Page 20 of Believing in a Billionaire (Hearts and Holdings #7)

GRANT

T he constant beep of the heart monitor brought both a measure of comfort and pain. Grant stared at the screen, counting the seconds before the next spike appeared. A sickening deja vu feeling swept over him as memories of sitting at Julia’s bedside after the nearly fatal car accident taunted him.

He refused to leave her side then, and he wouldn’t do it now. Not after what he’d witnessed or what they’d learned.

Images of Julia’s seizure replayed in Grant’s mind, a haunting loop that squeezed his heart with fear and helplessness. The raw memory of watching her body tremble uncontrollably, paired with the stark fear of losing her, underscored the fragility of the moments they shared.

It ripped his heart in two again. He reached for her hand, needing to feel its warmth, to remind himself that she was still with them.

Her seizure had been almost as frightening as when he’d watched her flatline after the accident. Kyle had handled both situations well, his top-notch medical training kicking in to help Julia when she needed it most.

Despite the difficult relationship with his son, the man had become a valuable member of the family.

“You okay, Daddy?” Sierra asked from next to him, slipping a hand onto his shoulder.

“Yeah, baby, I’m okay. I’ll be better when she wakes up.”

On the opposite side of the bed, Alicia rubbed her sister’s hand. He almost felt sorry for the woman, though their intense dislike for each other made the situation tense.

He preferred her to leave, but he didn’t want to bar her from her sister. Especially after the news they’d received about Julia’s condition.

Her toxicology report had come back showing she’d been poisoned by arsenic. Kyle’s suspicions about her illness had been correct. It hadn’t been a bad bug, it had been deliberate.

He tightened his fingers around her hand, certain Lydia had orchestrated it. Of all the trouble she’d caused so far, this hit him the hardest. They could have lost Julia.

“Why don’t you get some rest? Go home for a while?” Alicia suggested. “I’ll stay with her.”

Grant flicked his tired eyes up to her, his irritation building. “I’m fine.”

“I’ll call the minute she wakes up,” Alicia answered. “I promise.”

“With what? News of a restraining order?” he asked as he pressed his finger into his stinging eyes.

Alicia tugged her lips into a grimace. “Okay, I guess I deserved that.”

“You deserve a lot more than that,” Sierra said, her tone biting.

“I’m not leaving,” Grant grumbled, his voice showing his tiredness.

“Okay, fine. I just…thought you may want to get some rest, clean up a bit. Your phone’s been ringing a lot, maybe handle some business.” Alicia shrugged as she rubbed her thumb against Julia’s cheek.

“Nothing is more important than Julia,” he answered.

“Mmm, uh-huh,” Alicia said with a bob of her head, her eyes never leaving her sister. “That’s why she was threatened…again, and then poisoned. And no one knew because you were too busy spending all your time at the office.”

“Okay, that’s it,” Grant said as he climbed to his feet. “If you’re going to keep this up, I want you to leave.”

“You can’t make me leave my sister.”

“I can. She’s my wife. I can do the same damn thing you did to me in Harbor Cove. Which, by the way, I still haven’t gotten over yet. So, I’d be glad to return the favor.”

“And I’d be glad to help him,” Sierra said. “Daddy, you want me to call security?”

“Call security?” Kyle asked. “What’s going on here?”

Grant slid his eyes closed as he heaved a sigh. “Nothing, tempers are just a little hot.”

“Yeah, well, maybe cut it out. The last thing we need right now is Julia waking up to us all arguing. As usual.”

Alicia heaved a sigh as he checked her vitals. “Sorry. You’re right.”

Grant nodded as he collapsed into the chair again. “She’s been through enough. I don’t want to have to explain to her that we can’t get along, especially when she needs us the most.”

Kyle tapped on the tablet he held.

“How is the treatment going?”

“Good. I would expect her to wake soon. She’ll still feel pretty bad, but she should recover well. She’s a fighter.”

Grant patted her hand as he smiled at her quiet form. “Yes, she is.”

“I can’t believe Mom would do this,” Sierra said. “When is she going to disappear?”

Grant shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with the question. Her takeover attempt at Harrington Global hadn’t yet finished. Their stock buyback had begun, but they were nowhere near having enough to be the majority stockholder and Lydia continued to gain some ground despite their pushback.

He hoped when Julia woke up, Lydia wasn’t the owner of his company. He’d monitored reports from Mike, unhappy with the progress, but hoping for the best.

