Page 3 of Hold Still

Aiden picks up the wire transfer paperwork and points to one last place for my signature. Right above Teresa’s on the last page.

“Gladly.” I scrawl my name across the final divorce papers and stalk out of the office, straight to the liquor cabinet. Enough with the prosecco shit. I don’t care if it is before noon. I need a shot—or ten—of whiskey. Neat.

Pounding my first, I slam the shot glass on the counter. Married for four, finally divorced after three. “Fucking bitch.”

Aiden enters the room. “It’s over.”

I pour another one. “Thank fuck. I can’t afford another day and another million for that whore.” I take the second shot in one swallow.

“I’ll make sure the wire gets processed.” Coming up next to me, he deposits the wedding invitation on the counter, showing the date for tomorrow—November nineteenth. Ice runs down my spine. Cole’s getting married. Besides my family, my label and my PR team—who’ve kept even a whiff of my marital status top secret—he’s the only other soul who knows about my failed marriage. And now I’m going tohiswedding the day after the final curtain dropped on my own. I shake my head.

As if reading the direction my thoughts veered, Aiden says, “Rose isn’t anything like Teresa.”

My assistant is a good guy. He knows me, my moods and my preferences. And he’s right—Rose seems to be a good woman. But then again, so did Teresa.

Right now, all I want to do is throw something against the wall. Break every fucking piece of crystal in this place. “Whatever.”

“You have to get going.” He grabs the leash off the counter.

“I’d rather stay here with Bans,” I mutter. Aiden taps his lip and I trod to the bedroom to grab my luggage while he heads to the kitchen for her bowl and dogfood. My thoughts bounce off the walls and land squarely on the ridiculous institution of marriage. I’ll never get caught up in that trap again.

The next twenty-four hours are going to suck.

Without warning, the maid-of-honor’s face flits across my brain. McKenna is a freak in bed and never pushes for more.

Yeah. Banging McKenna’s brains out is just what the matchbreakerordered.

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