Page 1 of Believing in a Billionaire (Hearts and Holdings #7)

GRANT

G rant Harrington leaned back into the soft embrace of his supple leather desk chair, the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders. He traced the silver frame around the wedding photo he’d stared at so many times before while trapped in deep contemplation.

It had been both a symbol of solace and unease, a constant reminder of the complicated tapestry of love and challenges he and Julia had woven together.

With a deep sigh, he let his eyes linger on their captured smiles, a bittersweet symphony of happiness and the underlying tremors of uncertainty.

He had finally bared his soul to his wife, revealing truths he had long kept hidden in his heart. And now, after a heart-wrenching negotiation of fears and hopes, she had agreed to stay—to give them another chance.

Yet, as he gazed at the tender moment from their fake wedding, a silent question haunted him. Was his love enough to cement her place at his side or was he doomed to repeat the mistakes of his past?

He swallowed hard, a string of failed relationships marching through his mind.

None of his previous wives were like Julia, and he himself was a different man from the one who had married four times before.

His gaze lingered on an empty space on the mantel across the room, where a photo of his second wife had once stood–a testament to his younger, more impulsive days, when success in business didn’t translate to success in love.

He remembered the cold silence that had filled their home, a stark contrast to the warmth and laughter Julia brought to his life.

He wasn’t that man anymore, and he was determined to prove it, starting with Julia.

He knew what he needed to do. And he knew that he needed help to do it.

A knock at the door pulled him from his contemplation. He set the wedding photo next to his monitor and called out for them to come in.

The doors swung open, and Worthington appeared. He stood aside, motioning for his wards to enter first before he closed the door behind them.

Sierra shuffled inside, the feathers on her silk robe fluttering as she stomped her high-heeled slippers across the floor, an eye mask pushed up to her forehead. Behind her, Kyle, already dressed, stepped inside.

“Why am I being dragged from my bed at this ridiculous hour?” Sierra demanded as she crossed her arms.

“Family meeting,” Grant answered.

Kyle arched an eyebrow. “Really? Do you realize I was invited?”

“Very funny, Kyle. Sit down.” Grant shifted his gaze to Worthington. “You were discreet, right?”

“Absolutely, sir.”

“Discreet?” Sierra asked as she plopped into a chair across from Grant. “What is happening? And why are we having a family meeting without the entire family? Where is Julia?”

She stiffened in her chair, her muscles taut. “She’s still here, right? This isn’t a family meeting to tell us she slinked away in the middle of the night, is it?”

“No, it isn’t. Julia is happily settled back into the house.”

Sierra relaxed slightly, but the frown never left her features. “So, why isn’t my wonderful step-mommy here at our meeting?”

“Because the meeting is about Julia.”

“About Julia?” Sierra’s frown deepened. “What did you do?”

“What?” Grant asked as the conversation quickly devolved out of his control.

“If we are having an emergency meeting about Julia, something is wrong. Wait, stop. No one say anything,” Sierra said with a shake of her head. “Worthington, I’m going to need coffee. Lots of coffee. I can’t handle a problem without it.”

“Sierra–” Grant began.

“Shh, don’t. Do not speak until I have a coffee in my hand.”

Grant sucked in a breath, letting his eyes rise to the ceiling.

“Wow, you are really a bear in the morning,” Kyle said.

The glare Sierra shot him stopped him from saying anything else and sent him slouching down in his chair as he winced. Another knock sounded at the door. Worthington opened it and accepted the coffee passed in from the maid.

“Here you are, Ms. Sierra. Your iced mocha latte with a triple shot of espresso.”

“Oh, Worthington, you are a lifesaver.” She grabbed the drink from him and sipped it.

“Can we start now?” Grant asked.

She shook her head, holding a finger in the air. She inhaled deeply, then took another sip before she let her eyes slide closed and settled back in the chair. “Okay, proceed.”

Grant heaved a sigh. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Huh?” Sierra asked.

Grant’s shoulders slumped. The meeting was already going horribly. “When I said the meeting was about Julia, you accused me of doing something. I didn’t do anything.”

Sierra’s forehead creased. “Then why was I ripped from the comfort of my thousand-count sheets to come down here for an emergency meeting?”

“No one said it was an emergency.”

Sierra’s eyes went wide. “At this hour, it had better be an emergency. Otherwise, there is no reason I should be here. This could have been done at a normal hour.”

Grant heaved a sigh as he shook his head.

