Chapter 16
Julia flicked her gaze away from Kyle as she scurried toward a chair in the corner.
“Julia.” His voice pierced through her, setting her nerves on edge after the incident at the restaurant. She felt his eyes on her, and she froze before she could settle into the seat.
His voice softened. “Julia, please…I don’t mean to rub salt in the wounds, I just…can we talk?”
She spun slowly to face him, her heart racing as turmoil roiled within her. “I don’t think that’s the best idea, Dr. Carter.”
Disappointment flashed in his eyes as he flicked his gaze to the floor. “Please, let’s not do that.”
“Do what?” she asked, heat lacing her voice.
“Let’s not let this put distance where there shouldn’t be any. Don’t shut me out. There’s more at stake here than you realize. I’m not looking to hurt you. Quite the opposite.”
Her shoulders slumped as she tried to formulate a response to the delicate statement that wouldn’t make things worse.
“Tell you what, things are still raw. I have to give my statement, but let’s talk afterward. I promise I’ll listen. But you have to promise to do the same.”
She fluttered her eyelashes at the proposition. He promised to listen. Maybe this would be the way to sort out this entire situation. “All right.”
He grinned at her. “Good. I won’t be long.”
She eased into the hard seat as he wandered to the desk and spoke to one of the officers. The man nodded at him before directing him through a doorway into the back.
Julia bit her thumbnail as the chaotic energy of the police station buzzed around her. The clanking of doors and muffled voices created a dissonant backdrop. Her mind drifted to her situation with Grant. The contractual lines had once again blurred. Was it possible to keep them clear?
Before she delved deeper, the door to the back burst open. Her heart stopped momentarily, and her breath hitched as she expected the confrontation with Kyle sooner than she expected. A sigh of relief escaped her as Mitchell strode into the waiting room.
She leapt from her seat and hurried toward him. “Mitchell, thank you for coming. How does it look? Is there anything I can do?”
The man slid an arm around her. “Let’s sit down and chat, shall we?”
She bobbed her head as they shuffled back to her corner seat and perched on the edge of it, swallowing hard.
“Julia, can you tell me anything about what happened?”
Julia sucked in a breath as she composed her thoughts. Could she tell him? She barely understood it herself. “I…I’m really not sure, to be honest. This entire thing escalated far more quickly than I expected.”
“Okay, just slow down. Start from the beginning. How did the physical fight start?”
Julia nodded, composing herself and focusing only on that piece. “Umm, Kyle and I were having lunch. Grant came in and…uh…”
Julia struggled to recall the details that had led to the violence. “I guess Kyle thought he came on too strong, and he pulled me away from Grant and punched him. It came on the heels of Kyle saying he suspected I was in an abusive relationship.”
Mitchell jotted a few notes on his legal pad before he flicked his gaze back to Julia. “So, you can confirm Dr. Carter lashed out first?”
“Yes, definitely. He just…punched Grant out of nowhere.”
“And you mentioned the doctor saying he suspected an abusive relationship. Did he say what led to that?”
Julia sucked in a breath and nodded. “Yes. He said Grant’s behavior seemed odd to him after my accident. That he seemed overbearing and more worried about Kyle’s attention on me than my well-being. He seemed insistent about this despite what I said.”
“So, you told him this was not the case?”
“Yes, definitely. I told him several times before Grant arrived. Then when Grant came…I don’t know, it’s like he snapped. He just kept insisting that I was too close to see it.”
Mitchell set his pen on the pad, fixing his gaze on Julia. “Julia, this may be a difficult question for you, but I need an honest answer. I’m not asking as Grant’s attorney, I’m asking as your friend. Is there anything that could be construed as abusive from your perspective?”
“No,” Julia answered immediately. She bit her lower lip, leaning closer to Mitchell. “I think he may have picked up on the…lack of personal connection between us.”
Mitchell bobbed his head. “I see. But nothing else that can be considered abusive behavior?”
“No, nothing. I tried to explain that to Dr. Carter, but he didn’t accept that.”
Mitchell twisted the cap onto his pen. “Okay. One more question. Grant said something about a…misunderstanding between you this morning. He said you left without resolving it. Did you mention anything about that to Dr. Carter?”
“No. And it was just that. A misunderstanding. Nothing beyond what a normal couple would go through, to be honest.”
“Have you given your statement yet?”
“No. Should I do that now?”
“When you’re ready. It may help quite a bit. If you’d like legal representation, I’d be happy to sit in with you.”
“Do you think I need it?”
Mitchell lifted a shoulder. “You’re not in any trouble, but if you’d like some guidance, it would be appropriate.”
