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His mind searched for a way his ex-wife had pulled this off and how he could prevent it from happening in the future. His ringing phone pulled him from his thoughts. He glanced at the display again, finding Caroline to be the caller.

“Grant, if you need to take that, it’s fine. I’m probably going to fall asleep.”

He let the phone fall back into his pocket. “And when you do, then I’ll take it.”

She settled back into the pillow with a sigh. “All right, I’ll go to sleep.”

He smiled at her, squeezing her hand as she closed her eyes. Within minutes, she’d fallen asleep, her fingers going limp.

“It’s normal that she’s tired, right?” Grant asked his son.

“Yeah, definitely. She’s recovering well, but she’s not cured yet. She needs her rest.”

Grant’s phone rang again. He grabbed it, checking the display to find Caroline’s name again.

“And you need to take that call so your phone continuously ringing doesn’t disturb her.”

Grant heaved a sigh as he flicked his gaze to his son. “You’ll be here, right?”

“Of course,” he said as he settled into the chair on the opposite side of Julia’s bed.

“Don’t kiss her, okay?”

He held his hands up in the air. “I’ll keep my lips to myself.”

Grant heaved a sigh as he rose and tugged his phone from his pocket. He placed a call to Mike Donovan as he stepped from the room. “Tell me something good.”

“Mr. Harrington… I wish I could. We’re working on buying stock, but the prices are being driven up by our purchases and DG’s.”

Grant rubbed his sore eyes. “Keep at it. Do not let them get a majority stake.”

“I’m doing my best, sir. I’ll keep you updated.”

Grant pulled the phone away from his ear and pressed the end call button as he sighed. Exhaustion coursed through him. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes for a few moments now that Julia seemed to be recovering. Maybe he could nod off next to her, though he honestly hoped she’d soon be released so he could take her home. They’d both sleep better there.

He scrolled through his call list to the three missed calls from Caroline Foster. He considered not returning the call, but he worried that she’d continue to call.

After a moment, he pressed the call icon and raised the phone to his ear.

“Grant, I’m glad you called.”

“I saw the missed calls. I’m sorry, Julia’s in the hospital. She’s just woken up.”

“Sorry, Grant, I didn’t know. How is she?”

“Doing better,” he answered, “but still recovering.”

“That’s good. Unfortunately, that won’t make what I’m about to say any easier. But you need to know.”

His pulse quickened. He wondered if it had to do with the hostile takeover attempt. He’d done his best to keep the threat from the board. He’d deal with it, then distill it in a one-line explanation in his report. “Look, Caroline–”

“I’m sorry, Grant, it can’t wait. I received a packet today. I assume everyone on the board did. It contains some…questionable photographs.”

His eyebrows knitted as the words came through the speaker. “What?”

“I’m going to send them to you. I’m really, really sorry about this. But I do think you should know, especially since I’m betting this is going to send some rumblings through the more volatile board members.”

His phone chimed, indicating a text message. He pulled the phone from his ear and toggled to the message from Carolina. Images loaded on the screen. He tapped one to enlarge it.