Kyle shifted in his seat. “Maybe we ought to let him tell us why we’re here because now, I’m getting concerned.”

“You’re probably here so Daddy can give you a lecture on not kissing Julia now that she and Daddy are really married and staying together.” Sierra took a long sip of her coffee to punctuate the statement.

Kyle clenched his jaw as he narrowed his eyes at her.

“Enough. Be quiet the both of you.” Grant sucked in a breath as he prepared his statement to them, setting his clasped hands on his mahogany desk. “Julia is back. Not under contract. She came back of her own free will after a long discussion about our relationship.”

“How long, exactly?” Sierra asked.

Grant knitted his brows. “What?”

“How long of a discussion? Was this like a not-super-long talk like I love you, I love you, too, yay, we’re in love, let’s go home sort of thing, or…was it more like a long, drawn-out situation with crying and begging?”

Grant screwed up his face at the question.

Kyle bobbed his head. “Yeah, I’d like the answer to that, too. I mean, how much free will was involved?”

Grant pressed his lips together, a frown creasing his features. This was going to be a battle. He scrubbed his face with his hands. “It wasn’t…she…we had a conversation in which Julia agreed to come back.”

“Oh my goodness,” Sierra said, her voice rife with disappointment. “You somehow screwed this up.”

“I…” Grant flicked his gaze to Worthington who offered him a subtle shrug. “I didn’t screw it up.”

“Oh really?” Sierra asked. “Julia ‘agreed’ to come back. That description leaves something to be desired. And this early morning summons means something is wrong. You messed up somehow.”

“Julia accepted my proposal and Grandma Harrington’s ring, and–”

“Wait, what? You gave her Grandma Harrington’s ring?”

Grant shifted in his seat. “Yes, I did.”

“Well, there we go. It’s smaller than the first ring you got her. You should have gone bigger .” Sierra rolled her eyes at him. “Easy fix. Buy her a ten-carat diamond. Solved. Can I go back to bed now?”

“No, it’s not solved. Julia loves the ring. She doesn’t like ostentatious things. That’s not why you’re here.”

“Then why?” Sierra asked.

Grant curved his fingers into a fist as he contemplated the words he was about to say. He recalled the hesitance Julia displayed in their conversation the night before. Her subsequent kiss had spoken volumes of her love, but the tears that had come first were burned into his mind.

She was here, yes, but her heart was still guarded, scarred from his past. Convincing her wasn’t just about words, but showing her every day that he was different now, different from the man he was in the past. “Julia agreed to a real marriage…but she had some reservations.”

“Oh, thank heavens. She’s as smart as I thought,” Kyle said with a nod.

Grant glared at him with a clenched jaw.

“Reservations?” Sierra asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Yes. And I convinced her that I could make her happy…and I promised I’d prove it to her...and I have six months to do it.”

Sierra’s eyes went wide and her jaw unhinged. “Six months? That’s it? We’re in the same stupid position we were before?”

“No, we are not,” Grant insisted. “Because now we both know how we feel. But I called this family meeting because I want Julia to have no doubts at the end of these six months that we are perfect for each other.”

“Well, if you buy a new ring, that’s a start.”

Grant leapt from his chair and paced the floor behind his desk. “Will you please stop with the new ring? It has nothing to do with the ring.”

“Uhhh, I beg to differ,” Sierra answered.

“Look, the ring isn’t a problem, trust me.”

“Trust you? Like we trusted you to bring Julia home for good and you only managed six months?”

Kyle nodded. “She’s got a point.”

“It’s not six months. It’s a lifetime. After Julia has the most perfect six months of her life. I want her to be so deliriously happy, that she can’t even think of leaving this house.”

He twisted to find Sierra pointed toward her ring finger.

“Stop that. What we need to do is make sure we don’t have anything going on like we’ve had for the past two years.

And with your mother behind bars, that should be simple.

But I want everyone on board with this, okay?

No…crazy issues,” he said with a glance at Sierra before he shifted his gaze to Kyle.

“No stunts. No kissing Julia out of the blue.”

Kyle raised his hand. “Question. What if Julia says it’s okay?”

Grant offered him an incredulous stare. “Why would that happen?”

“I don’t know, I just want to be prepared in case it does.”

Grant clenched his teeth, his words a low growl. “Don’t kiss Julia.”

“Daddy, it might be best to just ask Kyle to move out. Then, he can’t stalk Julia and kiss her.”