A slight change in her heart monitor’s beeping drew his attention away from his troubles. His pulse quickened as he flicked his gaze from the display to Julia. “Is she okay?”

“Heart rate’s picking up,” Kyle answered. “It could be a problem, or it could be her waking up.”

“Why would her heart rate go up?”

“She’s likely in pain or sick—or both,” Kyle answered.

His stomach twisted at the words as he glanced at her, wishing he could take the pain away. She groaned as she shifted in the bed.

“Julia?” Grant called, rising to hover over her.

“Juju? Open your eyes,” Alicia said.

“Julia?” Kyle said as he pushed past her sister. “Can you hear me?”

“Uh-huh,” she murmured, but her eyes didn’t open. When they did, she squinted, her features twisted.

Grant’s heart raced as he worried about her condition.

“You sensitive to the light?” Kyle asked.

She nodded in response. Sierra flicked off the lights which seemed to ease her discomfort.

“How are you feeling?” Kyle asked.

“Awful,” she groaned. “What’s happening to me?”

Grant kept her hand firmly clutched in his, trying to offer her strength as Kyle informed her of her condition and the developments since she’d lost consciousness.

He interjected a few times, trying to reassure her and ensure she wasn’t overwhelmed. He worried the information would harm her recovery, but she fought through, forcing food down and working to determine what could have been the source of her poisoning.

After talking through it, they identified her toothpaste as a possible culprit. He shook his head at the development, his mind reeling as he considered the bold, chilling move of his ex-wife poisoning Julia’s toothpaste.

The thought made him sick. If she could do this, what else was she capable of?

Kyle left to retrieve the toothpaste being delivered by James for testing. After a kiss on her cheek, Alicia left to update Ethan, and Sierra followed Kyle to visit with James.

Grant offered his daughter a fleeting smile as she disappeared from the room before he returned his gaze to his wife.

She offered him a concerned smile as she cupped his face in her hand. “And that leaves you. Please tell me you’ve gone home at least once.”

Typical Julia. She sat in a hospital bed after having been poisoned, concerned about whether or not he’d taken a break. He cocked his head, silently answering her question.

With a small sigh, she asked, “Have you slept?”

“I’m fine. There was no way I was leaving you. Although we really have to stop meeting like this.” He leaned forward to kiss her lightly. Any need for sleep vanished as the exuberance over her awakening coursed through him.

“At least this time I remember you.”

Grant caressed her cheek as the memory of her amnesia jolted him. “Don’t joke. That was awful, Juls.”

“Yes, it was. And it was all a result of Lydia. How did she get out of jail?”

Grant eased into the chair next to her, keeping his hand tightly wrapped around hers. He didn’t want her to have to deal with Lydia or any of this mess. “She remarried.”

Julia’s eyes went wide. “Who married her?’

“Alexander Knight.”

Julia’s head fell back against the bed. “You’re kidding. He’s been in with her this entire time. But how did he pull this off?”

His annoyance grew as he recalled his meeting with his ex-wife. “Bribed a judge, most likely.”

“And she’s been making more threats?”

He drew the line there. He wouldn’t bother her with any of that. She needed to focus on her recovery and their future. He stared down at their clasped hands. “It’s nothing for you to worry about, Juls. I’m handling it.”

She shifted in the bed, concern etching her face, but before she could push it further, Kyle peered in. “Still up?”

“Yes,” she answered, “trying to convince your father to get some sleep.”

“Forget it. You can’t convince either of us to leave you alone while you’re not quite out of the woods,” Kyle said as he approached her bed.

Grant’s cell phone rang, and he tugged it from his pocket, glancing at the display before he shook his head. A second call from Caroline Foster, one of his loyal board members. He’d deal with it later.

“Take it if you need to,” Julia encouraged.

“No,” he said with a shake of his head. “It’s fine.”

“Grant, it’s fine,” she said with a pat on his hand. “Kyle’s here. I won’t be alone.”

“Yeah, I’ll be here,” Kyle said.

Grant ignored the conversation. “Did you find something?”

“The toothpaste tested positive,” Kyle answered.

“Who knew brushing your teeth could be deadly?” Julia said with a sigh and a shake of her head.

His mind searched for a way his ex-wife had pulled this off and how he could prevent it from happening in the future. His ringing phone pulled him from his thoughts. He glanced at the display again, finding Caroline to be the caller.

“Grant, if you need to take that, it’s fine. I’m probably going to fall asleep.”

He let the phone fall back into his pocket. “And when you do, then I’ll take it.”

