Her wild dreams were filled with confrontations with Lydia, centering on her last one in the Victorian manor. Fire raged around her as she tried to escape, finding her way blocked at every turn.
As she sank to her knees, a sob escaping her, her body shook.
She startled away with a gasp, struggling to orient herself.
“Julia,” Kyle hissed as he hovered in front of her.
She sucked in a breath, trying to slow her racing heart.
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded, swallowing hard. “Yeah, just a bad dream.”
“Did you sleep here last night?”
“I must have dozed off while trying to track down a lead.”
“On what?” Kyle asked as he pulled over a chair and sank into it, taking her pulse.
She slapped at his hand. “Stop that. I’m not sick. Grant got a note from Lydia last night and a key. He thinks it’s one last desperate attempt at a power play but…”
“But Lydia rarely plays games that don’t have a point,” Kyle answered.
“Right,” she said with a nod as he slid the note from the desk.
He flicked his eyebrows up as he read. “Wow, that’s intense. Who are her enemies?”
“Whoever killed her, I’m guessing. I feel like this key quite literally is the key to all of this.” She held it up in the air, the metal sparkling in the late morning sunlight.
“Well, I’d be happy to help you sort through this. But there’s something we need to talk about first.”
She snapped her gaze to him, setting the key on the desk. “Are you okay? Did your stitches open more?”
“I’m fine,” he answered. “But speaking of Lydia’s games. I have the DNA results. I thought you’d want to know right away.”
Julia’s stomach twisted into a knot at the words. Would Lydia’s admission to her turn out to be true? Was it merely a desperate attempt to lash out or one final way to rip the Harringtons apart?
CHAPTER 19
GRANT
Grant drummed his fingers on the desk as he stared at the wedding photo on his desk. The afternoon’s sunlight caught the silver frame, painting it with a rose-gold aura.
He traced the outline of Julia’s jaw as she smiled up at him in the frozen moment. He’d stared at this picture so many times, wishing the moment would have been real. Now, it was.
The smiles she gave him weren’t scripted, they weren’t for show. They belonged together, and they finally were.
And for the first time in the last two years, they may finally have some peace.
His mind turned to his first wife. Her death seemed freeing. When he’d heard the news, he couldn’t deny that it felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulder. The war had ended. No more attacks on his company, no more threats against his and his family’s lives.
And he couldn’t have felt better about that. The scare with Julia in the fire on the heels of Kyle’s near death had been enough fear for a lifetime.
His mind shifted to the note he’d received from her last night. He settled back in his chair with a sigh and a roll of his eyes. “Couldn’t resist one last strike, could you, Lydia?” he murmured.
“Talking to yourself, sir?” Worthington asked from the doorway as he hovered in it.
Grant shifted his gaze to the man as he waved him in. “No, talking to Lydia.”
