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CHAPTER 20
JULIA
Julia stormed up the stairs, the list she’d found crumpled in her fist as anger fueled her steps back to her suite. She knew Kyle could be reactive, but for Grant to go along with him shocked her.
She puffed out a breath as she slammed the door to her office behind her. She whipped her phone from her pocket, her thumbs scrambling across her virtual keyboard to send a text to Kyle. How could you conspire to go after Luke like that? I’m so disappointed in you.
She tossed the phone onto her desk. Her jaw ached from clenching it so tightly. She collapsed in her desk chair, her eyes falling on the wedding picture.
She stared at the supposedly happy moment. But it was fake.
She married a man she didn’t even know. And then she’d created an image of him that wasn’t real. An image she had fallen in love with. But that wasn’t the real man.
He was tough, hard-headed, and…
Her mind refused to add the last word. She sucked in a shaky breath, realizing whether she wanted to acknowledge it or not, his behavior toward Luke was border-lining cruel.
She unfurled the note in her hand and re-read the suggestions on it. Though they were in Kyle’s handwriting, he hadn’t denied considering them.
Her heart broke for Luke. He’d taken a step outside of his comfort zone, albeit in a misguided attempt at winning her back, but still…to have his work ripped away from him because of some sort of jealous rage infuriated her.
Luke had nothing to do with DG Industries or the war against Grant. Why would he even give the man a second thought?
Perhaps because in some sort of warped reality, she had become part of what he considered his. Their marriage was fake, but maybe in the two years they’d spent together, the lines had blurred and he considered her part of what he claimed.
Even still, the reaction was extreme. She was disappointed in both him and Kyle, but more in him.
Kyle’s behavior was bad on a good day. That didn’t excuse it, but the fact that her feelings for her stepson didn’t go beyond tenderness toward a friend made it so much easier to live with.
Tears stung her eyes as she wondered the extent to which she’d misjudged her husband. Maybe the end of their marriage in a matter of days was the best thing that could happen.
Her finger traced the outline of the silver frame around the wedding photo before she slapped it down against the desk. She couldn’t look at it anymore.
She couldn’t think about what a lie her life had become. And she’d done that to herself. She had willingly entered into this madness. And then she’d created an entire reality around herself to support it.
She’d left her sister behind to return to this. Her eyes fell on the phone she’d dumped on the desk earlier.
She snatched it and dialed her sister’s number, desperately trying to steady her voice. She cleared her throat twice as she blinked her tears away before her sister’s voice sounded on the other end.
“Juju, hi,” she said, sounding pleased that her sister had called.
“Hey, Ally,” she answered, a heaviness in her voice that she had hoped to avoid.
“What’s wrong?” her sister said immediately. “What happened?”
The words brought a string of events over the last few days to her mind and emotions welled inside her.
“Juju, I’m getting nervous that you’re not answering. Do I need to be getting on a plane? And do I need my gun?”
The words brought a much-needed chuckle from Julia. “No,” she said as she massaged her forehead. “It’s just…been a rough couple of days.”
“Tell me. And don’t leave anything out because I’ll just find out anyway. I keep tabs on you now, you know?”
She sucked in a breath. “Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I was in a little accident recently.”
“What? How bad? What happened?” Her sister’s panic could be felt through the phone. After her nearly deadly car accident months ago, she couldn’t blame her for being upset.
“Not terrible. Scary, but I’m fine. I just had a little cut on my head and sore ribs from the seat belt.”
