Page 53 of Battle with a Billionaire

A face hovered over hers, eyes wide. “My God, Julia!”

Kyle. She tried to speak but wasn’t able to.

“Get her into trauma room one,” he shouted, panic lacing his voice.

A buzz of activity descended on her. Leads were attached, erratic beeping filled the air, and pain burst through her again.

“Hang in there, Julia, I’m going to take good care of you, okay?”

Each blink was an effort. She struggled to stay awake. Breathing hurt.

Another voice burst into the room. Grant. Panic and pandemonium ensued, all of the voices melted into a cacophony that hurt her ears.

“Julia? Stay with me.”

Hands cupped her face. Kyle’s icy blue eyes stared into hers. “Stay with me, Julia.”

His voice sounded miles away. Her vision blurred before her head lolled, and her world went black again.

CHAPTER 13

GRANT

Grant stared at the projection numbers on the large screen of the conference room. They’d seen a slight recovery since the press conference, but they were still lower than he would have liked.

Kathryn bustled inside with her phone pressed to her ear. “Yeah, I understand that, but I don’t want to hear it. Find me something, and find it now.”

With a disgusted scoff, she jabbed at the screen to end the call before flicking her gaze to the projections. She set a hand on her hip and let her gaze slide to Grant. “I told you this wasn’t going to be easy.”

“I know you did. I hoped it would have been easier than this, though,” he admitted.

The sting of a potential defeat already left a bad taste in his mouth. Yet, he hadn’t been able to take the easy route and admit to an affair he’d never had. Once upon a time, he may have done just that. Whatever worked, he would have told himself, even if it cost him whatever superficial relationship he’d been in at the time.

Now, he couldn’t bear the thought of losing Julia to a lie. And he didn’t want her to think all he cared about was winning or his image, either.

So, he’d taken the road less traveled and more treacherous. It may cost him the election, but at least it wouldn’t cost him anything else. He hoped.

“I hope you’re still happy with that choice because there’s no going back now. We can’t admit to it or you’ll drop even lower in the polls.”

“I’m not admitting to it. I didn’t do it.”

“Good. We need to stay the course, no matter how bad this looks.”

“And it looks pretty bad.”

Kathryn pointed the remote at the television screen as a newscaster poked a microphone in someone’s face. A white headline scrolled at the bottom: HARRINGTON HOAX?

“I still think he did it. He just doesn’t want to tell his wife that,” the man said.

Another woman smiled and shrugged. “I feel sorry for his wife. I guess she wants to believe he wouldn’t do it. I would have left him.”

Grant’s jaw tightened at the words.

Another woman flicked a lock of hair over her shoulder as she crinkled her nose. “I mean, I guess it could happen. Like cover models are always airbrushed and whatever.”

“Finally, one voice of reason,” Grant said.

“She won’t be alone,” Kathryn said as she muted the newscast again.

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