“I’m actually wondering the same thing,” Addison said, coming into the room. “Because if you think I was holed up in a hotel shagging my brains out with some...some tart, you’re wrong.”

Joanna whipped around. “Am I now?”

“Yes, you are,” Addison said as she walked over and took Joanna by the shoulders. “And if you had let me finish, instead of storming out of the room, you’d have known I was there for business.”

“You just said you weren’t.”

“I said it wasn’t company business,” Addison said, as she released Joanna from her hold. Picking up the decanter, Addison poured some scotch into a glass. “A long time ago my grandfather started up a small company for me in order to prove myself to him.”

“Prove?”

“That I could take his place at Kane when the time came.”

“Okay?”

Addison motioned toward the chairs in front of the desk, and once they both were settled, she continued. “After I had proved my worth, he signed the company over to me, and when he died, he left me a significant inheritance, and over the years, I’ve used the money from both for my own investments. Since I can’t ethically delve into areas where Kane Holdings may hold an interest since I was old enough to invest, I’ve chosen paths outside their norm, so this past week I purchased a vineyard.”

Joanna flinched back her head ever so slightly. “Did you...did you just say a vineyard?”

“Yes, near a city called Burgos in northern Spain,” Addison said, and pausing, she took a sip of her drink. “Several years ago, I began buying up properties in the area. The region’s been producing wines for centuries, but over the years, some of the smaller vineyards had run into financial troubles due to weather conditions or their own bad choices. So, I’ve been buying up properties as they came along and letting them stand as is until an opportunity presented itself, which it did a few months ago. I was contacted by a realtor who told me about a small vineyard producing award-winning wines. The patriarch died last year, but the sons and daughter, who inherited the company, while extremely knowledgeable in what it takes to make fine wine, were less than knowledgeable when it came to finances.”

“So you bought them out?”

“Not exactly,” Addison said, resting back in her chair. “I did purchase their vineyard, but contractually, until the day they die, they’re to run it and produce the wines like their ancestors have done for hundreds of years. The only difference is my company will oversee the financial aspects and instead of having fifteen acres under their watchful eyes, combined with the land I already own, they now have over a hundred. And since we’re splitting the profits right down the middle, it assures them not only security, but protects their heritage as well.”