Bliss with a Billionaire (Hearts and Holdings #8)

Chapter 1

GRANT

G rant Harrington’s footsteps echoed off the sterile walls of the hospital corridor.

With his phone pressed to his ear, he squeezed his eyes closed.

Grant felt as though time had warped in the whirlwind twenty-four hours since Kyle's rescue and in the subsequent days of Lydia's stock acquisition. Every second in the hospital felt like an eternity, yet Lydia’s maneuvers against Harrington Global appeared to unfold at a breakneck pace.

At least his clever wife had found his missing son, and not a moment too soon.

Despite having sustained life-threatening injuries, he had successfully made it through surgery.

Though his condition was improving, Grant preferred to remain close to the hospital.

He’d nearly lost his family last night, including his wife and daughter as they’d raced to find his son and attempted a daring rescue that resulted in them being attacked.

His urge to protect his family stopped him from racing to the office to protect his business. Grant wasn’t certain how long it would last, though. Overnight, his phone had become a battleground of alarming messages and urgent alerts. Things looked grim for Harrington Global.

With limited options, he failed to find a path forward. He braced himself for the looming inevitability of being removed as CEO of a business he’d built from the ground up.

The thought stung him as he settled into a chair in the waiting room, letting his forehead fall into his palm.

Letting Lydia win twisted his stomach into a knot. She’d destroy Harrington Global, dismantle it brick by brick just so he’d be forced to watch it crumble.

Of course, after nearly watching his wife die, then his son, it seemed a small price to pay.

A warm hand slid onto his shoulder, and he picked his head up to find Julia’s smiling face next to him. “Hi.”

“Hey,” he answered. “Everything okay with Kyle?”

She nodded. “He’s still asleep. But I woke up to find you already gone. Did you get any sleep?”

“A little,” he answered, the corporate problems still weighing heavily on him.

At least Julia knew about them now, which made his life so much easier.

He’d tried to hide it from her, afraid the complications would drive her away from their newly formed relationship, but he’d been forced to tell her when things went from bad to worse.

As always, she’d been understanding. But it didn’t make facing the loss of his company any easier.

“Things not looking good?” she asked with a wince.

He glanced down at the tile floor below his feet as he pressed his lips together. “No. Not really.”

“I’m sorry. We didn’t get a chance to talk about it last night with everything going on with Kyle. Maybe we can brainstorm something now.”

He smiled at her before he leaned closer to give her a peck on the lips. He really loved his wife and her supportive nature. “Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a lot to think about. It’s basically a race to see who runs out of money first.”

“So, she’s buying up all of the stock. And if she gets to…”

“If she gets to even twenty-five percent, she can force a vote on the executives.” He rubbed his palms together as he stared into space, images of Lydia’s haughty features as she voted him out as CEO taunted him.

“How close is she?” Julia asked.

His features pinched as he recalled the last percentage he’d been given. “Twenty-two percent.”

“Where are you?”

“Around eighteen.” Vocalizing the answer twisted his stomach into a knot. He squeezed his fingers into fists at the words. How had Lydia gotten so much further ahead of him?

They’d never hit twenty-five percent first, especially with their dwindling funds.

Julia rubbed his shoulder in a silent display of support, though it somehow made him feel worse.

He stood on the edge of a precipice, staring down into the abyss of failure.

Disappointing Julia, after everything they’d been through, cut deeper than the fear of losing his company.

It was a betrayal of the silent vows he’d made to himself about their future, a future he was now powerless to secure.

“Where is she getting the capital to fund this?” Julia murmured.

Grant leapt from his seat, flinging his arms out to the sides as he paced the floor. “I don’t know!”

She offered him a consoling smile despite his outburst. “I’m sorry, Grant.”

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry,” he said as he sank into his seat again and took her hands in his. “I’m…distracted and stressed.”

“We’ve all been a little distracted lately. Lydia is…awful.” Julia shook her head. “And I’m certain this has really been weighing on you.”

He sucked in a breath as he balanced his elbows against his knees and stared into space.

Truer words had not been spoken. They’d battled DG Industries for two years, surviving multiple attacks and, amazingly, finding happiness with each other along the way.

But now, after everything, it would all come crashing down because he couldn’t secure enough funds to outbuy Lydia on her stock grab.

