Caged (How Not To Be Seduced by Billionaires: Book 3) Read Online Free

there I’d let my fingers graze the bark of a tree, a flower’s tender soft petals, their textures a way of cementing the fact that this was all real.
     
                Constantijin might never admit it, but something had changed between us tonight – and it was a step closer to him loving me back someday.
     
                A swooshing sound took me out of my thoughts, and I saw two women almost stalking their way into the conservatory, the doors swinging heavily shut behind them. My eyes widened when I realized that the younger woman was the same one I had seen with Constantijin on TV last night.
     
                Why was she here?
     
                “Oh, did you see how he snubbed me, Mother?” Constantijin’s date screeched.
     
                “Calm down, Brittany. You won’t win him back with your temper.” The older woman opened her purse, taking out a lighter and a cigarette. Blowing out a circle of smoke, she continued, “But honestly, darling, I don’t care if you don’t get back together with him. His bloodline is…as you know...dirty.”
     
                “ Honestly, Mother, I don’t give a damn even if his mother had fucked every guy in the city---”
     
                “Oh, darling, I think she truly did back then.”
     
                “---but what I do care about is being his wife and getting access to his billions.”
     
                Maybe this seemed like exaggerating, but even this far I could practically see the dollar signs shining in Brittany’s eyes as she hissed, “ Billions, Mother. Don’t you think that’s worth ignoring he’s got a hooker for a mother?”
     
                The words took me so much by surprise I accidentally knocked the electrically lit pillar next to me.
     
                Shit.
     
                “Who’s there?” Brittany asked shrilly.
     
                I was so busted.
     
                Or maybe I wasn’t. Maybe I could hide---
     
                A blazing light suddenly went my way, blinding me. I blinked, automatically trying to shield my gaze from the glare of the other woman’s Blackberry torch-like lighting.
     
                When I looked up, Brittany and Brittany Sr. were right in front of me.
     
                “Eavesdropping cheap bitch!”
     
                And there went the first missile, from the older woman no less.
     
                But because I preferred Switzerland’s neutral role in wars, I pretended the words didn’t rankle and said evenly, “I understand why you think that, but---”
     
                “Oh my God, Mother, I know who this bitch is! She’s that woman Constantijin couldn’t stop staring at a while ago.” Brittany gave me a look from head to toe. I’d be lying if I didn’t feel smaller as she did – and it didn’t even have anything to do with the fact that she towered over me by at least half a foot.
     
                “Who are you?” Brittany Sr. snapped.
     
                “None of your business.”
     
                Her eyes narrowed. “If you’re planning to tell Constantijin about what you think you heard---”
     
                Wow. She was really taking that route? I cleared my throat. “I know exactly what I heard.”
     
                Brittany suddenly pushed herself between her mother and me. Taking me by surprise when she suddenly yanked me by the hair, she snapped, “Listen, you little bitch. I’m going to ruin you if you ever speak one word about this.”
     
                The doors opened, and its sound made me close my eyes in despair. Another surprise guest? The night just kept getting better and better. Not.
     
                “Please release my guest, Brittany.” The familiar cultured voice made my eyes flare wide