Page 11 of Blackmail of a Billionaire

She reminded herself she had no right to feel anything in this situation. She had been hired to do a job. She chided herself for having any emotional investment. If she was a waitress, she wouldn’t be emotionally attached to her work. However, this circumstance seemed quite different.

Her mind replayed the scene she’d witnessed before she fled from Grant’s office. How long had she expected him not to seek wife number six? Or mistress number whatever?

She’d married him to improve his image. She was his fifth wife. He had a history of failed relationships. She couldn’t trust him even if she wanted to. Thank goodness they’d only married for a contract.

She stopped her aimless roaming and glanced around herself. She’d managed to wander to Riverview Park. With its sprawling oaks and the gentle murmur of the river, it could provide a quiet spot a world away from Harrington Global for her mind to clear. The scent of damp earth and fall leaves mingled in the air, echoing her internal turmoil.

Once she’d managed to get a hold of herself, she could call a cab to go back to the house.

She couldn’t go back now. She still had too many emotions threatening to boil over. She had to work to bury those feelings and do her job.

She pulled her phone from her purse, glancing at the time. Below the clock, a missed call notification glared back at her. Grant.

She shook her head at it. Not now, she thought. A conversation while the confusion and raw emotion still threaded its way through her could ruin everything. She closed her eyes, cursing herself for misreading the cues. She’d never been very good with them.

Her phone rang again, startling her and quickening her pulse. She blew out a long breath as she spotted her sister’s name on the caller ID.

With a shaky hand, she rubbed at her forehead, trying to decide if she should answer or not. She didn’t want to talk to anyone at the moment, but she worried that may seem suspicious, that somehow her sister, over one thousand miles away, would figure out what was happening when she couldn’t even admit it to herself.

She swiped to answer it. “Hey, sis,” she said, forcing her voice to sound cheery. It came out hollow.

“Hey, Juju…what’s wrong?”

Julia slid her eyes closed as thunder rumbled in the distance. “Nothing, you just caught me…running, literally.”

“From?”

Everything my life has become, her mind silently answered. “Thunderstorm’s coming. And I’m out getting lunch. I didn’t bring an umbrella, so I’m trying to beat the weather.”

“You really need to get better about these things.”

“I know, I know. I’ve just…never been very good with that stuff.”

“I remember. Like the time you came home soaking wet. You left your umbrella and your purse at the bookstore.”

Julia heaved a breath as she recalled the night Alicia referred to. She’d been running away from someone then, too. She closed her eyes, unwilling to relive that turmoil in the midst of this upset. “Yep, I remember.”

“Hey, are you okay? You sound awful.”

Julia bit into her lower lip and shook her head. She couldn’t give in to this. She’d be smarter going forward. “Yeah, I’m okay. My mind’s just somewhere else.”

“Buried in your latest book?”

“Yep,” Julia said with a soft chuckle.

“Well, the reason I’m calling is because I have some news…and a request.”

Some of the sting of her situation melted, replaced with curiosity and concern from her sister’s tone. “What is it? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Just that at the last minute, Ethan got selected for that national police chief’s conference.”

Julia’s lips curled at the edges. “Oh, that’s great. Tell him congratulations for me.”

“Well, you can tell him yourself. It’s in New Orleans. I was hoping you two could connect at some point.”

Julia scoffed softly. “So that he can report back that I’m still alive and well?”

“Something like that. I worry about you. Down there in that big city all alone.”

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