Page 23 of Believing in a Billionaire (Hearts and Holdings #7)

GRANT

G rant heaved a sigh as he leaned back, the supple leather creaking under him. His fraught nerves threatened to fray further, though at least Julia was home. That removed some of the pressure that threatened to undo him.

Unfortunately, the other stressors moved ahead full steam.

“Yes, I know what it looked like, but I can assure you everything is fine,” he said.

“Really?” Greg Mitchum, one of his board members asked. “Because if–“

“Greg, there is nothing going on. My son was a little overzealous in his affection toward Julia. It’s over and done with. It’s nothing to be worried about. Julia and I are fine.”

“You know Veronica is going to be all over this.”

He tightened his jaw at the mention of her name. “Yeah, I know. I’m going to call her for all the good it will do. The thing is, though, there’s nothing here to be worried about.”

“Grant, there was no prenup or post-nup. That’s going to be Veronica’s play. She’s brought it up before, though she’s always maintained that you would cheat. This is a wrinkle we didn’t expect.”

Grant tightened his fingers into fists. “There is no wrinkle here, Greg. No one cheated. Julia came home from that little fiasco and told me all about it. Our marriage is rock solid. Kyle is not a threat, and he never was.”

“All right,” Greg said with a sigh. “As long as we’re not looking at another bitter divorce that can take HG’s interests…”

“There is no divorce on the horizon. You can take that to the bank.”

“Honestly, I’d have been surprised if there was, Grant. Julia’s a very stable woman, and she’s obviously in love with you. I don’t know how you got so lucky, but I’d do whatever it takes to keep her around.”

“Believe me, Greg, I am doing just that.”

They finished their conversation, and he ended the call, letting the phone clatter to his desk as he rubbed his forehead. While the crisis seemed to be contained, he was getting sick of explaining his son’s overly amorous behavior to every board member who wanted to pry into his personal life.

At least this time when he told them their marriage was solid, he wasn’t lying.

Julia wasn’t tethered to him by a contract for the first time in their lives.

It brought a smile to his face every time he thought about it.

However, it also left a knot of worry between his shoulders as he realized he could now lose her at any moment.

At least when they were contracted, she couldn’t leave.

“Bourbon, sir?” Worthington asked from the doorway, pulling him back from his thoughts.

“Please,” he answered as he leaned back in his chair.

Worthington crossed to the drink cart and poured a glass. “Difficult day?”

Grant sipped the bourbon before he sighed, allowing the burn in his throat to soothe him. “It’s been a difficult several days, Worthington.”

“I am sorry to hear that. I had hoped settling matters with Mrs. Harrington would ease your burden. Instead, it seems to have added to it.”

Grant snapped his gaze from the broken image of him reflected in the bourbon to Worthington’s face. “That’s not true. Julia being here permanently…more or less…” He shrugged as he recalled the six-month trial she’d given him. “It’s…perfect.”

“Perfect? That answer seemed…rather hesitant.”

Grant sucked in a breath as he shook his head. “No. It wasn’t hesitant. I’m thrilled she’s back and not under contract.”

“But?” the older man asked.

“But nothing,” Grant said with another shrug. “What are you getting at?” What was Worthington suggesting? He was happy. Thrilled, in fact.

“You tell me, sir.”

Grant offered him an incredulous glance. “I’m happy, Worthington. I couldn’t be more happy. Actually, okay, I’ll be honest. I could be more happy with Lydia behind bars. She nearly killed Julia…again.”

“We would all be more happy with her…locked up. Everyone will sleep better when Ms. Lydia is out of the picture.”

“You can say that again,” Grant answered, flicking his gaze out over the afternoon sun’s glare on the front lawn. “Have you heard about her latest strike?”

“The arsenic in the toothpaste?” Worthington asked.

Grant shook his head, huffing out a laugh. “No, as if that wasn’t enough, she sent pictures of Kyle kissing Julia to the entire Harrington Global board.”

Worthington raised his eyebrows. “Oh, my. How uncomfortable for you, sir.”

Grant shook his head. “Yeah. But I really feel bad for Julia. She was upset about it and…”

“And?” Worthington prodded.

“She overheard Kyle and I arguing about it.” Grant swallowed another sip of bourbon, frustrated over the bit of ugliness that had slipped to Julia.

Worthington’s forehead creased. “You and Dr. Carter have had many arguments. Surely, Mrs. Harrington was not disturbed by it.”

“She was disturbed by the picture leak. I didn’t want her to know. As usual, Kyle insisted we tell her.” Grant shook his head as he rubbed a finger along his lips. “He just is determined to make our relationship difficult.”

