Chapter 30
JULIA
J ulia 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.
She studied his stormy eyes, they seemed to hold a mix of emotions, some of which she couldn’t identify. But he had such a forlorn look that she hesitated before she said anything more.
Maybe he didn’t want to hear this from her. Maybe he preferred that they go their separate ways.
She pressed her lips together as she tried to form the words.
He sighed, refusing to look at her after a moment. “Julia, I think I know what you’re going to say, and you’re right. I’m not sure I want to hear it.”
Her shoulders slumped at his words. She wondered if he’d been on board with the plan for Kyle to break into her sister’s house.
She couldn’t imagine he was, which would make this all the harder.
“I know, but I really think we need to discuss it. I don’t want to just do this without you being on board. ”
He offered her an incredulous glance. “Julia, I don’t think I could ever be on board with this.”
Her stomach twisted as she realized he likely wouldn’t be. But they were stuck in one place without moving forward; they both needed to accept this, no matter how hard it was.
“I know. I’m sorry, but…I think this is the best way to move forward.”
Grant flicked his gaze away from her to the rolling waves as they lapped at the rocks below. “Julia…”
“It won’t be that bad.”
He scoffed at the statement.
“It won’t. Come on, Grant. I know you don’t like him–”
“Understatement,” he interrupted.
“But you have to admit he thinks outside of the box. I think he can be really helpful.”
Grant furrowed his brow, glancing at her with confusion etched in every line of his face. “What? Wait, what are we talking about?”
Julia narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you think we’re talking about?”
“You asking me to cancel the rest of our contract because you’re not coming home–but Julia, we need you there. DG Industries is still a huge threat.”
Julia knitted her brows as she tried to parse through the statement. Did he really think that? “What? Why would I do that?”
He offered her a wide-eyed glance. “Julia, you filed a restraining order against me. What else could I think?”
Her jaw unhinged at the words. “Kyle didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“I never filed a restraining order. My sister did that without my knowledge.”
His features registered shock, the tension finally easing a little in his jaw. “You never…”
“No. I had no idea she did that or told you that you couldn’t see me anymore. And they told me my phone wasn’t working, so I had no idea any of this was going on until Kyle told me.”
He breathed out a sigh as he scrubbed his face. “Wait, how did Kyle talk to you if you didn’t have your phone?
She slid her gaze sideways to him, her features scrunching. “He came to the house.”
“And they let him in?”
“Not exactly.”
Grant offered her a questioning gaze, his eyes guarded as though he didn’t actually want to hear it.
“He broke in at one in the morning.”
Grant let his eyes go skyward as he cursed under his breath. “I can’t believe him. I cannot believe he did this. I knew he was going to do something crazy.”
“Well, it’s a good thing he did. Ally told me you didn’t want to see me, and I never would have known why that was without Kyle.”
Silence stretched between them for a few moments before Grant spoke again. “So, you’re coming home with us?”
“Of course, I am. We have eight months left to make sure Lydia pays for what she’s trying to do. Which is why I brought you here to talk about moving forward on that.”
He breathed another sigh, letting his chin fall toward his chest. “Thank goodness. I was really not looking forward to explaining to Sierra that you weren’t coming home.”
Julia reached for his hand and for the first time, he finally caught sight of her ring finger. His rings were on it. He had given them to Worthington. Had the man given them back?
“You got your rings back,” Grant said with a smile. “Your brother-in-law–”
“Gave them to you. I know. Kyle told me.”
He squeezed her hand as he flicked his gaze over the water.
She did the same, appreciating the beauty here, and the calm before the storm they’d inevitably face once they returned to New Orleans.
While she knew they needed to discuss their path forward, she gave him some time to deal with the whirlwind of revelations.
“So, with that out of the way,” Julia said after a few moments of tranquil peace, “we still need to talk…and you’re probably still not going to like it.”
Grant chuckled for a moment. “Well, without the fear of facing DG Industries–and Sierra–alone, I think I’ll be okay.”
Julia chuckled. “Until I say what occurred to me earlier when Kyle had his hand clamped over my mouth in my old bedroom.”
“He did what?!” Grant said, his voice rising.
She tugged her lips back into a wince. “Yeah, but that’s what made me realize how we can move forward with DG.”
