Flora’s Guide to a Second Chance at Love and Life

Who would actually eat that? They'd just been drinking, and now someone wanted them to take antibiotics? That was basically asking for a trip to the ER.

Everyone knew mixing antibiotics and alcohol was just plain stupid-unless you had a death wish. Nobody at the table was that dumb. The whole group exchanged awkward glances, keeping their mouths shut.

Fiona, though, definitely wasn't done with them. She spun the lazy Susan around and said, "You've got two options: swallow the antibiotics, or each of you downs one of those bottles of baijiu. There are two bottles, so one each. Your call."

She leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, face totally unreadable. If they thought they could mess with her people and just walk away, they were dreaming.

Jane sat quietly, too scared to speak. Whenever she compared herself to Fiona, she just felt..... out of her league. She couldn't keep up with Fiona's sharp, unbending style.

"Fiona, who do you think you are? This is a Kidd family issue. What's it got to do with you? Who put you in charge?" one of the Kidds snapped. It was Jane's stepbrother-the same one who'd never be heir to the Kidd fortune. Now that Jane was stuck in this mess, he just couldn't wait to kick her while she was down.

He never understood why these old-money families left everything to the girls instead of the boys. In his head, guys were supposed to carry on the Kidd name; girls were just meant to stay home and play housewife. His mom had been saying that since he was a kid, and after years of hearing it, he looked down on Jane and Fiona both.

"Carson, what the hell are you talking about?" hissed another Kidd cousin,

shooting him a warning glare. He might have just been from a side branch of the family, but he knew exactly who Fiona was—and he knew better than to piss her off. If things went south, even the whole Kidd family wouldn't be enough to pay the price.

"What's everyone so afraid of? She's just a woman. It's not like the Stonnell family would actually turn against us over this."

"Shut up! Do you even hear yourself right now?"

The whole table froze. No one had realized the Kidds had such a

clueless idiot sitting with them. If

they'd known, they would've just netnoveldrama

ditched Jane and worked this guy instead-maybe they'd have gotten an even bigger cut that way.

"Enough!" Jane snapped, her glare icy. She knew he was stupid, but to embarrass himself in front of everyone like this? That was a new record.

"Fiona, he doesn't know any better. It's his first time at a dinner like this. Please, just ignore him," Jane said quickly.

Fiona was always patient with Jane, but to everyone else, she was ice-cold. She'd seen people dig their own graves before, but rarely with such enthusiasm.

Out of respect for Jane, Fiona let it go. She wasn't about to get worked up over a few idiots mouthing off-she just wanted to help Jane claim the respect she deserved tonight.

Right then, Fiona's phone rang. It was Tyler.

She picked up, listened for a few seconds, then hung up. She'd never meant to get involved with the Kidds, but some people just couldn't help throwing themselves into trouble.

"So, are you drinking or not?" Fiona asked, not bothering to hide her impatience as she looked up.

Without a word, another Kidd cousin

reached for an unopened bottle,

ripped off the seal, took a long breath, and started chugging. In fess than a minute, he'd finished the

whole thing-then let out a huge, satisfied burp.