Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
GRANT
G rant finished the last of his bourbon as his mind raced. He wasn’t certain if he felt better or worse after Julia had explained her encounter with Luke. He clung to those three words she had spoken. Luke kissed me .
The words were a subtle way of telling him she hadn’t been on board with it. Whether that was merely because of their arrangement or not, at least she hadn’t initiated it or endorsed it.
Maybe that spelled hope for their relationship. But not if Luke continued to make a play for her. She’d also said he was as involved as Lydia. It had been clear in Maine that the man wanted her back.
It appeared he still did, he thought as he snaked through the halls to his bedroom.
The thought burned a hole through his heart. Julia had been engaged to the man once before. By his own admission, Luke had told them she’d had concerns that they wanted different things from life. But now he was a transformed man.
A millionaire. A man of the world.
Could he compete? He had more money. He had a more lucrative business. But did he have Julia’s heart?
Closing the door to his room, he leaned against it as the question burned through his mind. He rubbed at his eyes and shook his head. His conversation with Julia hadn’t been as enlightening as he hoped. He clung to the same pieces that gave him hope, but in the end, he’d found himself too emotional to discuss anything with her.
The image of Luke’s lips pressed against hers ricocheted through his mind. Unlike the pictures of Kyle kissing her, which had been disturbing enough, she’d seemed so comfortable with Luke. Too comfortable.
The shocking moment continued to taunt him even after he’d climbed between the sheets and tried to sleep. Despite her words earlier, he imagined their contract ending with Julia running into Luke’s arms. Not if he could help it.
He fell asleep making a silent vow to win his wife back. He arose early the next morning, his nerves on edge as he waited for something to break. Lydia’s threat, Luke’s presence, and the odd Alex Stone made relaxing impossible. He wondered if they’d catch a break anytime soon with the pictures of Sierra.
As the sun crested the horizon, he stared at the front lawn of Harrington House from his office, painted in deep shadows that seemed to reach for him.
A quiet knock interrupted his thoughts. “Come in,” he said, expecting Worthington to waltz through the door and offer him some stoic wisdom to help settle his nerves.
Instead, Kyle slipped inside, sending tension spiraling through his shoulders.
“Kyle, you’re up early.”
“Yes, and I’m glad you are, too.”
His features scrunched as he wondered if he should pour himself a drink despite the early hour. “You are?”
“Of course.” Kyle offered him an incredulous glance. “Aren’t you excited?”
Grant slid his eyes sideways, trying to come up with a reason. “Are you?”
“Yes,” Kyle said with a grin as he slid into a seat across from Grant’s desk. “I have been up almost all night.”
“And that’s exciting?”
Kyle heaved an annoyed sigh. “Are you telling me you haven’t been?”
“I didn’t sleep well, but…”
“Dad!” Kyle exclaimed. “Come on. This is our first project together. The first time we don’t hate each other entirely.”
Grant’s features twisted even more with confusion. Was Julia right about Kyle’s extreme need for acceptance?
His son dug a paper from his pocket and unfolded it. “Now, I’ve jotted a list of ideas that we could use.”
Grant eased into his chair, trying desperately to get on the same page with his son. “Okay.”
“Okay, number one. Buy Luke’s company and bankrupt it. Simple, clean, although it leaves a pretty big paper trail leading to us unless we set up a shell company, which I’m certain you’ve done in the past. In fact, you probably already thought of that one, but I’m just throwing it out there in case we think it’s the best plan.”
Grant sucked in a breath as he realized he was talking about their tentative agreement to destroy the man that threatened to take Julia from them. “Right, this is about Luke.”
Kyle narrowed his eyes. “What else would it be about? Honestly, we can’t stand each other but a common enemy has brought us together.”
“Right, umm, yeah I’m not certain–”
“You’re right,” he said with a shake of his head. “That option probably takes too long. We need faster results.”
He dug a pen from his pocket and drew on the paper. “Just going to cross that one off. Okay, number two, sink all his tour boats.”
