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She slid a narrow-eyed glance at him. “Seriously? I’m being questioned by the sort of family member?”
“I’m not sort of, Sierra, I’m your half-brother.”
Sierra rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Crazy Kyle. Just…tell me what’s going on. I heard my name and then something about me being devastated if the pictures went public. What pictures? And why does Kyle know about them?”
Her eyes went wide, and she glared at her brother. “OMG! What did you do? Did you take pictures of me? Are you blackmailing Daddy with them?”
Kyle offered her an incredulous glance. “Are you serious? No, I’m trying to help in this situation, putting my life on the line while you, the princess, gets spared all of this.”
“That’s enough, Kyle,” Grant’s voice boomed.
“I didn’t ask to be spared anything. In fact, I’d like to know what’s going on here. No, I demand to know.”
No one spoke. Julia twisted one hand around the other as she shot a glance at Kyle, then Grant. This was a development they hadn’t anticipated, but she wasn’t certain that they could avoid this conversation.
“Sierra, honey, it’s nothing. You misunderstood,” Grant tried.
“Uh, no. Not going to fly.” Sierra cocked a hip as she stomped a heel on the floor. “I want to know what these pictures are and why I’d be devastated if they got out.”
“Julia and I are having an affair. Lydia has pictures,” Kyle burst out. “Dad thinks you’d be devastated by that. But it’s all out in the open now.”
“Yeah, right. And Daddy and Mom are getting back together. Try again, Crazy.”
“Why would you not believe that?”
“Because you’re still alive. Daddy would have killed you by now. Now, who is going to tell me the truth?”
Julia felt the weight of Sierra’s icy eyes on her. She squirmed under the scrutiny, her nose wrinkling.
“Julia? You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”
“Sierra…” Julia started, trying to keep her voice soft. She didn’t want to be the one to tell her stepdaughter. She didn’t want to take the agency away from Grant. She wanted to allow him the opportunity to break it to her the way he wanted to.
“I can’t believe this. I can’t believe I’m being treated like an outsider. I mean, even Kyle knows. Kyle! And I’m being shut out of my own family. I never thought this would happen.” Sierra stomped toward the door.
“Sierra, wait,” Julia said, sliding in front of her. “It’s just…this is going to be really difficult.”
Sierra leaned closer to her, lowering her voice. “You aren’t seriously having an affair with Kyle, are you?”
Julia’s shoulders slumped as she fluttered her eyelashes. “No. It’s much worse than that. Kyle just said that to protect you.”
“Protect me? Ew. And also, there’s nothing worse than that. Whatever it is, I can handle it because nothing could be worse than you and Kyle hooking up.”
“That’s a little judgy, sis,” Kyle said.
“But true.”
Grant slid his arm around his daughter’s shoulders, his features pinched as he glanced at Julia.
She offered him as consoling of a half-smile as she could manage. “I think we should tell her.”
Sierra shifted her gaze from Julia to Grant, her eyes clouding with emotion and her normal arrogant expression slipping. “You’re starting to scare me a little.”
Grant’s lower lip bobbed as he tried to form words, but he didn’t manage any.
“Daddy?” This time her voice came out as a squeak.
“Sit down, Sierra,” he finally said.
