Reborn to Dodge the Bad Marriage novel Chapter 48

Chapter 48 The Octopus

Ainute ago Mandy had been frightened that Nora had come back the same way she had. Those two names settled it. Nora couldn’t possibly have.

Ever since the wedding, ever since Julian hadn’t been carried out unconscious. Yvette had been quietly regretting all of it, and she’d stopped putting much weight on her daughter’s predictions.

“Mandy…”

Mandy took her hand again. “Mom, there’s one thing that will tell us for certain whether she can see what’s coming.

“If she’s the same as me, she’ll go and do that one thing.” If Nora came back too, there’s no chance she stays away from it.

Yvette had lost interest in any of it. She looked at her daughter and spoke plainly. “Stop fixating on this and stop fighting her.

“Whatever else she is, she’s your sister, the Westons haven’t gone under yet, and next to them the Pierces come up short.

“Get on her good side and she’ll look out for you. Even if the Westons do go under, the people they know would be enough to set you up…”

Mandy clapped her hands over her ears and cut her off. “I get it. I’ll leave her alone for now. Please stop. I’ve heard this a hundred times.”

Yvette pulled her hands down, out of patience, and said it again slowly. “I’m not telling you never to fight her. I’m telling you there’s no point in it right now.

“Get close to her instead. Charm the Weston business out of her, the confidential deals, and the family will go under that much faster. Sitting around waiting for Julian to die is the stupid version.”

Mandy had been listening with half an ear until that last line, and then it landed like a switch going on in her head.

Her eyes came up bright. “Mom, you’re right. I’ll do it. Only…”

The problem hit her at once. “I’ve made her angry three separate times now. What do I do about that?”

Yvette could see it had gone in, and she was glad to walk her through what came next.

༽*****

Morning light came flooding in through the tall windows.

Nora surfaced, pulled the cat in her arms tighter out of pure habit, and planted a kiss on it. Something about the feel was wrong, so she opened her eyes.

There was no cat. There was a solid, muscled chest, and one very specific part of it sat inches from her mouth with a suspicious wet spot on it.

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15:22 Thu, Oct 10.

Chapter 48 The Octopus

“Awake?”

Tan’s voice came out low and rough with everything he was holding down.

B

Nora came awake in a single jolt and shot upright, staring at him. His pajama top had fallen opery, and there was nothing wrong with the chest or the stomach underneath it, and the muscle ran down into a V below

that.

The silk pajama pants weren’t hiding much of anything either.

One look was all it took. Nora clapped both hands over her eyes and accused him at full volume. “You… you held me while I was asleep!

“I’m sleeping in a separate room from now on!”

Julian pulled the blanket up over himself. “Before you file charges, would you like to think back on who insisted on being held and refused to let me have a blanket?”

Nora made herself remember.

Somewhere in the fog she found herself wrapped around him like an octopus, hanging on the way she hung on to a body pillow. Then his pajama buttons had dug into her, so she’d torn them open with her bare hands.

After that she’d kissed him the way she kissed the cat, over and over.

The memory put heat straight into her face. She slid two fingers apart and peeked at him through the gap.

Julian pulled the blanket a little higher. “Coming back to you?”

The way he did it made her look like a woman who’d cornered him in an alley.

That did it. She dropped her hands and looked him straight in the eye. “You’re my husband. What’s wrong with a little kissing and holding?

“And you don’t get to resist. You’re supposed to lie there and let me exercise my rights as a wife!”

Julian threw the blanket off, entirely obedient. “All right. Whatever my wife…”

Nora was off that bed like a cat off a windowsill. “I’m going to teach Grandma her yoga.”

Julian stared at the space where she’d been, glanced down at himself, and let out a laugh that was half exasperation and half something warmer.

Nora went downstairs and found Constance already out on the lawn working through the routine, so she stepped in beside her.

Constance looked her over. “You slept well, by the look of you. You’ve got color, and you’re in a good mood.”

Nora touched her own cheek. “Do I?” How is sleeping next to Julian supposed to put anyone in a good mood?

She reached over and corrected Constance’s stance. “Don’t sink so far into this one. Breathe out on the effort, from deep in your belly instead of your chest. That’s it.”

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T:22 Thu, Oct 1 1

Chapter 48 The Octopus

Constance followed her through it and then said. “You’ve got your own little company now. We aren’t going to step in and help you, because you need those people to respect you. You understand?”

Shad had Bess look into the company the day before, and what came back was almost funny.

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