Page 134 of Betrayal of a Billionaire

“I…may have asked the judge for a favor while you were still asleep just to get the ball rolling.” Alicia’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry, Julia. I had to protect you.”

“From what?”

“You can’t be serious. Those people are dangerous.”

“They are not dangerous, Ally. What you did was…I know I lied to you about this, but…it didn’t hurt you or anyone else. But this…Kyle was extremely upset.”

“No wonder! He’s borderline crazy, Julia.”

“He’s not.”

“Really? After everything that happened, after Ethan told him he could be arrested, he still contacted you? Even a text can be grounds for us coming after him.”

Maybe her sister had a point. He had broken into her house.

Alicia’s features twisted with both guilt and upset bordering on anger. “That stupid doctor. I knew he’d be the problem.”

“Hardly,” Julia answered. “He was understandably upset.”

“And so what? He badgered you until you got upset?”

“No, he told me what happened and it became pretty obvious what you did. You lied about the phone. You lied about Grant taking Sierra home and not wanting to see me. And you lied to them about me.”

“I did what I had to do to protect you. Julia, you nearly died. Again. That family is toxic. They’re like a walking disaster. And I don’t want you anywhere near it.”

“You always try to shield me, Ally, but this time, it’s too much.”

Alicia’s eyes shimmered with more tears. “I’m scared, Julia. I can’t lose you to that chaos again.”

“It’s not your decision, Ally.”

Alicia stared at her, tears welling in her eyes. “So, what? That’s it? What about us? What about Luke?”

Julia heaved a sigh as she shook her head. “I don’t know. But what I do know is I have eight months left on a contract with Grant and a lot of things to settle during them.”

“To hell with the contract, Julia! Your life is worth way more than that. And I’m sure there’s a legal way around it. Please, Julia. You can’t go back to that life. I may have been wrong in doing what I did. Maybe I should have done things differently, but I did it to protect you. I did it to save your life.”

Julia stared at her sister as she desperately clutched her hands, tears falling to her cheeks and her eyes pleading. The rings she’d shoved into her pocket earlier seemed to press against her harder than they had before. Would she be making the biggest mistake of her life if she returned to the Harrington fold?

CHAPTER 29

GRANT

The cold metal in his hand reminded him of the results of his actions. Yet another failure. And this time one he couldn’t bear to admit.

How had things gone so terribly wrong?

She never loved you to begin with, he reminded himself. The minute his contracted wife had come face to face with the man she hadn’t gotten over, any hopes for transitioning the best relationship he’d ever had from fake to real went up in smoke.

But he hadn’t counted on this. He’d thought at least they would be amicable. Maybe she’d even spend the last eight months of her contract with them, giving him time to grieve the end of the relationship. Or change her mind.

Now, he’d lost everything.

His mind reeled as his heart ached. How would he tell Sierra? How would they get back on a plane tomorrow and go home without her?

How would it feel to walk into her room and know she was never coming back?

The car slid to a stop outside of their rented house. As he shuffled inside, even this foreign place felt cold, empty, and lonely, mirroring the hollow emptiness he felt inside. He couldn’t imagine how Harrington House would feel without her.