Page 9 of Believing in a Billionaire (Hearts and Holdings #7)

“No, it’s fine. It’s their house. If they want to…threaten to drop me in a foreign country with no passport, that’s…well, I don’t know what to make of that oddly specific threat, but sure.”

He slid his eyes closed, imagining the scene that had ensued between the four of them. He’d really need to speak with both of his children.

“Yeah, sorry. That’s…Kyle can be a little…and Sierra is…Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I just…I don’t want to cause any trouble. I’m really trying to respect your relationship with Julia.”

The words gave him some hope that she hadn’t spent the day outlining all the ways he wasn’t a good husband to Julia. Before he could answer, though, heels pounded down the stairs, striking fear into his heart.

“Daddy,” Sierra said before she shifted her gaze to Alicia, “I need to speak with you.”

“Excuse me,” he said as he stepped away. “Oh, there’s coffee in the kitchen, and we eat breakfast at eight.”

“Thanks,” Alicia said as she hovered in the doorway.

Sierra paraded in front of him to his office. He followed behind her, closing the door as she whipped around the face him. “What are you doing about our problem?”

He swallowed hard. Had they somehow heard about DG Industries’ hostile takeover bid?

“That woman nearly killed me, and she nearly broke up you and Julia. But Julia says you said it was okay for her to stay here.”

He heaved a sigh, mostly of relief as he crossed to his desk and eased into his chair. “I did say it was fine. Although, I don’t need to approve Julia’s decisions. She’s a part of this household, now. She doesn’t need my permission.”

Sierra narrowed her eyes at him.

“And while we’re on the subject, I heard that you made it more than a little uncomfortable yesterday when Alicia arrived. Sierra, we talked about this. No upsetting Julia. I don’t want her overwhelmed.”

“And I don’t want her bitchy sister breaking you up. Daddy! You said you have six months to make Julia so deliriously happy she can’t even think about leaving, but you’re letting Officer Frost hang out here. She’s going to be whispering at every turn about how terrible we are.”

Grant heaved a sigh as he pondered adding bourbon to his coffee despite the early hour. “Actually, I just had a very nice conversation with Alicia, and she apologized, so…”

“Did I hear right?” Kyle asked as he slipped into the room. “Did you just say Sheriff Snark apologized?”

“What is with the weird nicknames? Please, it’s too early for this. And yes, she did. Now, will you two please relax? It would be very nice for Julia to have her sister here.”

“Unless her sister is going to rip our family apart like she tried to do in Maine,” Kyle shot back.

“That’s not going to happen,” Grant said with a shake of his head.

“It had better not,” Sierra said with a frown. “Or I will hold you personally responsible. Come on, Kyle, let’s go.”

He stared after his two children as they left the room together, arching an eyebrow. Apparently, they had found common ground hating Alicia. He shook his head as he grabbed his phone to call the office, but before he could Julia slipped inside.

“Good morning, everything okay?”

He smiled at her as he tossed the phone on the desk and rose to greet her. “Yes, everything’s fine. I just couldn’t sleep.”

“Still worried about what’s going on at the office.”

“No, just…hey, I had a nice conversation with your sister this morning,” he said as he segued the conversation to a new topic.

Julia screwed up her face as she stared at him. “Really?”

“Yes, she was very nice. She apologized. So, there’s hope for our relationship yet.”

The smile on Julia’s face at the words melted some of his tension.

“Now, just to deal with Kyle and Sierra. Although, those two seem…oddly close lately.”

“Oh, yes,” Julia said with a nod, “Sierra called him her brother yesterday. It seems Alicia has really brought them together.”

“Really?” he asked as he wrapped an arm around her and guided her toward the dining room.

Julia nodded as they shared a laugh over it. So often during their two-year marriage, he’d longed for simple, easy moments like this. And now he had them. His mind drifted back to the problems at Harrington Global. He just had to make sure he could hang on to them.

Julia settled into her chair as Alicia entered the dining room. She eased into the chair next to Julia, and the sisters exchanged a hug.

“Did you sleep well?”

“I…not really, but that had more to do with everything going on.”

Julia rubbed her arm. “We’ll talk today.”

Sierra stomped her way in as Grant settled into his seat at the head of the table.

Kyle followed behind her, stopping as he entered the room, his features pinching. “Umm, no.”

“Just sit down, Kyle,” Grant said.

“No, she’s in my seat. That’s my seat. I sit next to Julia.”

Alicia stared at him for a second. “Are-are you serious? Are you five?”

Kyle glared at her, and she pushed back from the table. “Okay, I can move. No problem.”

“No,” Grant said with a shake of his head. “That’s not necessary. I’m sure just this once–“

“Alicia can sit by me,” Sierra said as she patted the seat next to her. “Then, I can keep an eye on her.”

Grant shook his head with a sigh, waving his coffee cup in the air as Worthington entered the room. Alicia settled into the seat next to Sierra, glaring as Kyle sat down next to Julia with a smile.

“Good morning, Julia,” he said. “Did you sleep well?”

“I did, thank you.”

“All ready for our scheduled lunch today?” he asked.

Grant furrowed his brow at the statement. “Wait, you have lunch scheduled, too?”

Kyle nodded as he dug into his pocket and produced a paper. “I do, and I have a variety of scheduled stepmother-stepson events I’d like to pencil in on your calendar.”

“Oh, okay,” Julia said with a nod.

Grant stared at him, his jaw unhinged. “I hope you have room on your calendar for me to see you once a month or so.”

She laughed as she wrapped her hand around his. “I have plenty of time for you.”

“Wow, seems like you’re in high demand here, Juju,” Alicia said.

“She is,” Sierra shot back, her tone sharp. “We love Julia.”

“Enough to make sure no one takes her away from us ever again,” Kyle added.

“Okay, I think Alicia understands that,” Grant tried. “Why don’t we change the subject?”

They spent the remainder of breakfast making stilted conversation before Grant’s cell phone rang, interrupting the limited conversation. He slid it from his pocket to check the number, recognizing Max Sterling, head of his personal security team.

His stomach clenched at the sight. “Excuse me, I need to take this.”

“Sure,” Julia said with a concerned glance and a squeeze of his hand as he rose.

He hurried from the dining room as he answered the call. “Max, what is it?”

“We have…an issue.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Grant said as he slipped into his office and closed the door behind him. “What is it?”

There was a sigh on the other end of the line before the man spoke again. “It’s your ex-wife, sir. Lydia is out of jail.”

Grant’s hand tightened around the phone as Max’s words cut through the silence. Lydia’s last threat to him, whispered with venom as she was led away in handcuffs, echoed in his ears.

The chilling words seemed to fulfill that whispered promise, a specter from his past now looming large again and threatening their future. Would they survive it?