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They all made a disappointed sound.

“It’salwayscomplicated,” Audri said. “Who proposed?”

“I guess I did.”

“What do you mean, you guess?” Elena inquired.

“I have something to confess.” I looked at them. “But please keep this between us, okay?”

“Babe, you’re part of this strange family now.” Kiera leaned forward, looking calmer. “We protect our own.”

They all nodded and waited patiently.

Inhaling a breath, I told them about the fake marriage that would end in six months.

When I was done, they gaped at me.

“So you’re Vanessa Lamand not Nessa Lambert?” Elena gawked at me.

“She’s both.” Vivian held up a finger. “One is her artist’s name.”

“Sorry I didn’t tell you guys earlier. I haven’t gone by Vanessa in a long time.”

I didn’t tell them about my mom’s situation. That would take all night, and I didn’t want to complicate things even more.

“We’ll address you as Nessa in public until everything is resolved,” said Audri. “In private, you’re Vanessa.”

“Attikus will crush Emmanuel like a cockroach.” Elena squeezed my hand. “Some men are just shitty.”

“I can see how you’d miss the ring aspect of the engagement,” Michelle said.

“Are you sure everything is fake?” Kiera arched a perfect eyebrow. “I’ve seen him look at you. It doesn’t look fake to me.”

“So you’re arranging a fake marriage to protect yourself,” Vivian said to herself. “And he agreed to it because if something happened to you—his tenant—he’d lose money?”

“Yeah,” I said, wondering why her reason for his agreement didn’t sound plausible. It made sense to me. “He’s a businessman, so he wants to protect his assets.”

“Honey,” Kiera held up a hand, “Attikus doesn’tneedany more money. None of those guys over there playing their video games need more money. Together, they probably own the world.” She pointed at the open doors. “He didn’t agree to this outrageous proposal formoney.”

“Oh,” was all that came out of my mouth.

Elena looked at me, offering me a warm smile as though she’d always known about the attraction.

“There’s more to his agreement.” Natalie placed all the clothes and lingerie back into the bag for me.

“You know what that means.” Audri rubbed her palms together with a spark in her eyes. “Our Vanessa needs an SSG mission.”

“Mission?” I remembered them mentioning it.

They explained SSG stood for Super Spy Girls, sort of like a Bond girl mission. Each of them had a mission to see if their significant other had true feelings for them during their courtship. I laughed at the interesting mission names: License to Kiss, From Iceland with Love, The Man with the Golden Angle, Opals are Forever, A Kiss is Not Enough, andThe Thief Who Loved Me.

“What should her mission be?” Vivian looked around the room.

The sexy dream of Attikus flashed into my mind, giving me an idea. “How aboutFor Your Heart Only to follow the theme ofFor Your Eyes Only?”

“That’s perfect!” Audri clapped.

“I love it!” Vivian beamed.