Page 8 of Bliss with a Billionaire

“For you, I’ve got time, Sunshine.”

“Okay, just give me a second.” Julia clicked off the video and held a finger over the microphone before she glanced at Grant. “Be right back, okay?”

“Sure,” he answered as she kissed his cheek.

“Alex?” she said as she hurried from the hospital room. “Hi, so there’s something I need to discuss with you. I’m going to apologize ahead of time.”

“No need, kid. Discuss away,” Alex answered.

She heaved a sigh as she stepped into the waiting room and kicked the door stop away, letting the door gently thud behind her. Her mind raced as she tried to piece together scenarios with Harrington Global’s assets and liabilities. She needed to find out if Alex had any ideas she hadn't considered.

“So, there’s a situation with Harrington Global courtesy of Lydia.”

“The Iron Lady strikes again, does she?”

“Yeah,” Julia said, sinking into one of the chairs. “On the heels of my near-poisoning and Kyle’s almost-death–”

“Whoa, throw the vehicle in reverse, Sunshine. Your what now?”

Julia sucked in a breath, recounting the nearly unbelievable story. “She put arsenic in my toothpaste. It nearly killed me. I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for Kyle.”

“My God, this woman is totally whacked.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. She’s put this family through hell, and she’s not finished yet.”

“No kidding. So, what’s the sitch at the HG HQ?” Alex asked.

“She’s buying stock in an attempt to trigger a board vote on the executives.”

Alex whistled before he spoke. “That’s rough. I assume the Grantster doesn’t own a controlling interest to block?”

“No. They’re doing a stock buyback but they’re trailing her, and they’re running short on capital.”

Alex sucked in a breath. “Ouch. And likely over-leveraged at this point, I’m guessing.”

“Yeah. Grant’s got way too much on his plate right now to explain the specifics of this or any potential solutions, but I wondered if you could. I’m just trying to vet solutions, if there are any. It would be such a shame to see Lydia destroy what he’s built. With Lydia controlling the company, it’ll collapse.”

“I hear you. If anyone came after StoneCorp, I’d feel the same way. I’ve maintained a controlling interest to that end. In terms of solutions, borrowing is no longer an option. How do his votes look? Sure, or can Lydia turn them?”

“I’m going to safely say she can turn enough to make his nervous. When I married Grant, some of the board members were out for him. This gives them the perfect opportunity to try again.”

“Hmm, you need an ally. Someone who can give him a controlling interest or close.”

She flicked her eyebrows up. “A white knight play.”

“Right.”

She furrowed her brow, wondering if Grant had already pursued this. “I’m not certain if they’ve discussed that. The problem would be finding someone with that much capital readily available to buy up…oh gosh, at least fifteen to twenty percent, I’d think, in a really short amount of time.”

“How sure are of you that if you found one, Grant could turn this around?”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I mean, he’s gotten himself in a position where he’s deeply in debt and fighting a hostile takeover. That could collapse a company.”

Julia sucked in a breath as she considered his question. “I’m certain he can fix this. The problem is Lydia seems to have an endless supply of cash.”

“Where’s she sitting?”