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JULIA

Julia’s heart sank as Grant spoke, refusing to look at her. It was obvious how much pain he felt over the situation with Harrington Global. He’d been carrying it with him for days. That explained almost everything. How distracted he’d been, how tense.

He hadn’t told her, but the reason for that became obvious as he leapt from the chair.

She sighed as she stared at the floor. Her mind not only vetted ideas regarding the stock buy-up but also the reason for all his secrecy.

I wanted things to be perfect for us.

She rose, pressing her hand against her forehead as she tried to figure out the best path forward on every front.

He grabbed her hands in his. “Julia, I can fix everything. I just need more time. I know things haven’t been what I promised, but–”

“No, Grant,” she said as she shook her head. This couldn’t continue between them. She had to stop it. “No more…contracts or time frames. No more contingencies. No more. This has to end.”

He stared at her, the strain of the past few days etched in every line of his face. “Julia...”

“Grant, we can’t keep going like this. It’s not healthy. And it’s not working.”

“I can make it work. That’s what I’m saying. It’ll be fine. I just need–”

“No.” She shook her head again. “It’s not working for you. You have been tense, stressed…”

“Well, yeah. Lydia is trying to steal my company. I just wanted to shield you from that. It’s not a crime.”

“But it’s not a marriage, either,” she answered, her voice soft.

Grant huffed out a breath, sliding his eyes closed.

She took a step closer to him, sliding her hands onto his shoulders. “Lydia is coming after us on every front. Now is not the time to keep secrets.”

“It wasn’t secret,” he grumbled.

She sighed as she bit her lower lip. “You kept it from me because you wanted to create this illusion of perfection.”

He opened his mouth to answer but she stopped him.

“But that’s the problem. And that’s why this…time frame and these contingencies can’t go on. Not anymore.”

He pressed his lips together, his jaw flexing as he didn’t like what he was hearing.

“We need to move forward together. United. Committed. For good. I love you, Grant. I don’t love a perfect version of you. I love you. I don’t want the illusion of a fairy tale marriage. I want honesty. I want a partnership.”

His features contorted, his eyebrows pinching together as he studied her. His eyes narrowed.

“What?” she asked.

“You…” He clamped his jaw closed again as he shook his head. “You constantly amaze me, Julia. I don’t know what to say.”

“How about you’re not going to hold things back from me anymore in this ridiculous attempt to create this fantasy world? When we were under contract, we faced everything together: scandals, storms, all of it together.”

“And I constantly worried you’d disappear from my life because of the turmoil.”

She shrugged. “But I didn’t. And I won’t. Grant, I’m not going anywhere. And I’m not going to fall to pieces over bad news.”

“This is…more than bad news. This is…a full-blown disaster that’s threatening to swallow everything I’ve built.”

Julia’s shoulders slumped. She cupped his cheek in her hand, offering him a slight smile. “Then we’ll face it together. I didn’t stay with you for your company or your money or the trips to Paris.”