Page 85 of Battle with a Billionaire

He slumped back into the couch’s supple leather. Was his track record that bad that Lydia honestly believed he was already searching for a way out of his marriage? Probably. He’d never met anyone like Julia, and he’d never expected their connection. But from the outside looking in, everyone just expected her to be a passing interest.

She was anything but. His mind turned toward their predicament. A battle raged in his mind, trying to chart a course to win back his wife while simultaneously searching for the best way to maximize the chances for her memories to return.

He wondered if Julia had settled in her room. He hated to disturb her, but he wanted to check on her. She must be overwhelmed with the information. He didn’t want her mind spiraling out of control with questions.

Maybe he could answer them, and they could start reconnecting. He peeled himself off the couch and headed for the foyer. Kyle led a panicked-looking Julia down the stairs, her features pinched.

His heart clenched. What had happened? “Julia? Are you okay?”

Kyle answered, “No, she is not.”

He crinkled his forehead as he shifted his gaze between them. Had Kyle upset her? Where was he taking her? “Okay, why don’t you try to rest–“

“No, she’s not going to go rest,” Kyle answered with a shake of his head. “I’m taking her out of here so she can think.”

Grant fluttered his eyelashes at the words before he scoffed. He wasn’t going to let his son–whose interest in his wife was obvious–take her from her home in her confused state. “I don’t think so.”

“Stand aside, Dad,” Kyle spat at him.

Grant skirted him to block the front door. “I will not. You’re not leaving here with Julia.”

“Yes, I am. She’s overwhelmed, and she needs some space.”

“Oh, space from this house, but not from you, huh?” Grant asked. “That’s very convenient for you.”

“I can’t help it that I’m the one concerned about Julia’s needs and not my own. Nor that she happens to remember me and not you.”

Grant rolled his eyes at the statement. “She has a vague recollection. That’s hardly enough to warrant you whisking her away from her home.”

“Oh, she has more than a vague recollection.”

The way Kyle said those words not only cut at him but made him wonder what she’d said to him to make him think that.

“Okay, I’m sorry, this is my fault,” Julia said, her features still registering panic as her eyes bounced between them.

“It’s not, Julia,” Grant said with a shake of his head. “I just don’t want you feeling like you can’t think here.”

“Well, she does feel that way,” Kyle retorted.

“I–“ Julia said, running a hand through her hair. “I just was overwhelmed.”

“Okay, that’s okay,” Grant said as he took her hands in his. “But it may not be a good idea for you to leave. You’ve just gotten home from the hospital. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I’m a doctor, she’ll be perfectly fine with me,” Kyle answered.

Grant ignored him, keeping his focus on Julia. He’d seen this panic in her before. He recalled her blurting out that she couldn’t marry him as she stood in her wedding dress only hours after her first time crossing Harrington House’s threshold.

She’d needed reassurance then, and she needed it again now.

Her forehead pinched as she flicked her gaze to the floor. “I read all the things that happened over the last year.”

His heart stopped at the words. “What?”

She snapped her gaze back up to him. “I read all of the news articles. The Senate race, the explosion, the fight between you two–“

“Okay, okay,” Grant said as the panic ramped up in her voice again. “That’s a lot to take in.”

She nodded as she chewed her lower lip. “I don’t remember any of it. Nothing sparked anything.”

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