She settled back into the pillow with a sigh. “All right, I’ll go to sleep.”

He smiled at her, squeezing her hand as she closed her eyes. Within minutes, she’d fallen asleep, her fingers going limp.

“It’s normal that she’s tired, right?” Grant asked his son.

“Yeah, definitely. She’s recovering well, but she’s not cured yet. She needs her rest.”

Grant’s phone rang again. He grabbed it, checking the display to find Caroline’s name again.

“And you need to take that call so your phone continuously ringing doesn’t disturb her.”

Grant heaved a sigh as he flicked his gaze to his son. “You’ll be here, right?”

“Of course,” he said as he settled into the chair on the opposite side of Julia’s bed.

“Don’t kiss her, okay?”

He held his hands up in the air. “I’ll keep my lips to myself.”

Grant heaved a sigh as he rose and tugged his phone from his pocket. He placed a call to Mike Donovan as he stepped from the room. “Tell me something good.”

“Mr. Harrington… I wish I could. We’re working on buying stock, but the prices are being driven up by our purchases and DG’s.”

Grant rubbed his sore eyes. “Keep at it. Do not let them get a majority stake.”

“I’m doing my best, sir. I’ll keep you updated.”

Grant pulled the phone away from his ear and pressed the end call button as he sighed.

Exhaustion coursed through him. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes for a few moments now that Julia seemed to be recovering.

Maybe he could nod off next to her, though he honestly hoped she’d soon be released so he could take her home. They’d both sleep better there.

He scrolled through his call list to the three missed calls from Caroline Foster. He considered not returning the call, but he worried that she’d continue to call.

After a moment, he pressed the call icon and raised the phone to his ear.

“Grant, I’m glad you called.”

“I saw the missed calls. I’m sorry, Julia’s in the hospital. She’s just woken up.”

“Sorry, Grant, I didn’t know. How is she?”

“Doing better,” he answered, “but still recovering.”

“That’s good. Unfortunately, that won’t make what I’m about to say any easier. But you need to know.”

His pulse quickened. He wondered if it had to do with the hostile takeover attempt. He’d done his best to keep the threat from the board. He’d deal with it, then distill it in a one-line explanation in his report. “Look, Caroline–”

“I’m sorry, Grant, it can’t wait. I received a packet today. I assume everyone on the board did. It contains some…questionable photographs.”

His eyebrows knitted as the words came through the speaker. “What?”

“I’m going to send them to you. I’m really, really sorry about this. But I do think you should know, especially since I’m betting this is going to send some rumblings through the more volatile board members.”

His phone chimed, indicating a text message. He pulled the phone from his ear and toggled to the message from Carolina. Images loaded on the screen. He tapped one to enlarge it.

He lifted the phone to his ear again. “Caroline?”

“I’m here, Grant. I’m very sorry to–”

“Don’t apologize, but these aren’t what they look like. Everything’s fine.”

“Given your track record, more than one board member is going to question this.”

“I know. And I can answer every question. I promise. Look, I’ve got to get back to Julia, but rest assured, this won’t be a problem.”

He cut off the call, a swift motion that left her mid-sentence. His grip on the phone turned his knuckles white, a silent testament to the storm of anger and disbelief within him.

His jaw flexed again as he strode back to Julia’s room, his gaze falling on his son. He narrowed his eyes, glaring at him.

“Bad news?” Kyle asked.

“You could say that.”

“Want to talk about it?”

Grant shuffled to Julia’s side, glancing at her before he flicked an angry gaze at his son. “Yeah. I would. I’d like to talk about how you have, yet again, ruined things.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kyle asked.

“It means your reckless behavior has the board all over me again.”

Kyle fluttered his eyelashes as he rose, his posture stiff. “My reckless behavior? I think it would have more to do with your reckless behavior.”

“No,” Grant said with a shake of his head. “Yours. These photos just got leaked to my board. And now I’ll have to explain this.”

He pulled up the picture, his jaw clenching as he studied it again before he flicked it toward Kyle. “You just had to take her to that cabin and kiss her.”

“I was undercover.”

“Uh-huh, right,” Grant said. “Well, your little undercover stunt just got plastered all over the public. And now my board and who knows how many other people have seen your lips pressed against my wife’s.

We’re already on the brink, and now this?

This could be the push that sends everything tumbling down. ”

Grant curled his fingers into fists as his stomach turned. If he managed to hang on to the majority ownership in his company, he may not be able to stave off the board tossing him out.