“What does that mean?”
His jaw clenched again as he prepared to break the news to his daughter. She deserved to know. He didn’t want it to be a shock to her. “DG Industries has been buying stock in Harrington Global. They’ll soon have enough to trigger a board vote. If they have the votes, I expect I will no longer be CEO after this week.”
“Are you kidding me? What are you doing to stop it?”
“The best I can, baby, but I don’t think it’s going to be enough.”
Sierra’s face fell, her jaw agape. “But…there has to be something we can do.”
“I’m trying, but she’s got money from who knows where. We can’t outpace her buying. I’m waiting on a call from Mike and Mitchell. Maybe I can still sway the votes my way.”
Sierra nodded, her pinched features still fixed on her shoes. She was disappointed. She didn’t hide it the way Julia did.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he said as he rubbed her arm.
“It’s okay, Daddy. We’ll figure something out.” She forced a half-smile onto her still-upset features as she glanced up to him. “At least we still have Julia.”
“Yes,” he said with a smile as he pulled his daughter into a hug. “Yes, we do. Now, why don’t we head back down to Kyle’s room. We shouldn’t leave Julia alone there for too long. He may try to kiss her.”
“I hope not. He’s in a hospital bed, and he’s been specifically told not to kiss her.”
“He’ll probably still do it and blame his meds,” Sierra said as she looped her arm through his and led him from the room.
“Good point. He’ll say it’s not his fault.”
“Yep. When we were looking for Kyle and we found his car, we thought maybe he’d disappeared somewhere into the wilderness. I tried to lure him out with a kiss from Julia, but it didn’t work because he wasn’t there.”
Grant screwed up his face at his daughter’s words, said so casually. “I don’t know what to say about that.”
She shrugged. “It totally would have worked if he’d been hiding there.”
They approached Kyle’s room. Julia’s laughter floated from inside. A familiar pang of jealousy tore through him before he shoved it aside. Julia was his wife, and his son had nearly died.
They stepped into the room, finding her holding a phone above her as she leaned close to Kyle, perched on the edge of his bed.
“Well, we are doing much better now,” Julia said.
“I am very glad. It just wouldn’t have been the same without you around Mini-Grant.”
Grant recognized the voice of Alex Stone. The man had been instrumental in helping find his son. As much as he disliked his odd personality, he needed to thank him.
“Still not loving the nickname, but thank you,” Kyle answered.
Grant approached Julia, sliding his hand into hers. “Can I say thanks?” he whispered.
She nodded as she twisted the phone. The image of the shaggy, blonde-haired man filled the screen. “Grantster. What’s up, bro?”
Grant clenched his teeth at the man’s strange behavior. “Alex. I just…wanted to say thank you for what you did to help Kyle.”
“No worries, broheim. Happy to do it.”
Grant nodded at him as Julia shifted the phone back to her. “Hey, Alex, do you have a second? I wanted to ask you something.”
“For you, I’ve got time, Sunshine.”
“Okay, just give me a second.” Julia clicked off the video and held a finger over the microphone before she glanced at Grant. “Be right back, okay?”
“Sure,” he answered as she kissed his cheek.