Page 137 of Betrayal of a Billionaire

She nodded as she snapped the lid back on the ice cream container and stowed it in the freezer before dumping her spoon in the sink. “I think we need to talk.”

His heart skipped a beat, and he swallowed hard. So, she wasn’t going to just leave it unfinished. He was surprised she had yesterday, but maybe she needed the time to figure out whatshe was going to say to him. Whatever it was, he braced himself for the letdown of a lifetime. “Julia–“

“Are you up for a walk?”

She didn’t want Sierra to overhear. She wanted to break ties with him without his daughter hearing her. Maybe that was for the best though. “Okay,” he managed.

She smiled up at him again as she nodded her head toward the foyer. “Let’s go.”

He followed her outside to her Jeep, every step felt like he was on his way to his doom. He hated the look of that car that represented her freedom. He pictured her driving away after she dropped him off later, happily heading back to her old life while he scraped up the broken pieces of his own to carry back to New Orleans.

The morning sun painted the trees around them vivid reds and golds as they wound around the quiet back roads. She pulled the car off the road, easing it to a stop before she hopped out.

As they trekked through the woods, he wondered what specific significance the place they were going meant to her. Was it where Luke proposed? The thought nauseated him as the trees started to give way.

A pebble beach spread out in front of them. The morning sun painted the waves that lapped at the stones. Julia picked her way across it and settled on a large rock overlooking the cove.

The sun made her face glow as she smiled into it. “Pretty, right?”

Her mood made him all the sadder. She was so excited to move on without them. He struggled to stop his hands from trembling as he forced a hoarse, “Yeah,” from his mouth.

He swallowed hard, suddenly wanting the conversation to be over. “I guess you have lots of nice memories here.”

“Mmm, I do, yep,” she said, her eyes never leaving the horizon. She sucked in a deep breath. “This is my favorite place on Earth.”

He pictured her here with Luke, him down on one knee, her eyes glistening with tears as she accepted his ring. Had they already gotten re-engaged? He’d forgotten to check her hand for another ring, and he couldn’t see her ring finger now.

“Lots of memories of Luke, I guess,” he said, bitterly, immediately wishing the words hadn’t slipped out of his mouth.

“No. None with Luke here. I’ve never come here with Luke. I’ve never come here with anyone, actually. Well, until now.” She offered him that soft smile that he’d grown to love so much. It would be hard to hear this news from her.

“So…you’ve only come here…”

“Alone,” she said, nodding. “Yeah. This was my special place to think.”

He wondered if she’d come here after their argument. At least she hadn’t gotten engaged to Luke here. That might make the news coming a tiny bit more bearable.

He flicked his gaze around the beach. He could appreciate the beauty so much more if he wasn’t about to get the worst news of his life.

And she was dragging it out. She probably felt bad, knowing Julia. After everything that happened, she likely was trying to figure out the way to say it nicely. After all, she’d forgiven Kyle after he’d put her through a harrowing experience. She was too nice for her own good.

With a deep sigh, she finally pulled her eyes away from the horizon and centered them on him. He still couldn’t see her ring finger, but he was certain what was coming.

She tugged her lips back into a momentary wince as she studied him. He braced himself for the words to come tumbling out of her mouth any second.

“I thought you may appreciate a Luke-free zone on the last day. Especially since what we need to talk about…” She paused as she huffed out a tiny sigh before she centered her gaze on him again. “You’re not going to like it.”

As Julia’s words hung in the air, Grant’s heart pounded in his ears. The world seemed to pause around him, the moment stretching into an eternity as he braced for the inevitable heartbreak.

His heart tumbled as he studied the emotion in her eyes. Was it guilt or something else? He couldn’t tell, but either way, he firmed his jaw as he prepared to be left by the one woman he hoped would never walk away from him.

CHAPTER 30

JULIA

Julia shifted her weight as she flicked her gaze to Grant. She worried about how he’d take the news when she finally told him. She’d been working up to it for hours.

Before the entire vacation debacle, she may have knocked on his door and dragged him out here earlier just to get it over with, but now everything seemed upside-down.