Page 10 of Blackmail of a Billionaire

She remained silent as he closed the distance between them, offering him an unreadable poker face.

“We need to talk.”

Her voice was flat, emotionless, though the tight clasp of her hands suggested she was less calm than she projected. “We don’t–“ she started but he guided her to the bench, easing her onto it.

“We do. It’s a misunderstanding. What you saw…it wasn’t what it seemed. She made advances, I was pushing back. That’s all.”

His mind raced ahead as he waited for her response. Would she believe him, or would she accuse him of not doing enough to have prevented or stopped Bianca’s advances? Instead, she did something he never expected. She said nothing outside of, “Okay.”

What did that mean? Was she fine? Why had she run if she wasn’t upset? He didn’t have an answer for that. And her features were still practically unreadable, though he thought he’d caught a glimmer of disappointment in her eyes.

“Are you…okay, I mean? You left so quickly.”

She glanced down at her lap. She was avoiding eye contact. That wasn’t a good sign. After a lick of her lips, she flicked him a sideways glance. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”

He guffawed at the statement, his forehead momentarily creasing in confusion. “No, you weren’t. That’s my point. You shouldn’t have left. She means nothing to me. In fact, I fired her already. It was totally inappropriate behavior.”

This was uncharted territory for him. He’d never had a wife react so oddly to a matter of supposed infidelity. And certainly, when he had caught wives number two and four cheating, he hadn’t been this calm.

She flicked her eyebrows up, the only sign of emotion he received from the conversation. “I’m not sure that’s the image you want right now, but it’s your call.”

“Well, it’s not just the image I’m concerned with,” he answered. “And I’m very sorry about what happened.”

He thrust the flowers forward toward her. “These are for you. As an apology, along with…” He dug into his breast pocket and withdrew the long velvet box. “This.”

He snapped it open, allowing the sun to glint off of the sapphire and diamond bracelet.

Her forehead crinkled before her features shifted from seemingly indifferent to upset again. She snapped her gaze to his, confusion flitting across her eyes.

“I hope you like it,” he tried.

She glanced down at it again before she shook her head. Did she really not like it? He could return it and buy her something else. Something more to her taste.

She sat stunned for a second before she closed the box and pushed it away. “I don’t–“

“If you don’t like it, I can get you something else. This reminded me of your eyes.”

“No–“

“Julia, please. I promise nothing happened. And I didn’t want anything to happen.”

She fluttered her eyelashes, a sign of frustration with the conversation. He eased off, allowing her to speak. “I told you in the office. You don’t owe me anything.”

The words stung just as much this time around as the first. Was she planning to break her contract and leave him? The thought sped his pulse a little.

“No explanations or…” Her eyes fell on the velvet box. “Gifts. It’s not my business.” She flicked her gaze to her lap, her hands tightening around each other.

“But…” He struggled to keep up with the conversation.

“Grant, I understand this arrangement. I don’t have any say in your private business or your life. Again, I’m not certain it’s a good idea given that new image you’re trying to project, but it’s not my business.” A light breeze ruffled her hair as storm clouds built on the horizon, and she slicked a lock of it behind her ear before grabbing the compass she seemed to always wear.

He sat in stunned silence, her words and attitude burning a hole into his chest. Gone was any of the warmth he’d come to know from her. She was cold and closed. Any progress in their relationship had been erased by the incident. And he had no idea how to fix it.

CHAPTER 4

JULIA

Julia wandered aimlessly through the city streets, not caring where her feet took her as long as it put distance between her and Harrington Global. Her mind swam as she tried to sort through her unexpected emotions.

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