CAGED - A BILLIONAIRE STEPBROTHER ROMANCE BOOK 1

New York was like a different world- everyone here was so loud and fast; there was color and noise everywhere and the city seemed alive beneath my feet. I was in love with the city’s concrete beauty and its unashamed ugliness laid out for everyone to see. I could understand why everyone thought they could make it here- I felt like a part of something bigger; something magical. I couldn’t’ stop turning my face towards the sky and staring at the buildings rising majestically out of the ground- and that’s when some guy ran into me and spilled iced tea all over my shirt. I screamed as the cold liquid hit me, and indignantly faced my attacker who yelled “Stupid bitch- made me spill my tea!” before rushing away. Shit. Shit. Shit! I was close to tears as I pulled my shirt away from my skin, hoping I wouldn’t freeze to death in the ridiculously cold September weather. Onlookers sneered and continued on their way as I looked around while desperately trying to hide my very pronounced breasts through my suddenly see-through shirt- Of course this was happening to me on such an important day. I spotted a small sandwich shop across the street and ran over to it. A tall African-American woman stood behind the counter and smiled sympathetically as I explained what happened. She shook her head and said, “Don’t worry, love, you can use our restroom to wash that stain out. Try and use the hand-driers to dry it out too,” pointing towards a small unmarked door in the corner of the shop. I thanked her profusely and made my way into the crammed restroom, locking the door behind me and peeling off my shirt. Fuck New York. After I had washed and dried my shirt enough to make it vaguely presentable, I frowned at my bra-clad reflection and put the shirt back on, tucking it untidily back into my skirt. I hurried out of the shop after having thanked the woman again, almost late for my first day at college. My mother had recently taken up a post as the new dean at New York’s Savannah College of Liberal Arts, having deferred the job for a year while I was finishing high school in Virginia; she didn’t want to leave me and said that if she waited a year, I could attend Savannah and be with her in the big city. I was excited to be in New York, where I dreamed of studying creative writing- but being with Mom was a major downside. She was fiercely smothering, and wouldn’t let me do anything that normal girls do at college. So I had agreed to attend the college and move to the city- but only if I could get my own apartment.