“I’m not stalking her. Julia and I are friends.”

“I’m not asking Kyle to move out because that might upset Julia, and the goal is that she is not upset at all. Any problems, you bring them to me, not Julia. I don’t want her overwhelmed. Got it?”

“Right. Don’t bother Julia with any problems, instead, we should just dump everything on you. This could have been distilled in an email or text so my rest wasn’t disturbed. Is that it?” Sierra asked.

“No, it couldn’t have been. I need a commitment from everyone in this room that we’re all going to ensure Julia’s happiness.”

His eyes scanned the three people in the room.

“Well?” he demanded, throwing his arms out to the sides.

“Fine, Daddy. There’s no reason to get so upset,” Sierra said. “Honestly.”

He flicked his gaze to Kyle.

His son shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I would like to point out that I have always tried to ensure Julia’s happiness and that it wasn’t any of us that she sort of walked away from.”

Sierra sighed and shook her head. “Just promise you won’t kiss her, Kyle, and let’s move on with our day, please .”

“Fine, fine,” he said, holding his hands up in defeat.

All eyes turned to Worthington. The butler’s eyes went wide. “You cannot possibly believe I would do anything to upset Mrs. Harrington.”

“Honestly, no,” Grant said. “You’re the least of my concerns. But I need you to let me know if you see or hear anything. You’re our eyes on this, Worthington.”

“I understand, sir. I will be happy to assist you, as always.”

“Thank you. Good. Well, with us all on board, this should be easy.” Grant grinned down at his desk as his mind fast-forwarded to six months from now when a ridiculously happy Julia laughed about how she’d had any questions about their relationship at all.

Although the conversation he’d just had with his children wiped the smile from his face as he wondered if the Harrington clan could hold it together without a meltdown for six short months.

“Is that all? Can I go now?” Sierra asked.

“That’s it. Remember...the perfect life.”

Without another word, Sierra stormed to the door. “Worthington, I’m going to need another coffee, stat.”

Kyle slowly rose from his seat with a sigh. “While Julia deserves nothing less than perfection, how do you think Lydia’s case will play into your plan for the perfect life?”

“I plan to keep Julia far away from Lydia’s case. She has dealt with enough of my problems. She deserves nothing but happiness now.”

“You’ll get no argument from me on what she deserves. And she’s definitely dealt with enough of your problems.”

Grant bit his tongue, trying not to get into a fight with his son on his first full day with Julia by his side. The last thing he wanted to see was a disappointed look on her beautiful face. “Well, at least we agree on one thing.”

Kyle clenched his jaw as he stood for another moment before he finally shuffled from the room, leaving Grant alone with Worthington.

Grant collapsed into his chair, rubbing his forehead. “Well, at least they seem on board.”

“Yes, sir,” Worthington said.

Grant flicked his gaze to his butler. “But?”

“I said nothing, sir.”

“You didn’t have to. That tone told me everything I needed to know. You’re thinking something, Worthington, and I’d like to know what.”

Worthington turned the corners of his lips down as he shook his head. “Merely that you may consider that Mrs. Harrington would prefer honesty and openness to perfection.”

Grant narrowed his eyes at the man. “I was open and honest with her last night about how I felt. And now she deserves perfection. She was concerned about…my past. And I want to prove to her that it’s not a concern and that her happiness is my priority.”

Worthington bobbed his head up and down. “As long as Mrs. Harrington’s happiness is the priority, I don’t foresee any issues. Would you like a coffee, sir?”

“Yes, thanks.”

As Worthington left him alone, he pondered the man’s statement. Obviously, Julia’s happiness was his priority. That was the entire point of this morning’s lecture for his often-wayward children. With any luck, things would go smoothly.

With Lydia’s arrest, DG Industries would be a thing of the past. Their lives should settle, and this should be a walk in the park.

The shrill ring of his desk phone filled the air, startling him back to reality. He stared at it as a shiver snaked down his spine, a sense of dread filling him. He brushed it off, telling himself it was a remnant of what they’d lived through for the past two years.

He snatched the receiver after two rings. “Grant Harrington.”

“Mr. Harrington, Mike Donovan here. Sorry to disturb you, Evie said you were leaving for the weekend. I planned to leave a message.”

“My plans changed. What’s up?”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but…we’ve got a big problem. It’s DG Industries again.”

Grant’s stomach clenched at the words. He’d heard them so often over the past two years, but this was like a bad replay. Now what had gone wrong?