Page 18 of Believing in a Billionaire
“I concur,” Kyle said as he matched her stance.
Julia wrapped her arm around her sister. “She’snotgoing to a hotel. Alicia is staying here with us.”
“Julia!” Sierra shouted as she flung an arm at Alicia. “How can you let the woman who nearly killed me stay here?”
“What?” Julia asked.
“I didn’t nearly kill you,” Alicia retorted with a scrunched face.
“Yes, you did.”
Kyle side-eyed his sister. “Yeah, I’m not following this logic, could you explain?”
Sierra heaved a sigh. “When we were in Maine, Alicia pushed Julia to spend time with Luke. Julia did which caused a fight between Julia and Daddy. Then, Julia left, and Daddy and I got into a fight, and I left. And then Mom and I got into an argument, and I fell over a cliff and nearly died. All of that is a direct result of Alicia’s actions. Alicia almost killed me.”
Kyle rubbed his chin as he bobbed his head. “That’s a pretty solid logic.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Alicia said. “That wouldn’t hold up in any court in this country.”
Sierra’s features twisted as she jabbed a finger at Alicia. “Look, lady, let me tell you something. Julia and my daddy are married because they are in love. And you’d better not do anything to mess that up. If you’re planning to bring Luke back here–”
“We will bankrupt his company, sink his tour boats, and leave him in the middle of a foreign country with no money and no passports,” Kyle finished for her.
“Right. Wait, what?” Sierra screwed up her face as she snapped her gaze to him.
Kyle shook his head at Sierra to dismiss the question, and she whipped back to face Alicia. “Right. And my brother is crazy enough to do it, so…”
“Aw,” Kyle said as he slid an arm around Sierra, “that’s the first time you called me your brother.”
“Desperate times,” Sierra said.
“Stop it,” Julia said. “Luke is not coming back. Alicia is here because she needs to spend some time with me. Grant is fine with it. She’s not going to do anything to ruin our relationship.”
“Will this mess up our preplanned Mother-Daughter event schedule?” Sierra asked.
Kyle scrunched his features. “You have preplanned events scheduled with Julia?”
“I do. I have the next three months booked.” Sierra twisted to face Julia again. “Will it mess that up?"
“No,” Julia said as she rubbed Sierra’s arms.
“Not even our scheduled lunch today?”
“Not even that. I can spend time with both of you. I’m not going to cancel our plans, though, I promise.”
“You have lunch scheduled today with Sierra?” Kyle asked. “Can I schedule lunch with you tomorrow?”
“Yes, that’s fine,” Julia answered. “We will all spend time together, okay? Alicia is not going to ruin anything between me and Grant. It’s all going to be fine.”
Sierra arched an eyebrow, settling her narrowed eyes on Alicia. “Fine. She can stay…for now.” She inched closer to the woman, her voice lowering to a growl. “But you listen, lady, and you listen good. You’re on my turf now. And if you mess with my family, I will make you wish you’d never stepped foot inside this state.”
Sierra pushed past her, stomping away in her high heels as she called over her shoulder. “See you later for lunch, Step-mommy!”
“Wow. That was intense. Hey, Sierra, wait up,” Kyle said as he hurried after her.
Julia breathed a sigh of relief as they left, sliding her eyes closed.
“How do you stand this?”