Grant fluttered his eyelashes as Kyle stared expectantly at him. “Are you serious?”
“Too much?”
“Have you ever actually succeeded in destroying someone before?”
Kyle’s lips tugged into a frown. “Well, I’m certain you have more experience than I do but–”
“The point is to be subtle and swift. You don’t…sink his tour boats. This isn’t Battleship, Kyle.” Grant rubbed his chin as he considered the options.
“Okay, well, I mean…it was just a thought. How about…now just…let this sink in for a minute. We drop him in another country with no passport and no money.”
“He could just call Julia for help. And tell her we did it.”
“Right. Right, not good. Although, we probably shouldn’t let him know it’s us.”
Grant stared at his son. “How did you possibly cause as much trouble as you did for me with ideas this ridiculous?”
“It’s because my ideas were ridiculous that they worked, Dad. That’s obvious. It didn’t take much.”
“But you didn’t win.”
Kyle puckered his lips, narrowing his eyes. “By my calculations, you haven’t either. So, in a way, I have.”
“Okay, you’re just making me mad now, and we’re going to get into an argument.”
“Fine, you’re right. We should stick to the task at hand. Luke. Destroying Luke. I’m just pointing out that it’s been almost two years since I’ve been here and the ripples from that stone I threw a while ago are still–”
“Stop, please stop talking.”
“Just showcasing the skills I’m bringing to the table,” Kyle answered with a shrug. “But like I said, you’re obviously way more experienced given that you’ve basically clawed your way to the top leaving a wake of bodies behind you.”
“I have not left a wake of bodies behind me. I have made some…shrewd–”
“Illegal,” Kyle said.
“Judicious business moves that have allowed me to build an empire, but I have hardly walked on people to do it.”
“Whatever. Define it however you want. You’re more practiced at destroying people than I am. Although I’ve done fairly well so far, I’d say.” He leapt from his seat, tossing his paper on the desk, and paced the floor. “What about if we…”
“Please don’t say something stupid again.”
Kyle stopped, his jaw clenched as he shot Grant a narrow-eyed glance. “This is how I vet ideas, okay? This is how I work. It’s how I came up with the plan to destroy you.”
“What did you start with? Slashing my tires?”
Kyle gave him another unimpressed glance. “No, but if I knew how many cars you had, I may have considered it.”
“How did you come up with your little scheme to ruin me?” Grant asked.
Kyle slid into his seat again. “Well, actually, I was vetting plans in much the same way as I am now when that press conference came on. The one with you and Julia.”
Grant recalled the moment shortly after their marriage when she’d stood beside him as he fought a murder charge.
“And it was immediately clear to me that Julia was an incredible woman.”
Grant couldn’t argue with that. The way she’d backed that reporter down and shown him more support than any woman he’d ever been involved with still impressed him.
“And I thought…if I could take that woman away from him, he’d crumble. Well, at the time I thought you actually cared about her.”
“I do care about her.”
“Now, you do. So do I.”
“Do you? Or is this all still part of your evil plan?”
“I genuinely love Julia. She is amazing. What started as my evil plan to simply rip her away from you quickly morphed for me. She is the only person here who treats me like I matter.”
Grant held back rolling his eyes as he let his fist smack his desk while he clicked his tongue. “Did it ever occur to you that you haven’t really treated anyone else in this house nicely enough to deserve any better treatment?”
“Julia treats me nicely no matter what I’ve done.”
“That may be her fatal flaw. She’s too nice for her own good.” He rubbed his chin, wondering if that’s how she’d ended up with Luke’s lips on hers. “So, you saw her on television, got obsessed, and figured you’d steal her?”
“First of all, I wasn’t obsessed. And second, I figured her leaving you would start you on the path to ruination, but…”
“But?” Grant prodded.
“But how to do it was a big question mark. I mean, here’s a woman who two days after marrying you is standing beside you defending you against a murder charge. Either she’s a hell of an actress or she really loves you. And if it’s the latter, then no amount of flirting or fawning over her is going to lure her away. She is going to stay true blue.”
