Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
GRANT
T he quiet click of the doors as they closed behind Julia made his heartache. Her presence alone brought him a measure of comfort that he desperately needed at this moment. They’d never intended for Sierra to find out about the threat to her image.
His firecracker daughter was a wild card. He only hoped that he wouldn’t soon hear shouting from upstairs. With any luck, Lydia had left the house after their confrontation. They’d really have to work to manage her so she couldn’t do any damage.
He felt the worst for Julia. She’d probably listen to most of Sierra’s rantings and spend the most time trying to convince her to stand down and let the plan play out. His daughter was not patient. Neither was he. But he had age on his side to temper his more brash emotions. Sierra was still young enough to miscalculate her reactions.
With a deep sigh, he slid his eyes to his other child. Another powder keg waiting to blow. He and Kyle were like oil and water. They didn’t mix. And a misstep between them at this point could ruin everything. He desperately wanted to avoid that.
“Should I pour myself another drink and settle in for a lecture?” Kyle asked.
“No,” Grant answered, trying to keep his temper under control. Kyle was already pushing his buttons. Maybe the private conversation was a bad idea.
Kyle flicked his eyebrows up, a flicker of fake surprise crossing his otherwise composed face. “Really? That’s good.” His features twisted into a mask of disdain as he tightened his hands into fists, a sign of his growing agitation. “Because I’m not sure I can stand to hear your sanctimonious bull.”
The muscles between Grant’s shoulder blades tensed as a dull thudding started at his temples. He forced himself to try to channel Julia’s calm, kind demeanor. “Why don’t you pour a drink for us both? I really want to talk, not lecture you.”
“You want to share a drink with me?” Kyle asked.
Grant studied his son’s icy blue eyes, a match to his own. An emotion clouded them, but he couldn’t read it. Was Julia right that he wanted to be accepted?
“I do. I think we need to try to take another step forward.”
Kyle narrowed his eyes at Grant, his scrutiny intense. “Really? Well, that’s convenient.”
Grant held his ground, desperately trying not to be goaded into the argument that Julia worried about before she’d left the room. Instead of answering right away, he strode to the drink cart, and poured them each a bourbon, offering one glass to his son.
Kyle reluctantly accepted it, staring into the liquid as though it held the answers to life’s questions.
“Look, Kyle,” Grant began, “I’m really trying here. What Julia said…she’s right. Our relationship…is difficult. We both jump to the worst conclusions about each other as a first response.”
Kyle downed a swallow of the bourbon before he nodded. “Yeah, but in my case, I’m right.”
“You’re n–” Grant sucked in a breath, cutting his own words off as he tried to muster a shred of the fatherly concern he’d just shown Sierra rather than the reactionary one he usually showed toward Kyle. The man’s interest in Julia didn’t make it any easier. His constant attempts to expose Grant’s flaws to her made it difficult not to react.
“I know you think I’m not worth your time–”
“You’re definitely not worth Julia’s time.”
The words stung him, twisting a knife in his gut. His son wasn’t wrong. And it was that very concept that had pushed him to spend nearly two years with the woman without confessing his feelings.
“What is the purpose of this little non-heart-to-heart?” Kyle asked.
“I wanted to clear the air, but you’re making that impossible.”
“Of course, I am. It’s always someone else’s fault, isn’t it?”
Grant sipped his drink again, stalking a few steps away to stare out the window as he tried to get his temper under control. “You said some things that I wanted to address.”
“Such as?”
“Like the idea that you’re not really family. And that I treat Sierra differently.”
“You do. It’s not an idea, it’s a fact. And I’m not. You make that obvious.”
Grant twisted to face him, a pang of understanding striking him. “I’m sure there is some truth to the second statement. But…I raised Sierra. I’m sorry that I didn’t know you when you were growing up. Maybe things could have been different then.”
“Worse, probably,” Kyle said with a shake of his head. “At least I grew up with two loving parents this way.”
“Yet you came out so hateful.”
Kyle flicked his gaze, clouded with anger, to his father, his jaw clenched.
Grant heaved a sigh, disappointment over his own behavior filling him. Julia would have given him a disapproving look over that statement. “Sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I am,” Kyle said before he finished his bourbon and slammed the glass down.
“Kyle, wait–” Grant said as his son stormed toward the door.
The man whipped around to face him, his fists clenched at his sides. “For what? For you to tell me it’s my problem? For you to be disappointed in me again? Why should I care? You’re a horrible person. You’ve used Julia for two years, put her through hell, made her make impossible choices. Do you really think for a second I’d want to hear your opinion on anything?”
The words were like a physical blow. The anger spewing from his son wasn’t misplaced. He tried to answer each piece of his statement, but his mind leapt ahead, wanting to strike back. “So, what, Kyle? Was I right all along? You hate me. Are you lying about working with us? Are you really out to destroy me despite what you said?”
Kyle scowled at him. “No. I’d never betray Julia. Not like you.”
“I never betrayed her either. And I never would. I love her.” The words spilled out of his mouth before he could stop them, his voice breaking as he admitted aloud something that he hadn’t even fully allowed himself to grasp.
Kyle cocked his head, his eyebrows pinching. “What?”
Grant shifted his gaze to the floor, his nostrils flaring as he tightened his grip on his glass. Why had he blurted that out to his son?
“Wow. You have got a really funny way of showing that. Have you told her?”
“No,” he growled.