Julia glanced at the dirty tile floor under her feet. “I don’t want to do anything that may make this worse for Grant, so I think I’d like to take you up on that.”
“Good. If you’re ready, I’ll arrange for it now.”
“Thank you.” Julia grasped the chair’s arm, her knuckles turning white as she tried to rehearse what she’d say within her statement. How could she explain all of this, and in a way that bolstered Grant’s case rather than shoot holes into it?
“Julia?” Mitchell’s voice tugged her back to reality. “We’re ready.”
She swallowed hard as she rose and strode toward Mitchell with a nervous smile. They settled in an interrogation room. Julia shivered as she eased into the seat, imagining Grant stuck alone in one of these.
A detective strode into the room, his shrewd eyes settling on Julia. He shifted a microphone around on the table before he offered her a polite smile. “Mrs. Harrington, it’s nice to finally meet you. You seem to be a woman who has set the world on fire.”
Julia tightened her grip on her purse strap under the table.
“Let’s keep the personal commentary to a minimum, detective,” Mitchell shot back. “Mrs. Harrington is willingly giving a statement as to the nature of the incident.”
“Incident?” The detective scoffed as he leaned back in the chair. “Do you mean the brawl where Mr. Harrington decked an upstanding doctor?”
Julia’s nervous energy twisted her features into an annoyed frown at his insinuation. Mitchell laid a hand on her arm as he spoke again. “Detective, are you interested in Mrs. Harrington’s statement or would you prefer to piece together what happened the way you think it did?”
The man held his hand up. “My apologies. All right, Mrs. Harrington, can you describe what happened earlier this afternoon at the Azalea Room?”
Julia sucked in a breath, sliding her gaze to Mitchell who offered her a nod. “I was having lunch with Dr. Carter–”
“Let me stop you there. Do you often have lunch with Dr. Carter?”
“No,” Julia answered. “This was our first lunch. Dr. Carter invited me after the Ballet Board meeting concluded. We both serve on that.”
“I see. So you went to the meeting together, then he took you to lunch.”
“No,” Julia corrected. “We didn’t go together. We both attended the meeting and then he asked me to lunch.”
“Are you in the habit of going to lunch with men other than your husband?”
“That’s not relevant,” Mitchell interjected.
“I disagree. Perhaps Mrs. Harrington loves to lunch with other men, drawing the ire of her husband.”
“No,” Julia said again. “I rarely lunch with anyone other than my husband.”
“So, why did you accept this invitation?”
“Dr. Carter told me he wanted to discuss something with me, so I accepted.”
The detective crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes. “And what was it he wanted to discuss?”
Julia sucked in a breath as she tried to piece together the nonsensical conversation. “I had been in the emergency room yesterday after an incident with a car nearly hitting me. He said he noticed some…concerning behavior and thought I may be in an abusive relationship.”
“Are you?” The detective flicked his gaze to Julia.
“Absolutely not,” she answered.
“Then why would the doctor think that?”
Julia pressed her lips together as Mitchell fielded the question. “You’d have to ask the good doctor. There is no way Mrs. Harrington knows what is in his mind.”
“Care to hazard a guess, Mrs. Harrington?”
“I couldn’t possibly even if I tried. There are no problems between Grant and me. We have a stable, normal relationship.”
“You don’t argue?”
“Of course, we argue. I said we had a normal relationship. But there is no bitterness, no animosity. We argue, then we work it out.”
“Sounds like you have a pretty great relationship.”
“I’d say so. I’m very happy with it.”
“So, the doctor’s wrong. Did you tell him that?”
“Yes, I did.”
As the detective leaned forward, the weight of his scrutiny descended on her shoulders. His questions, though professional, seemed invasive, probing into every corner of her life. “Then what led to the fight?”
Julia paused to collect her thoughts. “When Grant arrived, he approached us. Dr. Carter had been holding my hand at the time, and I wanted my husband to know that it was not what it seemed. I told him that and Dr. Carter took that as a defense to an abusive husband. He…took it upon himself to pull me away from Grant and punch him. Grant defended himself, and it just escalated from there.”
“So, Dr. Carter threw the first punch in a misguided attempt to protect you from what he perceived was an angry husband.”
Mitchell heaved a sigh. “Again, detective, you’d have to ask Dr. Carter why he did what he did.”
The detective flicked his gaze from Julia to Mitchell before he leaned closer, skepticism coloring his voice. “And you expect us to believe that a respected doctor would hurl an accusation like this without any basis?”
