Page 68 of Blackmail of a Billionaire

Grant broke contact with her as he straightened when Sierra flung her arms around his neck. Julia rose from her seat, skirting them on her way to the door. “I’ll leave you two to talk.”

“No, Julia, stay, please.” Grant strode to the drink cart to pour himself a bourbon.

“Well, we kind of need to talk,” Sierra said, side-eyeing Julia.

“Yes, we do,” Grant said as he spun to face them. “A lot has happened.”

“No kidding. Like a fistfight that’s gone viral. What happened?”

“We’re still trying to piece that together, but it seems Dr. Kyle Carter has some sort of agenda here,” Grant answered.

Sierra crossed her arms as she shot an icy glance at Julia.

“No, Sierra, this is not Julia’s fault.”

“Isn’t it? He’s obviously into her. How many clandestine meetings have you had with him already?”

Julia clicked her tongue at the assumption as she slid her eyes to Grant. His posture stiffened, and he shot a challenging glance at Sierra.

“No, Sierra, it’s nothing she’s done.” Grant slipped his arm around Julia. “Julia has gone to great lengths to make sure we come out looking good in this. We’re all on the same team here. And it’s about time we started acting like it. Especially with the threats looming.”

“Threats?” Sierra asked with a wrinkled nose.

“Yes, threats. The car that nearly hit Julia is registered to DG Industries. On top of that, I received a threatening phone call targeting Julia. So, I want you both to be extremely careful moving forward.”

Sierra studied Julia for a moment. Her normally sharp eyes seemed clouded with concern. “Right. Okay.”

“There’s one other thing, Sierra,” Grant said.

His daughter flicked her eyes up to him.

“I think Julia is owed an apology for your behavior lately.”

Julia shook her head, immediately uncomfortable. “That’s not necessary.”

“Yes, it is. She isn’t a pretty bauble. She is a person. And without her, we’d be in worse shape than we are right now.”

Sierra tightened her arms across her chest as she fluttered her eyelashes. “Fine, sorry.”

“You can do better than that, Sierra,” Grant chided.

Sierra flicked her blue eyes to Julia, puckering her lips. “I’m sorry, Julia. I was just…frustrated because I think you’re wrong about Christopher, which we still haven’t discussed yet, Daddy, and–”

“Don’t deflect. Christopher Metcalfe can wait.”

Sierra huffed. “And I’m sorry I accused you of cheating.”

“Apology accepted,” Julia said with a smile, hoping to end the matter.

“Good. Tell you what,” Sierra said with a grin, “I’ll make it up to you.”

“There’s no need for that,” Julia began.

“No, I insist. Let’s go shopping…tomorrow. We can bond over girl talk and stuff.”

Julia stood speechless for a moment. She hated not to accept and upset Sierra, though the last time she accepted an invitation out of politeness, it’d led to a fistfight. She doubted, for the most part, that would happen with Sierra, but the woman offered her an olive branch, and she had to accept. She masked any reluctance with a smile. “That would be great.”

She hoped her voice sounded more convincing to them than it did to her.

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