Read Tied Bond (Holly Woods Files, #4) for Free Online Page A

least I won’t have to dress as a hooker?” I say lamely.
    Mom narrows her eyes in such a way that I snap my mouth shut. “Noelle, this is not funny. Your grandmother will use this as the prime excuse to get out of everything Halloween.”
    “Well, what do you expect me to do?” I throw my hands out and shrug before turning and grabbing a cloth. “It’s seven thirty in the morning, there’s a box full of demons and devils on my doorstep, and my hysterical mother cannot focus on one subject.”
    “Ahhh, Wednesday. You’re so much like Monday,” Drake snorts.
    “You wanna join the shit list? Huh, big guy? ’Cause you will. I’ll put you right”—I whip him with the cloth—“at”—and again—“the”—and again—“top!”
    He mimes zipping his lips and leans against the sink.
    “Cancel the party!” Mom exclaims.
    “Are you kidding?” I exclaim right back. “I’ve worked my cute butt off on this fucking party I didn’t want to organize, and now, you want me to cancel it?”
    “It is the easy solution,” Drake offers.
    “Who’s side are you on?”
    “Rationality’s.”
    “You’re dating a Bond! There’s no such thing as rational!”
    “True,” Mom agrees with me. “Especially not the Bond women.”
    “Are you saying I’m just like Nonna?” I turn on her, my cloth flying with my movement.
    She looks pointedly at the cloth.
    “Oh, please! Kiss my ass!”
    “Noelle!” she snaps.
    “Fine. I’ll cancel the party. Amelia will probably dance naked under the moonlight with joy because she doesn’t want it, but guess who I’m blaming when I tell Nonna?”
    Mom shrugs. “She’s already plotting my demise. What’s one more thing?”
    I pause. “True. I just want it known that the planning was accidental and no one told me while I was working to keep the town safe.”
    “From wandering penises and excitable vaginas?” Drake asks, frowning.
    “Who’s side are you on?” Mom asks, echoing my statement from a moment ago.
    “Whoever will guarantee me sex tonight.”
    Mom slaps his upper arm. “Drake Nash! I’m tellin’ your mama.”
    Drake’s mama.
    Mom and I both turn to face each other, moving slowly. My lips tug to one side; hers move to the other. It’s like a thousand light bulbs are pinging with brightness above our heads.
    Nonna loves Gianna. Like, loves her.
    And Gianna loves me.
    Bingo.
    “I need a vacation,” Drake mutters before finishing his coffee. “Y’all are corruptin’ my family.”
     

     
    It’s been ten minutes since Nonna started her ranting. Ten long minutes since Gianna broke the news about the bachelorette party and Nonna started to tell anyone and everyone how it was total blasphemy that Halloween came above the celebration of an impending wedding.
    “Nonna!” I cut through her tirade. “They’re not getting married until next year! It’s not like we have no time to re-plan.”
    “Yeah,” Amelia agrees. “Besides”—she pauses to tuck some hair behind her ear—“I love Halloween. It’s always been one of my favorite holidays.”
    “So much that you forgot the date?” Brody asks, frowning as he delves into a bag of chips.
    She shoots him a look that could kill, despite her usually quiet disposition. “I was told the final Saturday of October. I didn’t realize it was Halloween.”
    Everyone’s eyes slide to me. Except Nonna’s. Her lips are pursed, and she’s staring at the ceiling.
    “You!” I cry, standing and pointing at her. “You knew, you damned witch!”
    Nonna gasps, clutching her neck. “I did-a not!”
    “Liar! You checked the date and let me do it anyway, although you knew I was busy!”
    She doesn’t respond.
    “Nonna,” Gianna says slowly. “Did you?”
    Nonna folds her arms like a stubborn four-year-old and refuses to answer. In itself, that is our answer. I know how to read her like a book, and she definitely picked up on my mistake.
    In my defense, I can never remember if Halloween is the thirtieth or the