Page 101 of Battle with a Billionaire

“Well, what is it? You can tell me. You can tell me anything, Juju.”

Julia sucked in a breath, her eyes darting around the room in search of answers. “Well…I…I haven’t been doing very well on my manuscript is all.”

“Oh, Julia.” Her sister’s voice sounded chiding. “You really let the pressure get to you. You need to just take a deep breath and realize you’re a good writer. People like your books. They like your characters. You’re a good writer.”

Julia swallowed the lump in her throat. “Do you like my books?”

“I love your books. You know that. And I’m not just saying that because I’m your sister.”

She blew out a sigh, letting the warmth of someone who genuinely cared for her wrap her up like a blanket. She’d struggled to navigate the dangerous undercurrents in the Harrington household. She couldn’t tell who was lying and who was telling the truth. She had no idea what her thoughts were on the subject.

But she knew her sister probably meant everything she said. Unless her sister actually disliked her or was also controlling. The thought made her head throb again.

“Now, are you ready to tackle that manuscript and show it who’s boss?”

“Maybe,” she said, not wanting to let go of the connection just yet. She couldn’t remember her sister, but she felt safe with her, assuming they had a decent enough relationship since she’d threatened to call every state official when she hadn’t heard from Julia.

“Just maybe? I’m losing my touch.”

She wanted to blurt out everything, but Grant’s words stuck in her mind. Why hadn’t she told Alicia she was married? There must have been a reason. Maybe her sister wasn’t as kind as she thought. Or maybe she’d just not wanted to admit she’d married someone to save their image.

“You’re not, I’m just being a baby.”

Her sister chuckled. “You’re not a baby. Well, technically, you are my baby sister, but I’m the baby. You know how you made me call Ethan the other day?”

She didn’t recall it at all, but she couldn’t say that. She assumed Ethan was her brother-in-law. She hoped to infer it from the conversation. “Yeah.”

“Well, I did. And we got into another huge fight. And then I brought up counseling, and he shut down completely.”

“Oh, gosh, I’m sorry.”

“Doubt it,” Alicia answered. “But maybe our relationship is just losing its touch.”

“Don’t give up on it yet. Maybe it just needs some time.”

“We’ll see.” A radio crackled in the background, and Julia’s brow crinkled. Was her sister a cop? “Ah, shoot, that’d be Mrs. Kline’s cat stuck in the tree again. I gotta run, sis.”

“Okay, we’ll talk soon. And don’t worry about Ethan. It’ll work out.”

“Thanks, Juju. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She hung up the phone as emotion raced through her again, threatening more tears. She missed the connection already.

She blew out a steadying breath, trying not to let the emotions overwhelm her again. After a few minutes, she set her phone down, rose from the bed, and crossed to the en-suite bathroom. She splashed cold water onto her face before she toweled off.

She wandered back into the bedroom as the late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the back lawn. Exhaustion made her weary. Her head throbbed, probably from crying.

She sat on the bed’s edge before she flopped backward, allowing the silky soft duvet to bring her a tiny measure of comfort.

Her stinging eyes wanted to close, but she didn’t want to fall asleep. After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling while she massaged her temples, she let them slide closed.

Something jolted them open, and she bolted up to sit. Her head pounded as she tried to make sense of it. An address. A street sign, then numbers on the side of a building.

What was she seeing? She had to know. She had to see if this unlocked a memory for her. Her eyes fell onto the key fob she’d set on her nightstand when she’d run away earlier.

A second later, with her keys in hand, she slipped out of her room and slinked through the halls. She hurried down the steps, her eyes trained on the front door. She slid her gaze sideways toward Grant’s closed office doors as she slipped through the door into the late afternoon air.

She had no idea why she didn’t tell anyone where she was going, but she didn’t want to be stopped. If Kyle was right and Grant was controlling, he wouldn’t let her go, and she had to know why she remembered this address.

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