“Sneak into Lydia’s bedroom and clamp our hands over her mouth?”
“No, as tempting as that is, I doubt it would work. We need more information. And I’m never going to get it from Lydia. It’s been months, and while she’s making things uncomfortable for me with her ridiculous requests, they’re hardly life- or company-destroying.”
“I agree, but she’s never going to give you the information you want. Which leaves us in the same position we’ve always been in.”
“Well, unless…”
“Unless what?”
Julia puckered her lips as she offered him an apologetic glance in advance of her words. “I think we need to bring Kyle into this.”
Grant arched an eyebrow, his surprise obvious. “What?”
“I know. I told you that you weren’t going to like it, but I think we need to tell him about Lydia.”
“Why?”
“Because…he can’t stop crossing lines.”
“Yeah, that’s obvious. He thought you had a restraining order against him, and he broke into someone’s house to see you. No, wait, he broke into the chief of police’s house.”
“That’s exactly what we need, though.”
“I’m sorry, I’m struggling here with this entire conversation. You’re telling me that we need to tell Kyle, the most untrustworthy person on the planet, that Lydia is behind DG?”
“I don’t think we just need to tell him…I think we need his help.”
Grant raised his eyebrows as his jaw dropped open. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
“Okay, maybe I was more on board with fighting DG alone than with this.”
Julia offered him a frown and a shake of her head. She knew this would be difficult, but she didn’t expect this.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I just…Julia, I think we need to rethink this.”
Julia pressed her lips together. “You know he’s been involved already. We tracked down Alexander Knight, and he almost knew about Lydia anyway.”
“You almost told him?”
“No, I almost took him with me the night I found out, but he was working.”
“Thank goodness, otherwise we might have lost you then.” Grant paused as he squeezed her hand again. “Speaking of…this was way too close of a call again, but I cannot thank you enough for saving Sierra.” He offered her a grateful half-smile.
“Grant, you don’t need to thank me. I wouldn’t have hesitated to save her. She’s important to me.”
He offered her a tight-lipped smile.
“Which is why,” she continued, “I would never risk those pictures coming out. Kyle is not that big of a gamble, but he could be a game-changer.”
“No, Julia,” Grant said, the smile sliding off his face. “No, he’s a gamble, period.”
While his impulsive nature could be a liability, his unpredictability might just be their best asset in this high-stakes game. “But he’s on our side.”
“He’s on your side.”
Julia sighed. She needed to make her case. They were spinning their wheels without him. “He’ll do this.”
“But can we trust him?”
“I think we can. I really do. I think Kyle wants to be accepted by you. I think if we trust him with this, he’ll do it. And I think he’s the only one who can.”
“Explain to me how this helps because I’m not seeing it.”
“We need an in. We need someone who can double agent for us. I’m doing a terrible job of it because while Lydia wants to make me squirm, she’s not willing to give me any actual information. But she may give it to someone she sees as an ally.”
“You want Kyle to pretend to be on Lydia’s side?”
She nodded. “And I think she’ll believe it. All he needs to do is say he wants to destroy you.”
“Which is true. How are you certain he won’t just single agent and help destroy me?”
“That’s a chance we’re taking, but…I don’t think he will.”
“And if he does?”
“Are we any worse off than we are right now? I mean, we have nothing. Kyle could already be working with her.”
“Exactly, so let’s just keep digging on our own.”
“I’m afraid that’s setting us up for failure, and with what’s at stake, we don’t want to fail.”
“No, we don’t,” he said as he flicked his gaze over the ocean again. “All right. If you think we can trust Kyle…we’ll trust Kyle.”
Her stomach fluttered as she shot him a smile and a nod. She certainly hoped they could trust her stepson. “I know bringing Kyle in sounds risky, but his unorthodox approaches to problems could be the wild card we need. Let’s get him on board before we head back.”
She started to stand when he pulled her back. “Wait.”
Her heart skipped a beat, wondering why he didn’t want to leave. Was there something else they needed to address? “What is it?”
“We’re heading back to New Orleans in a few hours. And this is your favorite place on Earth. I want you to spend a few uninterrupted moments here before we go.”
She offered him an appreciative smile before he started to stand. “Where are you going?”
“Oh, uh, back to the car. I thought…you’d like to be alone here. Isn’t this your alone place?”