Page 29 of Believing in a Billionaire
“Me? You scheduled the lunch. You pick.”
“Yeah, to spend time with you. Not to monopolize the conversation.”
Julia pushed the pasta around on her plate as she considered what to say. “Okay, I have something but you have to promise not to get upset.”
He froze, flicking his gaze up to her. “That sounds ominous.”
She wrinkled her nose. “It sort of is. I just think someone should know, just in case.”
He let his fork clatter to his plate. “Is Dad going to kick me out again?”
“No. Of course not. It has nothing to do with you or Grant.”
“Then what?” he asked.
Julia reached into her pocket and withdrew the note, sliding it across the table to him. “Someone delivered that to the house yesterday.”
Kyle read it before he snapped his eyes up to her, concern etched into his features. “Julia! You’re just telling me about this now? At least tell me you told Dad.”
She shook her head.
“What? Julia! This is serious. The game isn’t over yet? This has to be from Lydia.”
“But she’s in jail. I mean, is it just meant to rile us up?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know, but I don’t like it. You need to be careful.”
She heaved a sigh.
“And I think you need to tell Dad. He should have a security detail on you.”
She raised her eyebrows, an amused smile crossing her lips. “Wow, this is real progress on your part, Kyle. You actuallywantme to tell your father something.”
He offered her a stern glance. “I’m being serious. And yes, I want you to tell him because I think he needs to know so we can make sure you’re safe. Why didn’t you tell him?”
Julia sucked in a breath as she stared out over the water. “He’s been so…upset about what’s going on at HG that I didn’t want to add to the problems.”
“What’s going on?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. He hasn’t told me which is weird, to begin with, but I can tell whatever it is, he’s not happy. I was going to tell him, I just was waiting until things settled.”
“Yeah, well, by that time, something could happen to you.”
She clicked her tongue as she let her gaze fall on her half-eaten lunch. “I thought this was over.”
“We all did. And maybe it’s just a false alarm, but we all need to stick together. At least until after Lydia’s in prison for good.”
“That can’t come soon enough.” Julia shifted in her seat as she recalled the frightening moments on the roof before Lydia had been hauled away in handcuffs.
“I agree. Until then, we need to do everything we can to protect you. Lydia can’t be happy about what happened. If she’d had her way, she’d have dragged you to who knows where and would still be using you to bilk Dad out of whatever she could.”
“At least that didn’t happen. She lost everything.”
“Which makes her all the more dangerous.” Kyle wiped his lips with his napkin before he tossed it on the table and waved at the waiter for the check. “Come on, we’ll go talk to him now.”
She slid the note into her pocket again before she rose. They left the restaurant, and Kyle followed her back to Harrington House.
She hated to do this with Grant already on edge, but her stepson had a point. Still, after she climbed from her car, her footsteps were slow and plodding. Kyle wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he led her to Grant’s study.
