Page 44 of Blackmail of a Billionaire

She let her gaze fall to the floor. She would have to face the inevitable soon, but she'd be late if she didn’t leave soon.

“I think it’s really important that we do that,” he added.

“Right,” she said, her eyes not leaving the floor for another moment. “Uh, maybe later?”

He hesitated, as though unsure. Before he could answer, a shriek sounded from his private office. Both of their gazes snapped to the ajar door.

Sierra wandered out, a folder clutched in her hands, her eyes wide. She raised them to Julia, her eyes filled with anger and upset. “You cheating bitch!”

Grant’s face scrunched. “Sierra!”

“How could you do this?” Sierra shrieked.

“Do what?” Julia asked.

“Oh, don’t play innocent.”

“Sierra, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Julia answered.

Grant knitted his eyebrows as he studied Julia, upset clouding his eyes.

Sierra’s face twisted with anger as she hurled the folder at Julia’s feet, her words like daggers. “Explain that!”

Julia stared down at the pictures now sprawled across the floor, her stomach turning over. Picture after picture of her with Ethan spread across the marble. Her features pinched as she bent to pick up one photo of them sharing a glance over their hot beverages.

She glanced up at Grant, her face questioning. His split-second reaction showed a mix of emotions brewing before he quickly hardened his features. She had to explain. But how?

CHAPTER 13

GRANT

A torrent of emotion ripped through him as the pictures spilled across the floor. Each one of them had burned their way into his mind. Each laugh, each smile, each intimate glance and touch.

He’d wanted to confront her about it, but only after he’d had a chance to rein in his emotions. When she confessed that she loved another man, he’d wanted to be hardened against any ill effects.

Then after he’d heard about her accident, his heart had stopped. He’d raced to the hospital, his heart pounding as he worried how he’d find her. It hadn’t mattered whom she’d been with earlier that morning, the fact was he cared more than he wanted to admit.

It would rip his heart out when she admitted she preferred this other person–a man his security team still hadn’t identified.

He wasn’t ready to hear it, but as usual, his wild card daughter had changed the plan.

Julia lifted a picture of her with her beau, sharing one of those deep, easy, intimate glances, and stared at it before she flicked her gaze to him, her features questioning.

“Explain, Julia!” Sierra barked.

When she spoke, her voice came out shocked, and incredulous. Her eyes flickered with betrayal. “You had me followed?”

The hurt expression on her face confused him. Why was she acting like the victim? It must have been because she felt he had no business being hurt by this. He had no claim on her, just a flimsy contract that outlined her playing his wife.

“Oh, spare me the hurt, innocent act.” Sierra crossed her arms and stalked closer to Grant. “We had every right to have you followed. And every right to ask about this. You’re supposed to be playing the loving wife, not stepping out.”

“I’m not,” she said simply, her voice sounding as though someone had stabbed her in the gut.

“Ummm, those pictures tell a different story,” Sierra shot back.

Julia’s eyes rose to Grant’s again, searching them. “Are you serious?”

He sucked in a breath. He couldn’t let his daughter fight his battle. He flexed his jaw, searching for the right words. “You have to admit it raises some questions. You ran out of here yesterday, met with another man after you took off your ring, then went to his hotel room.”

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