The Billionaire’s Fight For Redemption (Noah and Sierra) novel Chapter 201

Chapter 201

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We leave the house after what feels like an entire emotional marathon, even though it is barely past mid- morning. My chest is still tight, my mind still buzzing, but the twins don’t seem to notice the tension humming between their father and me.

They chatter nonstop as we walk toward the car.

“Lions,” Nolan announces with the seriousness of a general planning a battle.

“Giraffes,” Nova counters immediately. “Lions are scary.

“They’re not scary,” he grumbles. “They’re cool.”

“They eat people.”

“Not if you don’t go in the cage.”

Their argument follows us down the driveway, the perfect contrast to the swirl of thoughts in my head.

I laugh under my breath and when I glance sideways, just for a moment, I find Noah already looking at me.

It’s quick, barely a second, but it hits like a jolt.

His eyes soften with just a flicker of something warm, almost reluctant, before he turns away, as if he’d been caught touching something dangerous.

It’s ridiculous, because I can’t remember the last time he looked at me like that. Probably in high school, before Chloe changed everything.

We get into the SUV. Noah sits in the front beside the driver, a safe distance away from me, as if distance is the only thing holding him together. The twins pull me into the back with them,

A black security vehicle rolls behind us, and I pretend not to see it, even though the sight makes my stomach twist.

Nova nestles against me, looping her small arm through mine like she’s claiming her favorite toy.

“Sierra?” she whispers. “Are you scared of lions?”

I smile down at her. “A little.”

She gasps dramatically. “Really?”

“Really.”

“See,” she tells her brother. “Sierra is also scared of lions and she’s an adult. Smart people stay away from lions.”

“You’re only saying that to make yourself feel better for being afraid.” Nolan says from my other side, like he’s stating an official fact.

Noah glances at us in the rearview mirror, and for a heartbeat there’s a softness in his eyes I’m not prepared for… Then it’s gone, shuttered behind that familiar steel.

He clears his throat. “Seatbelts.”

“We already…” Nolan begins, but Noah is already turning halfway around, double–checking with the kind of instinctive protectiveness that steals the air from my chest.

His gaze lands on me, then on the strap across my torso.

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Chapter 201

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His brow tightens. “Yours isn’t fastened properly.”

I blink and look down. The belt is twisted, cutting awkwardly across my rib. “Oh. I didn’t even notice.”

Before I can fix it, he reaches back. His fingers brush my shoulder. He straightens the belt carefully, almost gently, like the idea of it not protecting me is unacceptable.

My pulse rushes to my ears. What is happening? I think he has touched me more than he has in years. Hell, he’s shown me more warmth than he has in years. 1

He isn’t even looking at my face, only the seatbelt, but his jaw and focus are fixed as if this tiny thing matters more than it should.

“All good,” he murmurs.

He withdraws his hand slowly, almost like he’s aware we’re too close, like he felt it too.

“Thanks,” I manage, my voice embarrassingly soft.

He doesn’t answer. Just nods once and turns forward again like it was nothing.

But my brain won’t file it under nothing. Not when the warmth of his touch is still ghosting along my skin. Not when my heart is beating like it remembers something my mind swears it shouldn’t. Not when it’s scrambling to figure out what changed and why he’s behaving so differently.

We reach the animal park, and I finally let out the breath I’ve been holding since we left the house. The place is lively but not overwhelming. Laughter floating on the breeze, the distant chatter of excited kids, the earthy scent of grass and warm air mixing with whatever the animals contribute to the atmosphere.

Nova’s hand slips into mine the moment she hops out of the SUV, small fingers curling around my palm like she’s afraid I might vanish. Nolan moves to my other side, close but pretending not to need me. Noah falls in step behind us, just slightly off to the left. Close enough that I can feel his presence like a shadow at my back.

“Stay where I can see you,” he warns the twins.

“You can see us,” Nova sings, skipping ahead two steps before skipping right back.

She points dramatically toward a flock of flamingos. “Can we see those first?”

“You said giraffes,” Nolan argues.

“So what? I want to see flamingos now,” she fires back.

I cough, hiding my smile. “Guys, we’ll see everything. One at a time, okay?”

That seems to pacify them… for now.

We walk toward the first enclosure, and I’m just starting to relax into the rhythm of the day when someone bumps into my shoulder from behind, a little too hard, jostling me forward.