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“I do care about her.”
“Now, you do. So do I.”
“Do you? Or is this all still part of your evil plan?”
“I genuinely love Julia. She is amazing. What started as my evil plan to simply rip her away from you quickly morphed for me. She is the only person here who treats me like I matter.”
Grant held back rolling his eyes as he let his fist smack his desk while he clicked his tongue. “Did it ever occur to you that you haven’t really treated anyone else in this house nicely enough to deserve any better treatment?”
“Julia treats me nicely no matter what I’ve done.”
“That may be her fatal flaw. She’s too nice for her own good.” He rubbed his chin, wondering if that’s how she’d ended up with Luke’s lips on hers. “So, you saw her on television, got obsessed, and figured you’d steal her?”
“First of all, I wasn’t obsessed. And second, I figured her leaving you would start you on the path to ruination, but…”
“But?” Grant prodded.
“But how to do it was a big question mark. I mean, here’s a woman who two days after marrying you is standing beside you defending you against a murder charge. Either she’s a hell of an actress or she really loves you. And if it’s the latter, then no amount of flirting or fawning over her is going to lure her away. She is going to stay true blue.”
Kyle sucked in a breath and shrugged. “So, I had to get creative. You had a reputation. All I had to do was make your new bride believe that she was a victim of that and I’d have my in.”
“But Julia was too smart for you.”
“I think she didn’t think it rang true because you actually had no relationship. Although, your behavior considering that you didn’t marry her for love was still controlling.”
“I am not controlling. Look who’s talking, you hover all over her every chance you get. You’re constantly badgering her about something. And you’re always crossing the line. How many times have you kissed her without her actual consent?”
“No, I am not,” Kyle answered, ignoring his last statement. “We’re friends. And we’re working together. Therefore, we have to talk a lot. Also, she’s my stepmother, so…”
“Barely.”
“Oh, that’s right, you’ll be getting divorced soon. I almost forgot. Do you think there’s an appropriate waiting period to marry your stepson?”
Grant’s jaw flexed as his son reminded him of the looming deadline. But he wasn’t about to wade into the argument or his plans to stop the impending divorce. “If you’re only here to ramble on about winning Julia over, you can leave.”
“I’m here to stop Luke from winning Julia over. After that, it’s every man for himself.”
“Fine. Well, we’re not going to do it by slashing his tires or sinking his boats.”
“Bribe someone to throw him in a foreign prison and forget he exists?”
Grant flicked his eyebrows up. “That may actually work. I have a foreign dignitary who owes me a favor–“
A knock interrupted his words. He leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “I really hope that’s Worthington with coffee. Come in!”
Julia popped her head in a moment later, the smile on her face fading a little as her eyes slid back and forth between the two of them. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“It’s fine, Juls, you’re not.”
“Are you sure?” she said as she slipped through the door. “You’re actually not killing each other, so I don’t want to interrupt what may be progress.”
“Probably best if you do interrupt before we do kill each other.”
“Okay,” she said as she glanced down at her phone. “I just wanted to let you know that Alex sent me a text last night that he’s already into Lydia’s accounts and hopes to have an update soon.”
“Really?” Grant asked, surprised the man who acted so bizarrely was as competent as he said. “And nothing since then?”
“No, but I’m not surprised.”
