Page 83 of Blackmail of a Billionaire

Grant heaved a sigh, not needing to be reminded of Dr. Kyle Carter when he already had a fire to put out. Still, his curiosity drove him to find any clue as to why the man wanted to dismantle his life. He typed a response. Please send to my private email.

Worthington responded almost immediately. I will scan and send after retrieving the files from Mrs. Harrington.

Grant furrowed his brow. “Julia?” he murmured.

He pressed the call button as Evie bustled in with several folders in her hands.

“Mr. Harrington, how can I be of service?” Worthington asked as Evie dumped the folders on Grant’s desk.

He offered her a whispered thank you before answering his butler. “Julia has the file on Kyle Carter?”

“Yes, sir. She asked to review it.”

“And you gave it to her?”

“Yes, sir. Is there a problem?”

Grant’s mind whirled. His protective instinct wanted to stop her from dealing with anything related to Kyle Carter, though his analytical side hoped his smart-as-a-whip wife would find the needle-in-a-haystack clue and solve this issue like she had the last. “Uh, no, I just…didn’t want it to upset her.”

“Well, she must not have been too upset. The file is here on her desk, and she is gone.”

A shiver of foreboding snaked down his spine. He shoved it away with a shake of his head. “She’s meeting Sierra to shop.”

“Oh,” the man stammered.

Grant silently chuckled at the man’s faltering voice, a similar feeling coursing through him as he worried about how the interaction between the two ladies in his life would turn out. “I feel the same way, but Julia seems to have a knack for setting people at ease.”

“Indeed, sir. We had a private conversation earlier again about the phone call faux pas. And she assured me I should not worry about it.”

“She’s an amazing woman, Worthington.”

“Yes, I couldn’t agree more.”

He read the insinuation in the man’s words easily. “Well, as long as she wasn’t upset and is happily perusing purses with Sierra, that’s all that matters.”

“Yes, sir. I will send this file as soon as I’ve scanned it. I hope everything is well at the office despite the trouble.”

“It’s a mess, but that’s nothing new. Tell Julia I may be late tonight. I’ll send her a message, but just in case.”

“I will, sir. Good luck.” The butler ended the call. Grant stared down at the screen for a moment before he toggled to his message with his wife. It’s a mess here. I’ll probably be late. How’s the shopping going?

He waited a moment, hoping to see her pop on to respond, but nothing came. With a pang of disappointment, he slid the phone to the side and opened the top folder from the stack. He didn’t expect her to answer. He stared into space for a moment, imagining Sierra chucking her phone across the store and complaining that it was her time, not his.

The thought brought a chuckle to him as he dove into the bids, sorting through each one and marking the next steps in a desperate attempt to stop the flood of capital from his company.

An hour later, he’d worked through the first stack and returned them to Evie. Before moving on to the second, he rubbed his eyes and checked his phone, expecting a message from Julia. Nothing.

An uneasiness lodged itself in the pit of his stomach. Maybe the shopping was going that well. Or that bad. His thumb hovered over the call icon. Just a quick check-in to see how things were going, he thought before he nixed the idea. He did not want her to feel like she had to report to him, particularly given the recent accusations.

Instead, he slid the phone aside and turned his attention to his computer screen. After changing his password at the mandatory prompt, he logged into his personal email to find the report sent by Worthington.

A colorful circle spun on the screen as he waited for it to open. When it did, a giant picture of Kyle Carter popped up. With a deep, disgusted sigh, he scrolled past it to the next page and skimmed the summary on the man. He appeared to be an upstanding doctor and an exceptional surgeon in his former location. He’d recently moved to New Orleans. Could the move have set something in motion?

Grant searched the conversation he’d had at the police station with the man. He’d mentioned the press conference following his arrest for murder. Had he been obsessed with Julia since he saw her there? Or was there something more?

As his mind tried to piece it together, it settled again on Julia. Maybe he’d fly her to Paris for a surprise dinner. She deserved it after the last few days. A smile tugged at his lips as he imagined her reaction, her eyes sparkling in the city’s lights as they dined.

The thought still hung in his mind when the ringing phone cut through it. He glanced at the display as it buzzed across the desk. James.

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