addison, and once you get to know her—”

“I don’t want to know her! I don’t give a shit if she’s nice or if she’s not, so stop being her fucking press agent. Your job is to get me out of this as soon as possible and don’t you forget it.”