Page 26 of Battle with a Billionaire

“I still feel responsible.”

“And I still don’t know why,” Grant said as they slipped into the garage and he crossed to grab his keys.

“I may have used DG Industries as a distraction earlier with him. Twice.”

“Twice?” Grant crinkled his brow as he unlocked his Mercedes and opened the passenger door for her.

“Yes,” she said as she slipped inside.

He rounded the hood, sliding behind the wheel.

“This morning when we talked, we were going round and round. He brought up DG Industries, and I told him we’d talk about looking into them.”

Grant huffed at the news as he pulled down the driveway. “Julia, will you please stop putting yourself in danger with these investigations? Let Max handle it.”

“I’m not putting myself in danger.”

“What about the second time?”

“What?”

Grant aimed for the glowing lights of the city. “You said you used it twice. What was the second time?”

“He texted me earlier about the news story. I made it clear I didn’t want to hear his opinion and if we were going to keep talking, it would be about DG Industries, not his opinion on your past.”

“And so he took it upon himself to impress you by finding information.”

“Probably,” Julia said as the buildings filled in around them. “Which is why I feel somewhat responsible.”

“You didn’t tell him to follow this Knight character, Julia.”

“No, but…we did follow him once. And he never should have gone on his own. He’s terrible at tailing people. I’m not surprised he got caught.”

Grant threaded through the quiet city streets, a sense of foreboding settling over him. Dealing with Kyle was never straightforward. He pondered the new drama awaiting him at the police station. At least this time, it wasn’t him in handcuffs.

He flicked his gaze sideways to Julia. She chewed her lower lip as she stared at the passing buildings. She really did take everything to heart. He slid a hand onto her shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Julia. You’ve been more than patient with him. Maybe this will make him realize there are consequences to his actions.”

Julia reached for his hand, offering him a soft smile. “So have you. I think this goes above and beyond.”

“I can’t believe he called you in the middle of the night to get him out of jail,” Grant said with a shake of his head.

“I don’t think he has anybody else. That’s part of the problem.”

Grant rolled his eyes as the station came into sight. “Oh, poor Kyle.”

“Hey, he hasn’t had an easy time of it lately. He just lost the mother who raised him, then found out he was adopted, and then lost his birth mom.”

“You’re way too nice, Julia,” Grant said as he eased into a parking space. “Maybe you ought to wait in the–”

The opening of her door announced her disagreement with his suggestion.

“Right, okay,” he said as he climbed from the car and joined her, wrapping an arm around her as they strode to the building and climbed the steps before pushing inside.

Mitchell emerged from the back as they stepped into the waiting room.

“Mitch,” Grant said as he approached them, “sorry to wake you, again.”

“At least it wasn’t you this time,” Mitchell answered.

---