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She slipped her hand into his, the concern not leaving her face. Before she could answer, the ring of his phone cut through the tension.

He squeezed her hand before he dropped it and grabbed his phone from the desk. He didn’t recognize the number, but he swiped to answer the call anyway. “Grant Harrington.”

“Hello, Grant,” Lydia’s voice purred, each word dripping with malice.

A shiver ran down his spine, the familiar timbre of her voice bringing a visceral reaction. He gripped the phone tighter, steeling himself against the wave of dread that threatened to overwhelm him.

The game had changed. Lydia was pushing the boundaries on every front.

His heart thudded against his ribs at the sound of her voice, the acrid sound slicing at him like a knife as one question burned through his mind. What did Lydia want?

CHAPTER 8

JULIA

Julia shuffled from Grant’s office, her brows furrowed at his reaction to the mysterious phone call he’d received moments ago.

His posture had changed, becoming stiff, before he’d twisted to her. “Hey, do you mind if I take this? It’s work. But I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

She offered him a fleeting smile, an attempt to offer silent support for whatever was happening at Harrington Global that had kept him at the office until late last night.

She wondered if it had anything to do with Lydia. The dull headache building at her temples made it difficult for her to focus.

A warm hand slipped around her shoulder. “Julia?” Kyle asked, pulling her attention from the swirls on the marble floor.

“I’m fine,” she answered.

Kyle squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay if you’re not.”

“Thank you, doctor, for your expert opinion. My sister shouldn’t have to worry about being kidnapped or killed courtesy of her husband’s ex-wife.” Alicia poked a finger at him.

“We are going to protect Julia,” Kyle countered. “We’d never let anything happen to her.”

“Aren’t you the one who kidnapped her? That’s rich coming from you.”

“Daddy won’t let anything happen to her,” Sierra retorted. “And Kyle may be crazy, but he also loves Julia, so he won’t let someone else kidnap her or hurt her.”

“You’re as crazy as your mother.”

Julia slid her eyes closed as the words escaped her sister’s mouth.

Sierra’s features twisted, her eyes turning glassy as they clouded with upset. “I’m nothing like my mother!”

She pushed past Alicia as she stormed up the stairs.

“Sierra…” Julia called after her before she sighed. “Great. Nice going, Ally.”

“What? They’re all a little crazy, not just him,” Alicia said, jabbing a finger at Kyle.

Julia pressed her lips together as she shook her head at her sister. “Sierra is incredibly sensitive about being compared to her mother whom she is nothing like, by the way. That was really low, Ally.”

“Oh, well, so sorry, I didn’t know that. I’m just frustrated.”

Julia skirted around her sister and mounted the stairs. “And you took it out on Sierra. That’s not okay. You are a guest in this house. Act like it.”

Kyle offered Alicia a haughty stare as he circled past her and joined Julia on the stairs. “Good going, Julia. You really told her.”

Julia raked her fingers through her hair as she blew out a sigh. “I wish I didn’t have to.”