Page 56 of Blackmail of a Billionaire

“Upset? Upset how?”

“Upset with the situation. She’s here. I haven’t spoken with her yet. I wanted your side first so I can work on getting these charges vacated.”

Grant considered his statement, trying to read through the simple words and discover Julia’s mindset.

“Grant? The incident with Julia this morning?”

“A misunderstanding. We…I thought Julia had been with someone else. There were pictures of her with another man. Sierra confronted her. She explained it was her brother-in-law, though she was frustrated at the accusation.”

“Did you work it out?”

“No, she left the house for the board meeting. I went into town to take her to lunch and explain, but I found her with the doctor. He hit me minutes into the conversation.”

Mitchell flicked his eyebrows up as he jotted a note. “So, he struck you first?”

“Yes. He grabbed Julia and pulled her away from me before he punched me right in the jaw. I retaliated because he tried to take her.”

“Take her? Julia?”

“Yes, he said he’d take her somewhere safe.”

“All right.” Mitchell jotted a few more notes. “Let me see what we’re looking at here and see if we can make some headway.”

“Thanks, Mitchell.” The man rose, packing up his briefcase before he pulled it off the table. “Oh, is it possible for me to see Julia?”

“That’s not wise given the abuse claim. Let me talk to her first, see if I can get a feel for what may have caused this.”

“Thanks. Please tell her…” Grant tried to search for suitable words. “Tell her we’ll talk soon.”

Mitchell bobbed his head before he left the room.

Silence stretched in the small room as Grant’s anxiety mounted. He imagined Julia sitting in a small room like this one, a barrage of questions flung at her, probing and prodding for personal information. How would she handle it? And would her resentment toward him grow?

If only he wouldn’t have let his emotions rule him earlier, the terse exchange about the photographs may have ended very differently. She would have come home instead of going to lunch with a man obviously interested in her. And now, he may not have been sitting in an interrogation room with a jail cell looming in his future.

“Oh, Julia,” he said as he heaved a sigh. “Why must things be so complicated between us?”

Was it the contractual boundaries that muddled their relationship or something deeper that kept her at arm’s length?

His mind conjured the image of her face, filled with unreadable emotion as they took him away in the squad car again. He hoped he had the chance to explain.

Lost in thought, he stared at his distorted features in the reflective surface of the marred metal table. Even if he explained, could he ever make a woman like Julia happy?

As his thoughts continued to spiral, the door creaked open. A chill ran over him, an unexplained sense of foreboding hanging over him. He expected Mitchell to enter and give him bad news.

“Tell me something good,” he said, his eyes still focused on his broken reflection.

A snorted laugh pulled him back to reality. He glanced at the door, his heart skipping a beat as he stared at the figure looming there.

Dr. Kyle Carter hovered just inside the door as it slowly closed behind him. His piercing gaze locked on Grant. “I’m sorry, Grant. I don’t think I can do that.”

Grant’s jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed as he stared at the man, annoyance mixing with anger. Kyle’s lips tugged back in a smirk as he casually slid his hands into his pockets.

Grant resisted the urge to throttle the man as his emotions ran high. Images of the man’s hand grabbing Julia’s, of his intense interest in her flitted through his mind, stoking his rage.

He hoped this confrontation wouldn’t end worse than the last one.

“Get out.”

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