“It’s the truth,” she said with a shrug.
“All right,” he said with a bob of his head. “If we have any questions, is it all right if we follow up?”
Julia nodded as they all rose to stand. “Yes, of course.”
“Oh, uh, one last thing. In these sorts of cases, we usually recommend some time apart for the spouses. Do you have somewhere you can stay?”
“I will be staying at Harrington House with my husband. There is no reason for there to be time apart. The accusation is ridiculous.”
The detective pressed his lips together, his eyebrows wiggling. “Well, okay, then.”
The man shuffled from the room, leaving Julia with Mitchell. “As always, Julia, you prove to be an exceptional asset to Grant. With your statement, I hope to get these charges dismissed very quickly. It’ll only be the doctor’s statement that holds us up.”
“Thank you, Mitchell. I’ll wait if you think Grant will be released soon.”
“No need. I’m certain Grant will want you home. I’ll keep you informed. He wanted me to pass along that you’d talk soon.”
She plastered on a smile though the words struck her as odd. “All right. I’ll head home. Thank you, Mitchell. Tell Grant…uh…tell Grant I’ll see him at home.”
“I will. Thanks, Julia. We’ll be in touch.”
She offered him another fleeting smile as she left the interrogation room behind, exiting into the waiting room and giving it a quick scan. Her heart thudded against her ribs as she found it empty of anyone she knew. With her pulse quickening, she hurried across the room and into the hall.
She hoped to avoid another confrontation with Kyle. She couldn’t hear all the misinformation he found so compelling.
With a sigh of relief, she pushed into the late afternoon air. Her fingers tightened around her purse strap, and she swallowed hard. The weight of the day threatened to crush her. She craved nothing more than the silence of Harrington House rather than the sharp sounds of the city that surrounded her.
As she descended the stairs to cross to the visitor parking lot, a familiar voice called to her. Her heart stopped, rising into her throat.
Her features pinched as she spun to find Kyle hurrying down the stairs toward her. “Julia, wait.”
He jogged the distance between them as she shifted her weight, her fingers tightening on her handbag. “You promised we’d talk.”
“Kyle, I’m exhausted from all of this. I just want to go home and–”
“Please tell me you have somewhere else to stay away from him. I can’t imagine with the legal team he has at his disposal that he won’t get bail.”
Julia slid her eyes closed for a moment. Did he honestly believe everything he was saying or was this some sort of ploy to strike at Grant?
Warm fingers wrapped around her forearm. “Julia…”
She bristled at the touch, pulling back from him.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “You just seem…so upset.”
“I am very upset, Kyle. My husband is in jail right now for no reason. And you don’t seem to be listening to anything I’ve said.”
Kyle set his hands on his hips as he lowered his gaze to the ground before he shook his head. “Julia, I know this is hard–”
“It’s not. It’s impossible. You’re making it impossible.”
“I’m not. Please, let’s go find a quiet place to talk. I’ll listen to your side, but you have to listen to mine. I’m not inexperienced in this sort of thing. I’ve seen a lot of women–”
“No,” Julia said with a vehement shake of her head. “I’m not being abused. This conversation is finished.”
She spun on a heel and took a few steps toward the parking lot.
“Julia, wait,” Kyle said as he hurried after her. He pulled a card from his pocket along with a pen, quickly scrawling something on the back. “This is my personal cell phone number. When you’re ready to hear what I have to say, call or text. Anytime. Any hour, day or night.”
Julia side-eyed it, refusing to take it. She reached her car and tugged the door open, sliding behind the wheel. As she reached for the door to pull it shut, Kyle blocked her, crouching to eye her as he held the card out.
“Take the card, Julia. You will regret it if you don’t.”
Her brow furrowed as the last statement came across as a threat. With reluctance lingering, she reached for it and slid the card from his fingers.
“And I mean it. Day or night, Julia. Whenever you’re ready.”
“There really is nothing I can say to convince you, is there?”
He pressed his lips together as he shook his head. “I’m sorry, Julia. As a physician, I’ve seen this far more often than you may think. It starts with tiny things that seem innocent, but it escalates, sometimes more quickly than anyone expects.”
She kept her eyes trained on the steering wheel.
Kyle studied the well-appointed interior of the flashy sports car. “Did he buy this for you?”
“That’s really none of your business.”
“I’m guessing it was a very expensive apology for his bad behavior. It’s lovely, but it shouldn’t make up for what he’s doing.”
The image of the sapphire bracelet he’d dangled in front of her after the incident with Bianca danced through her mind. Perhaps Grant did have a tendency to buy his way out of situations.
