Page 123 of Betrayal of a Billionaire

“I’m relaxed. I just…want my phone. I will never hear the end of it if Sierra can’t get a hold of me.” Her mind wandered to the other half of her family. She still found it strange not to see Kyle here. He usually pushed his way in using his medical credentials.

“Well, I think you’re going to be waiting on that phone, anyway, because I’m pretty sure they’re going to spring you,” Ethan said with a wink. “Heard a few of the nurses talking when I was out there. You’re going home.”

“Oh, good,” Julia said as she slumped her shoulders with relief. “I can’t wait to get out of this hospital.”

“You’ve only been awake here for like an hour,” Luke said.

“I’ve been in the hospital enough over the past year. I have no desire to stay another minute here.”

“I’m going to go check on things and see if you’re getting released,” Alicia said as she rose and darted from the room.

She returned grinning with a nurse in tow. “You’re going home!”

Julia beamed at them. “Can I get dressed now?”

“Yes, you can go ahead and get ready. I’m just printing up your release papers. Just plenty of rest when you get home. No marathons or strenuous work, okay?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll take extra special care of her,” Alicia said before the woman left the room. “Don’t make me break out the handcuffs, Juju. You’re going home to sit.”

Julia tossed off the sheet as Ethan handed her a bag of her belongings. “You sound like Grant. He will literally sit there and watch me so I don’t move. And don’t worry, Kyle takes my pulse every twenty minutes like clockwork after something’s happened to me. I’ll be fine.”

Alicia glanced at Ethan, biting into her lower lip.

“What’s that look for?” Julia asked as she tugged her shirt over the hospital gown before she shimmied it off underneath.

“Julia…” Alicia began, shooting her husband another look.

Julia flicked her gaze to Luke who actively avoided her eyes. Her forehead crinkled as the vibe went from familiar to tense in seconds. “What’s going on?”

Ethan backed his way to the door, pushing it closed as Alicia set her hands on her hips.

“Okay, you are starting to scare me. What is it?”

“We talked to Grant last night…” Alicia began.

“Yeah?” Julia flicked her gaze around at each of their faces as she tried to find some glimmer of what this was about. Had there been a major fight between them?

“He said…” Alicia licked her lips as she set her eyes on her sister. “Julia, he said when you two last talked…before Sierra went missing, that you’d ended things. He said it was over. That’s why no one’s here. They’re leaving tomorrow. But…you’re coming home with us.”

Julia’s jaw unhinged as she tried to process the words coming from her sister’s mouth. She hadn’t expected this. But maybe she should have. Had he interpreted their argument as the last straw? The thought tightened her chest, a mix of regret and disbelief swirling.

It stung and it broke her heart. Those angry words they’d both said had been the last conversation they’d ever have outside of Sierra’s disappearance. Her marriage had ended, and there was nothing she could do about it.

CHAPTER 27

GRANT

“Ican’t believe this,” Grant said as he ran a trembling hand through his hair. “She can’t do this.”

“I feel like I’m in a bad Western,” Kyle added as they wandered through the hospital toward Sierra’s room. “You can’t call the cops because she’s a cop. And they’ve got the entire town locked down with this anti-Harrington sentiment.”

“Right?” Grant said, sharing a look of disbelief with his son. Had they finally found something to bond over? “You got that vibe from the nurse, too?”

“Ah, yeah, the one who ‘couldn’t find’ Julia Harrington? Then ‘couldn’t tell you’ about Julia Stanton because she was ‘single’?” She knew exactly what was going on, and she just went along with it.”

Grant shook his head as his emotions roiled inside him. He desperately wanted information about his wife, but he wasn’t going to get any outside of the curt, “she’s going to be fine,” he’d received from Alicia when she’d dismissed him.

“What are we going to tell Sierra?” Grant asked, his voice hollow.