Kyle sucked in a breath and shrugged. “So, I had to get creative. You had a reputation. All I had to do was make your new bride believe that she was a victim of that and I’d have my in.”
“But Julia was too smart for you.”
“I think she didn’t think it rang true because you actually had no relationship. Although, your behavior considering that you didn’t marry her for love was still controlling.”
“I am not controlling. Look who’s talking, you hover all over her every chance you get. You’re constantly badgering her about something. And you’re always crossing the line. How many times have you kissed her without her actual consent?”
“No, I am not,” Kyle answered, ignoring his last statement. “We’re friends. And we’re working together. Therefore, we have to talk a lot. Also, she’s my stepmother, so…”
“Barely.”
“Oh, that’s right, you’ll be getting divorced soon. I almost forgot. Do you think there’s an appropriate waiting period to marry your stepson?”
Grant’s jaw flexed as his son reminded him of the looming deadline. But he wasn’t about to wade into the argument or his plans to stop the impending divorce. “If you’re only here to ramble on about winning Julia over, you can leave.”
“I’m here to stop Luke from winning Julia over. After that, it’s every man for himself.”
“Fine. Well, we’re not going to do it by slashing his tires or sinking his boats.”
“Bribe someone to throw him in a foreign prison and forget he exists?”
Grant flicked his eyebrows up. “That may actually work. I have a foreign dignitary who owes me a favor–“
A knock interrupted his words. He leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “I really hope that’s Worthington with coffee. Come in!”
Julia popped her head in a moment later, the smile on her face fading a little as her eyes slid back and forth between the two of them. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“It’s fine, Juls, you’re not.”
“Are you sure?” she said as she slipped through the door. “You’re actually not killing each other, so I don’t want to interrupt what may be progress.”
“Probably best if you do interrupt before we do kill each other.”
“Okay,” she said as she glanced down at her phone. “I just wanted to let you know that Alex sent me a text last night that he’s already into Lydia’s accounts and hopes to have an update soon.”
“Really?” Grant asked, surprised the man who acted so bizarrely was as competent as he said. “And nothing since then?”
“No, but I’m not surprised.”
“Why not?” Kyle asked.
“Alex would never be up this early. Unless he’s completely changed his habits. He likely stayed up until the wee hours of the morning working or playing games and won’t be up for hours.”
“I can’t believe his wife doesn’t mind.”
Julia shrugged as she settled into the chair next to Kyle’s. “They’re an odd couple, so I really don’t know.”
“What do you mean?” Kyle asked.
“I’m surprised they’re still married, to be honest.”
“Why?” Grant asked. “Or is it his sleeping until midday and up all hours of the night.”
“No, but…” Julia winced as she shrugged again. “I probably shouldn’t say anything, but…they only got married so Alex could inherit enough money from his father to open StoneCorp.”
“They’re a fake marriage, too?” Kyle asked. “What is it with the rash of fake marriages?”
“It’s not a rash of them. They got fake married almost two decades ago, just out of college.”
The comment surprised Grant as he settled back in his chair. A fake marriage that had lasted two decades gave him some hope for his own situation.
“They’ve been fake married for almost two decades?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah. I mean, I guess. I don’t know. They weren’t romantically involved when they got married. They were just friends. I didn’t even think they lived in the same state for a while there. I was shocked when I called her and they were together.”
“Thank goodness they were, otherwise we may not have his help,” Grant said.
“Yes, which is even more important now,” Julia answered with a sigh.
The way she said it sent a chill snaking down his spine. “Did something happen?”
“Lydia happened. Last night. She said she’s going to want something big from me soon. And it’ll be a pivotal moment that’ll shift everything her way.”
“These threats are becoming tedious.”
“She alluded to being up to something big to me, too. I don’t think these are idle threats. She’s about to do something,” Kyle said.
“I think so, too. I really hope Alex can come through for us before this. Taking her leverage away puts us in a much better position.”