“You were not planning on telling her, sir?” Worthington asked.

Grant froze, eyeing his butler with a questioning gaze. “What?”

“I only asked a question, sir.”

“No. No, that’s not a question. That’s one of your cryptic warnings.”

“Cryptic warnings? I have no such things, sir.”

“The hell you don’t,” Grant said with a wag of his finger. “You always have something cryptic to say. And you’re usually right, but you never just say it straight out.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, sir,” Worthington answered with a shrug.

“Oh come on. You meant something when you said, ‘You weren’t planning on telling her?’ And I’d like to know what.”

“Merely a question, sir.”

“Fine, okay,” Grant said, throwing his hands out. “I’ll play. No, I wasn’t.”

Worthington bobbed his head up and down.

“Well?” Grant asked.

“Well, nothing,” Worthington said.

Grant scoffed as he tossed a hand in the air. Silence stretched between them for a few moments as Grant eyed his butler. He shifted in his chair, narrowing his eyes.

“May I freshen your drink, sir?”

“Sure,” Grant said, holding the glass out.

Worthington collected it and strode to the drink cart to add bourbon to the glass before he returned it.

“You know,” Grant said as he took the tumbler back, “if you have something to say, you should just say it.”

Worthington offered him a blank stare and a shrug.

“All right, fine. Be that way. I’d better get back to my phone calls.”

“Of course, sir.” Worthington strode to the door, his hands lingering on the knobs before he twisted to face Grant. “You know, sir–”

“I knew it,” Grant said with a snap of his fingers. “Go on.”

“It’s only that…if you recall, honesty was the thing that led to the improvement with Mrs. Harrington, not keeping things from her.”

Grant sank his head into his hands with a sigh as Worthington strode from the room. Instead of dwelling on the statement, he pushed it aside, moving on to return phone calls from his other board members.

With a sigh, he dialed the next number and went through the same reassuring spiel, adding a few extra pieces designed to set this specific board member at ease.

The conversation went easier than he expected, though explaining how he could understand his son’s actions given how head over heels in love with Julia he was stuck in his throat.

He often couldn’t understand his son’s actions. And that made it difficult to relate to the man. Though, he could see Julia’s appeal.

He finished the call and stared at the next name on his list. Veronica Lawson. He had no desire to speak to the woman. She’d point-blank asked his wife to sign a post-nuptial agreement during a dinner party.

She was not an ally. She’d be using the photos to drum up another attack on him. He rose from his chair, deciding to make the call after checking in with Julia.

He swallowed the last of his bourbon before he climbed from his seat and strode from the room. He climbed the stairs and navigated to the bedroom, finding Julia drumming her fingers against her thigh as she sat alone.

“Where’s your sister? Not that I’m complaining,” he said as he crossed to the bed.

“I asked her to go see if Kyle’s here.”

The mention of his son’s name made his jaw clench. “Well, at least you sent her and didn’t try to go yourself.”

“Actually, I did,” Julia answered. “But I didn’t make it very far.”

Grant let his head fall back between his shoulders. “Julia, you are supposed to be resting. If I can’t trust you to do that–”

“I know, I know. Don’t worry, Ally is as tough a warden as you are.”

“Good,” he said, his eyebrows raising. “How are you feeling?”

“Worried,” she said with a shake of her head, her features pinching.

Grant eased onto the edge of the bed, taking her hands in his. “Julia, you need to rest.”

“I’m resting!” she claimed. “I’m sitting here doing nothing–”

“But worrying,” he finished for her. “You need to stop doing that. I don’t want you to worry. I want you recovering.”

Julia heaved a sigh, flicking her gaze up to him. “I can’t help it. I’m worried about Kyle.”

“He’s a grown man, Julia. He’s probably off licking his wounds somewhere else. He’ll turn up when he’s ready.”

“Grant, this is highly unlike him.” She waved her phone in the air. “Not a single call, not a single text. And unless he’s locked in his room here, no one has seen him since he stormed out of my room last night.”

“Of his own volition, Julia. He’s mad at us. Maybe…I was a little harsh with him, but–”

“You were a lot harsh with him,” she said.

He bristled at the statement. “He deserved some of that.”

“Neither of you deserved anything the other one said last night. That’s the problem here. You just…both were tired and stressed and as usual, you go right for each other’s throats.”

“Well, he gave as good as he got, Julia. He blames me for everything.”

“I know. It’s going to take him a long time to get over that instinct. And you don’t deserve that, but he’s…vulnerable.”

Grant shifted his gaze away from her, his jaw clenching.

“I know you don’t want to hear that–”