Read The Billionaire's Wife (Part One) for Free Online Page B

like it was a pair of dirty underwear.
    "Thanks,” I said with a forced smile.
    There was no you're welcome, she just dropped it into my palm and sashayed back the way she came.
    I scurried behind her, reminding myself that we had made progress over the past year. She was pretty good at hiding her disapproval in public and her private disdain was a little easier to bear. After all, she didn't have to agree to talk to me at all. Or invite me to her home. Baby steps were better than no steps at all, right?
    I swallowed nervously when she stepped aside to allow me entry and the nerves melted into awe as I took in the decor. It was classic elegance with modern sophistication. Pieces of antique furniture were perfectly paired with sleek side tables. Artwork worthy of the best museums were framed in chrome. I couldn't wait to see the—
    "You can stop right there."
    I froze on the Persian rug, barely two feet inside the door. "What?"
    She pointed at a room off to the side the entrance. "From your call, I didn't guess you were coming over for the tour. Let's just get this over with."
    Well then.
    I bit my tongue and followed her into the room. She gestured at a Victorian chair and I sat down, surprised it was comfortable. Everything in this place seemed too beautiful to be enjoyed. Its purpose was perfection. To invoke envy and awe.
    She cleared her throat and gestured at the darkness behind me. I hitched a breath as a small, pudgy man with nervous eyes shuffled out and offered me a bottle of water.
    I thanked him and he nodded in acknowledgment. In her own, Alicia way, she was being a good host. That alone was leaps and bounds in the right direction since I was pretty sure there were moments she wouldn't have offered me a glass of water in Hell.
    She situated her petite body in a chair across from mine, the throne-like design not lost on me. Her salt and pepper hair hung longer than I'd ever seen it, the waves and slight curls softening her usual sharpness. Her eyes still sliced in my direction like a razor's blade, not allowing me to forget that this wasn't a social call.
    I gingerly sipped my water, my throat stinging as I swallowed. I placed the Evian back on the table, and gasped as the butler sprang from the shadows, armed with a cylindrical device. He deposited the bottle into the container, then stepped back out of sight.
    "Bottle service?" I said incredulously.
    Alicia crossed her legs, reclining with a sigh. "You married money, dear. Certainly such things should come as no surprise to you?"
    I wanted to tell her that money or not, I was capable of putting my bottle of water on a coaster, and I didn't treat people like pieces of furniture, but things were awkward enough. "Thank you for seeing me." I folded my hands in my lap. "I'm just going to get straight to the point. I overheard a part of your conversation with Jacob the other day." I watched her for some indication of surprise. Or worry. I found neither.
    She shrugged a shoulder. "And? I talk to my son a fair amount, what is this regarding?"
    "The conversation seemed...heated," I continued, not letting her see how nervous this made me. The only defense I had against her was that I didn't let it show that she intimidated me. Even after all this time, and all the cruel things she'd said about my relationship with Jacob, and the things she'd done to her own son, I wanted us to at least be cordial. From the permanent scowl she'd had on her face since I walked through the door, we still had a ways to go.
    Regardless of the bad blood, I still waited, hoped that she would give me a kernel of the truth. I'd even take a 'it's none of your business'. But she just sat there, eyebrows arched damn near to the vaulted ceilings, waiting for me to get to the point.
    I gritted my teeth and let out a frustrated sigh. "Jacob said something about no secrets, then claimed that whatever secret you two are sharing changes everything." My voice got away from me, rising, matching the level of