“Actually, he bought it to give me more freedom. I don’t think an abusive spouse would do that.”
Kyle flicked his eyebrows up. “You’d be surprised what they do when they’re feeling guilty. But you’re not ready for this conversation right now, and I’m okay with that. It’s hard for me to let you go because if something happens, I’d never forgive myself, but it has to be your choice.”
“Thanks for the card,” she murmured as she reached for her door again.
“Take care, Julia. Be safe,” he said as he stood and backed away.
She slammed the door shut and fired the engine before she backed from the space. A glance in her rearview mirror as she pulled away showed his icy blue eyes still fixed on her.
She pushed it from her mind on her ride home, arriving at the quiet solitude of Harrington House. She pushed inside, her muscles aching from the tension she’d held in them most of the day.
“Mrs. Harrington, how was lunch?” Worthington asked as he hurried toward her.
She raised her eyes to his kind face, her features melting with upset.
He hurried forward to steady her. “Oh, dear, I hadn’t meant to upset you. I thought your lunch with Mr. Harrington would have provided much-needed relief after the tension this morning.”
She heaved a breath as her eyebrows knitted. “You mean…you don’t know?”
“Don’t know what?”
“I didn’t have lunch with Grant. I–”
“OMG!” Sierra’s shrill voice shrieked before her pounding heels announced her arrival. “What is this?”
Sierra closed the gap between them and shoved her cell phone into Julia’s face. The video labeled Billionaire Brawl showed the fight at the Azalea Room on a constant loop.
“Is that Mr. Harrington?” Worthington questioned.
“Yes,” Julia exhaled with a weak breath as she sank her forehead into her palm.
“How did this happen?” Sierra insisted. “Is that the doctor from the emergency room yesterday?”
Julia’s shoulders slumped. “It is. And it gets worse.”
Sierra’s features took on an even more stunned appearance. “How?”
Julia sucked in a breath as her mind sought the best way to explain. “Kyle…Dr. Carter is under the misguided impression that Grant is…abusive. That’s how the fight started.”
Sierra wrinkled her nose, shooting Julia a disgusted look. “Kyle? You’re on a first-name basis with him?”
“Please, Sierra, it’s been a really long afternoon. I’d like to go upstairs and lie down.”
“Of course, Mrs. Harrington. Can I bring you anything?” Worthington asked.
“No, thank you, Worthington.”
Sierra scoffed, her sharp features twisting. “Lie down? What about my dad? Where is he?”
“The police station. Mitchell is with him. He should be home later.”
Julia took a step toward the stairs when Sierra side-stepped in front of her, blocking her. She crossed her arms, narrowing her scrutinizing eyes at Julia. “Don’t you think you should be a good little wife and scurry your way down there to offer support?”
“I’ve already done that. Mitchell sent me home to wait here.” Julia skirted her and started up the stairs.
“Well, fine, but this isn’t over. And if he loses anything because of this…I will hold you personally responsible, Julia!”
Julia waved the comment away as she continued up the stairs and slogged to her room, tossing her purse down before she flung herself across the bed. The weight of the day exhausted her but made her too antsy to sleep.
Instead, she paced the floor for an hour before she tried to work on her manuscript. With one hundred words written in the span of ninety minutes, she dismissed the document, too distracted to work on it.
As the clock struck six, car lights lit the back garden as someone drove down the drive. Julia’s heart rose to her throat as she hurried to the railing overlooking the foyer. Grant let himself in through the front door with a deep sigh. He tugged his tie looser as Worthington approached.
“Mr. Harrington, so very good to have you home.”
“I assume you heard,” Grant said as he stepped into his private office.
Julia chewed her lower lip as she studied the unmistakable bruise on his jaw. She descended the stairs as voices floated through the still-open doors to his office.
Grant pressed his bourbon glass against his jaw.
Julia rounded the railing and made her way to the kitchen to fill a bag with ice and wrap it in a kitchen towel. Despite her desperate desire to avoid the painful conversation, they had to have it. She had to talk to Grant. She hoped the ice pack would be a small peace offering.
“Perhaps a real ice pack, sir?” Worthington said as she stepped into the doorway.
“I’ve got it, Worthington,” she said, her eyes fixed on Grant.
He snapped his gaze toward her, his stormy eyes searching her face.
“I’ll leave you both to talk.”
Worthington hurried from the room, closing the doors behind him as Julia crossed toward Grant. Her heart thudded faster than it should have with a mix of dread and determination as the conversation loomed ahead of her. It could change everything. It could unravel the fragile threads holding them together.