Kyle scoffed at the statement, shaking his head. “Of course not. Because you’re a coward. You were a coward thirty-three years ago, and you still are. You couldn’t face my mother. You couldn’t face your own hostile board. And now you can’t face Julia. Though I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t want to have that conversation with her either if I was you. With your track record, she’ll probably laugh in your face when you tell her.”
“Look, Kyle–”
“If you’re about to ask me not to tell Julia what you just said, don’t worry, I won’t. I have no desire to complicate things for Julia. And every desire to prove to her that I’m the better Harrington for her.” He headed for the door again.
“Kyle, wait.”
His hand lingered on the doorknob. “For?”
“Sierra’s reputation is still at stake here. I need to know that you’re not going to do anything to damage that.”
“I already told you. I’m loyal to Julia. Sierra’s ruined reputation would upset her. So, it won’t happen from anything I’ve done.”
Grant heaved a silent sigh of relief. He’d just made things one thousand times worse between him and his son, but at least he hadn’t ruined the plan. He wanted to say something, but as usual, no matter what he said, it made things worse.
“Kyle,” he called as his son twisted the knob.
Kyle twisted to face him.
“Thank you. I know you don’t want to believe that I’m a different man, but I am. Or at least I’m trying to be.”
Kyle spun away without a word and slipped out of the office. Grant let his eyes slide closed as he tightened his grip on the glass he held. He downed the last of his bourbon, allowing it to burn his throat as he lamented the last discussion he had.
It had gone off the rails, as always, and he’d blurted out something he’d played close to the vest. Of course, Worthington knew, and Sierra, but Kyle? He’d just told one of the most volatile people he knew–a man who had an intense dislike for him–his biggest secret.
His frustration built, and he fired his glass across the room. It shattered against the tile surrounding the fireplace. He twisted to find Worthington eying the mess with raised eyebrows.
Grant sighed as he leaned forward, resting his hands on his desk. “Sorry, Worthington.”
“The cleanup is not a problem, sir. Though might I be of assistance in any other way? Perhaps you’d like to discuss the reason for your hurling of the glass.”
“The reason is that I’m an idiot.” He collapsed into his chair with a deep sigh.
Worthington crossed to the drink cart, poured another bourbon, and delivered it to Grant. He accepted it, raising the glass to the man in silent thanks.
Worthington clasped his hands in front of him. “The Grant Harrington I know is not an idiot. So perhaps you’d care to explain.”
“Everything is a mess again, Worthington. And mostly because of me. Sierra overheard us talking, and now she knows about the pictures.”
“Perhaps that is for the best, sir. You are all working diligently to protect her.”
“I just…hated telling her. She’s already so angry with Lydia, and now…”
“Now the relationship is even further strained.”
“It’s the strain on Sierra I’m worried about. I hope she doesn’t blow before we can solve this.”
“You are worried she will.”
Grant bobbed his head up and down. “I am. But we’re all going to rally around her, so hopefully, that’ll work.”
“She is very fond of Mrs. Harrington, perhaps she can help Ms. Sierra through this.”
“I have no doubt she will. That’s not my concern. It’s Kyle.”
Worthington raised his eyebrows. “You think Dr. Carter may be a problem in the plan?”
“Yes, but that’s not–” Grant offered a disgusted sigh as he stared into his bourbon. “Kyle and I got into two arguments in rapid succession. One in front of Julia, and another after she left.”
“Tensions remain high between you two. Is there no end in sight?”
“Not now,” Grant said with a shake of his head.
He flicked his gaze up to Worthington. “In the heat of the argument, I told him how I felt about Julia. And I’m certain he’s figuring out how to use it against me now.”
“Perhaps, sir, you could view this as being one step closer to telling Mrs. Harrington.”
Grant rubbed his chin. “No. Kyle said something tonight, and he’s right. I’m a coward.”
Worthington chuckled. “Hardly, sir.”
“It’s true. I…didn’t face what happened when Kyle was conceived.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I never saw his mother again. I knew she was calling for me. I avoided her. When Harrington Global teetered on the brink, I…married Julia to fix it. I didn’t face them myself, I let her do it.”
“Sir–”
“And now, I can’t even face her. Because I’m too afraid of what she might say.”
“Might I suggest, sir, that you take some time away from Dr. Carter’s comments?”
“That won’t make them any less true,” Grant said.
“Even if there is a nugget of truth to them, they do not govern your future.”
Grant sucked in a breath, shaking his head. “I think you give me too much credit, Worthington.”
“At times, you do not give yourself enough.”
“Tell that to Kyle. He thinks all I do is pat myself on the back.”
Worthington grinned at him as Grant’s cell phone buzzed in his pocket.
“Excuse me,” he said as he dug it from his pocket. He pinched his eyebrows together as he stared at the screen. The number read Restricted Access . He pressed the button to accept the call. “Grant Harrington.”
The robotic voice that sounded on the opposite end made him sit straighter as a chill shot down his spine. “If you want to know who is behind DG Industries, come to 237 Crescent Drive in one hour. Come alone.”
The line clicked as Grant shouted, “Wait!” Only eerie silence hung heavily in the air. He felt a chill creep up his spine, the mysterious message resonating with ominous undertones.
He pulled the phone away, staring at it for a minute before he flicked his gaze to Worthington. “I think I just got another lead on DG.”
His mind whirled as the robotic voice played over in his head. Would they finally get some answers?