Kyle nodded at her statement before he stood. “Well, I have to get to the hospital. But we’ll talk later.”
Both Grant and Julia answered, “Okay,” before Julia shot Grant a questioning glance.
After the front door slammed shut moments later, she raised her eyebrows at him. “Are you two actually on speaking terms?”
“We’ve been getting along,” he admitted.
“Wow,” Julia said with a smile. “That’s good. There’s hope for that relationship yet.”
He didn’t think there would be much hope if it came to a battle between them for Julia’s heart, but he didn’t want to see that smile fade by telling her they had only come together for a common cause.
Before he could speak again, her eyes fell on the paper Kyle had discarded earlier. The smile on her face slipped a little as her eyebrows pinched together.
His stomach clenched as he realized she must be reading it. He reached for it, but she snatched it first, her features turning more pensive. “Buy his company and bankrupt him. Sink all of his tour boats. What is this?”
She flicked her questioning eyes up to him.
“Nothing,” he said with a shake of his head.
She glanced at the paper again. “Is this what you were talking to Kyle about earlier?”
“No.”
“Really? Kyle just left this here without mentioning it.”
“Maybe we discussed it. It’s nothing, though.”
“Leave him in a foreign country with no passports. This doesn’t look like nothing. This looks like a list of ways to go after Luke. Are you and Kyle seriously getting along because you’re planning something against him?”
Grant shook his head but failed to answer. He didn’t want to lie to her, but he didn’t want to tell the truth.
“So, Kyle is planning something?”
“Planning is a strong word…”
Her eyes went wide, and he winced. He’d seen her angry once before and it looked like this would be round two. “I can’t believe this. Why would you do this?”
“Julia…”
“Yeah?” she prodded when he failed to continue.
“He…I…it just…”
She rose from her seat with a shake of her head. “Unbelievable.”
“Come on, Julia, it’s not like we’ve done anything to him yet.”
“Yet?” She sucked in a breath as she searched the air above her for something.
“Well…he did kind of expose himself to this when he teamed up with Lydia and waltzed into my house last night to steal my wife.”
“Your fake wife,” she corrected. “And he has no idea what kind of monster Lydia is. He thinks she’s a nice person who helped him build a business. It’s not like he knowingly joined her plan to destroy you or that he thinks he’s doing anything wrong when it comes to our marriage.”
“Oh, please. If he was a half-decent judge of character, he’d see right through Lydia. And even if he wasn’t, we got married for a reason. It would be nice if he respected that instead of trying to create chaos and win you back.”
Her jaw dropped open before she pressed her lips together, her features twisting. “Leave Luke alone.”
“I will defend what’s mine against Lydia and against him.”
She offered him an incredulous stare. “Defend? Is that what you call it?” Her voice rose, tinged with disbelief and colored by anger. “Against Lydia, maybe. But against someone who is naive about what’s really going on here? No.”
Grant pressed his lips together, stifling a sigh before he tried to respond.
“This isn’t you, Grant.” Her features pinched again. “Or maybe I don’t know the real you.”
The comment struck his heart and his shoulders slumped. “Julia…” he started, his voice a mix of frustration, upset, and desperation to explain what he couldn’t even understand himself.
“I thought you were better than this.” She shook her head again, the weight of her disappointment clear before she spun on a heel and stormed from the room.
“Julia!” he called, leaping from his seat but she had already disappeared up the stairs.
He collapsed into his chair again, his heart thudding as he grappled with the conflict of protecting what was his with the realization that his actions had pushed Julia even closer to the thing he was desperate to keep her from.
The image of Julia in Luke’s embrace haunted him, igniting a fire of jealousy he hadn’t known he could feel.
His frustration with the situation was now compounded by the fear of losing his wife if he’d ever truly had her to begin with. Her statement echoed in his head. Your fake wife .
Those three words issued a sharp jab to his already bruised heart as one question burned through his mind. Was he losing Julia?