Page 87 of Blackmail of a Billionaire

Julia tugged at her bonds again. She needed to get them out of here and quickly. The longer this went, the worse it would be. She chewed her lower lip as she imagined Grant getting the news. His jaw clenched, his fingers wrapped into fists, his features twisted with upset.

He’d been through enough lately. He didn’t need his daughter’s kidnapping added to the list.

She tugged again, sucking in a sharp breath as fresh blood stained her skin when the zip tie sliced into her.

“What happened?” Sierra asked, her voice cracking.

“The zip tie is really cutting into me. I–” Julia’s voice cut off as voices sounded outside the room. Her heart ramped up, thudding hard against her ribs.

“You what?”

“Shh,” Julia shushed her. “I hear voices.”

She strained to make them out. They sounded heated. An argument between the kidnappers, perhaps?

Julia held her breath, her eyebrows knitting, as she listened.

“…want to see her.”

“Out of the question. Get out of here.”

“No. You wouldn’t even have them if it wasn’t for me. I gave you that information.”

“That doesn’t buy you any favors.”

“Oh, I think it does. There’s plenty more information where this came from, I promise. If you want it, I want to see her.”

A pause sounded. Julia slid her head forward, straining to listen.

“Keep it short.”

Seconds later, the door creaked open again before thudding shut. Julia sucked in a breath, wondering who had entered. Who was responsible for their capture?

Footsteps hurried toward them. Julia kept her head trained forward, ahead of what may happen if she tried to spot the person. A figure brushed past her before he rounded to face her, squatting down.

A hand caressed her cheek. “Julia, are you okay?”

Julie stared in stunned silence at the face of Dr. Kyle Carter. “Kyle?”

He assessed her wrists before she answered. “You’re hurt.” He shook his head, the tremor in his hands as he faced her again, guilt and determination etched on his face.

“What are you doing here?” Her mind tried to process the conversation. Had he been the one who kidnapped them? No, there were multiple people. Did he have help? “Did you do this?”

“Kyle? The creepy ER doctor?” Sierra asked.

“Hey, I’m not creepy,” Kyle retorted with a hard glance her way.

“Kyle, why are you here?” Julia demanded. “Are you responsible for this?”

“No…Yes. I…” He paused, his voice strained with guilt and desperation. “I thought I was doing the right thing at the moment, but I never imagined it would go this far. Look, there’s no time to explain now, but please believe me, I did not want you to get hurt.”

Julia’s heart thudded as she tried to make sense of his nonsensical statements.

“I may have made a call after you left the park and given them your location…but I didn’t know they were going to do this.”

“What call? Who did you call?”

Kyle’s features twisted as he stared up at her. “I swear, I did not know they were going to hurt you.”

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