How she got the money, he still hadn’t figured out, but he couldn’t match her dollar for dollar.

Her lead had been too big and with their limited capital, they’d never catch her.

She rubbed her hand up and down his back. “What do you need from me?”

“About twenty percent in stock.” He shot her a glance. “Sorry. Honest answer, just sitting here listening to me complain is enough.”

“I’m happy to listen to you vent. It can also lead to unexpected solutions, things you haven’t thought of.” she answered.

He puckered his lips as he sighed. “Not so far. The real issue here is, we just can’t raise any additional capital. We’re too far leveraged, too much debt already.”

“What about the Solaris project. Isn’t that going to generate something?”

“Eventually, yes. The way Lydia is moving, she’ll own the company before that’s even off the ground.” He clenched his jaw as he rose again with a curse under his breath.

“This must be so frustrating. I’m so sorry,” she said as she rose and slid her arms around his waist.

He pulled her closer to him, squeezing her close as she rested her head on his shoulder. “It’s so much better with you here. If you’d have left…never mind.”

“I’m not leaving. You’re stuck with me.”

“Good,” he answered. “Although you may change your mind when I’m destitute.”

“I won’t,” she said with a laugh.

Her answer made him smile. “What if I really take this hard and wander around the house in my bathrobe all day?”

Her shoulders shook with laughter as she leaned her head back. “Stop. You’re not going to do that.”

He chuckled. “Oh, you don’t think so?”

“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “No, even if Lydia pulls this off, you’re going to be back on your feet in no time. You’re not going to be content to just fade into the shadows.”

He pressed his forehead against hers. “Mmm, I love how much confidence you have in me.”

His phone rang, ruining the close moment. “I’m beginning to hate that sound,” he said as he dug into his pocket. “It’s Mike. I need to take this.”

“Sure. Good luck,” she said before giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be in Kyle’s room.”

He kept his fingers wrapped around her hand as she stepped away, giving it one final squeeze before he begrudgingly let her go.

Without her, he felt untethered, like he was floating in space without a lifeline. He loved the calm she brought to him, and how much she believed in him. It was unfortunate that he’d fail her so early on in their marriage.

“Tell me something good,” he said as he answered his phone.

“DG is still at twenty-two percent,” Mike answered. “We’re going to buy until we can’t buy anymore, but I don’t think we’re going to hit the magic number. We need to start discussing contingency plans.”

“Have you spoken to Mitchell?” he asked. At this stage, they needed to bring the legal team into this.

“Placed a call earlier this morning, waiting for a call back.”

“We need to figure out if she has the votes or not. We’re never going to match her. Which means we need to secure more votes.”

“If we can. And if she gets to the twenty-five percent. Maybe this is a show of power and not a coup.”

Grant scoffed as he paced the floor of the waiting room. “No. This isn’t a show of power. She’s been doing that for two years. This is her move.”

“Then we need to start counting votes. Because even if we get to twenty percent, we’re still down five percent.”

“I know that,” Grant said as he scrubbed his face. “And I’ve already got several people on that board who are going to defect. They’ve been after me for two years. Some of these people are chomping at the bit to strip me of this.”

“Anybody who’s definitely loyal?” Mike asked.

“A few. We need to start doing the math and determining if we’ve got enough to hang on. If we can squeak by this vote, we could turn this around.”

“Unfortunately,” Mike answered, “I’d say she didn’t do this without being assured of a good chance of ousting you. Let me get with Mitchell on this and give you a call back. How’s your son?”

His mind flicked to Kyle. They’d had a rough relationship from the start, and for most of it, they had been at odds. But when he’d learned that the man had nearly died…

The guilt he’d felt in the moment he’d learned what happened ramped up in him again. The months Kyle had spent infiltrating DG Industries to help them defeat Lydia had put him in the direct line of fire.

After he’d been exposed as a double-agent, Lydia had been sure to punish him for his disloyalty. And he’d ignored all the signs, too busy being angry with his son for his interest in Julia. He’d nearly cost him his life.

“He’s, uh…fine, thanks to Julia. If she hadn’t found him when she did, we’d be having a different conversation.”

“Mrs. Harrington is certainly an amazing woman.”

“You’ll get no argument from me there,” Grant answered.