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“I know little doe eyes claims she doesn’t remember a thing about what she found, but I don’t buy it. And now I have the proof that she’s lying.”
Lydia tossed the folder clutched to her chest in front of him. “Go ahead and have a look at who is really behind the efforts to destroy you.”
Grant stared down at the manila folder. The edges of photographs spilled out of it. His heart rose into his throat as he wondered what he’d find when he opened it.
A cold shiver ran down his spine. Lydia’s smirk suggested a game with high stakes–a game where the truth about Julia and DG Industries was just a page turn away. What manipulations lay beneath the cover?
CHAPTER 12
JULIA
Julia’s knees wobbled as she studied the man in front of her. “Kyle, what are you doing?”
“Julia…” he said, his tone even and measured as he took a step toward her.
She stumbled backward away from him, crashing into a table in the foyer and sending it screeching across the hardwood. “Don’t.”
“Julia, please, I just need you to trust me for a second here.”
“You just padlocked the door. And this place has nothing to do with–“
He lunged at her, clamping a hand over her mouth before she could say anything else. “Shh.”
With his hand still firmly over her lips, he grasped her by the arm and led her to the stairs, forcing her up them. Each step felt heavier than the last, her mind racing. Could she trust Kyle or was this more dangerous than she cared to face?
She struggled to yank her arm free, but his grip was too strong. He wrangled her through a bedroom and into an ensuite bathroom, stopping at a large glass shower enclosure. With her pressed against him, he spun the dial to turn on the water, shifted the shower head toward one wall, and shoved her inside.
“What the hell are you doing?” she burst as he stepped in with her and pulled the door shut.
“Lydia has this place bugged. I don’t know how many and where. The water should cover our voices if there are any microphones in here.”
Julia stood in stunned silence, her jaw agape and her eyebrows pinched. “Lydia?”
“Yes, Lydia. The person who wanted me to bring you here.”
Her stomach twisted into a knot. Why was Kyle following Lydia’s orders? Was Grant right about him?
Kyle shook his head, his features pinching. “It’s really bothering me that you’re looking at me like that right now.”
She stared at him, noting the tension in his jaw and the pleading in his eyes. Was he always this desperate, or had his involvement with Lydia brought out a new facet of his personality? “Like what? Like you just drove me to the middle of nowhere, shoved me into a cabin, and padlocked the door?”
“Like I’m going to hurt you. Julia, I would never do that.”
The shower’s rhythmic splatter against the tile echoed her racing heartbeat. “Then why are you following Lydia’s orders to bring me here?”
“Because that’s what she wanted to let me back in, okay?”
Heat washed over Julia as steam started to rise around them from the hot water spewing onto the tile wall. She pressed a hand against her forehead as she tried to process his words. “Why did you do that? Kyle, this is way too dangerous.”
“That’s exactly why I did it, Julia. Metcalfe is dead. And that note threatened you or someone else close to Grant. I need to get information from Lydia now more than ever before something happens to someone…before something happens to you.”
Julia blew out a sigh as she shook her head. “You shouldn’t have done that. You should have stayed far away from Lydia.”
“Too late. I want this over. And I want to make sure you’re safe. She’s cornered us, and I need to fight back from the inside. It’s the only way to protect you from Lydia.”
“How is this making sure I’m safe? And why didn’t you tell me?”
“I couldn’t. I spoke with Lydia when you went to see Sierra. She told me she needed you out of the way for a few hours. That she needed Grant isolated. She said I had to move fast or else I’d lose my chance to prove myself.”
