Free Addicted: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance by Lauren Landish Page A

snapped.
    I can’t believe I just said that, I thought, my heart pounding wildly within my chest.
    Deafening silence descended upon the room, and the man standing behind Christine turned white with shock.
    He probably thinks I’m crazy, talking to the queen of fashion like that , I thought, trying to quell my trembling limbs.
    “Pierre, will you please allow me to deal with this . . . problem,” Christine said quietly after a stunned moment.
    “Certainly.” He bowed his head with respect to Christine and walked out of the room, shaking his head as he passed me.
    Christine centered her burning eyes on me like a hawk. “What did you just say to me, young lady?”
    “I said shut up,” I repeated.
    “Do you realize who you’re talking to?”
    I giggled, fighting the tremors of anxiety rolling through my legs. Despite my anxiousness, I felt powerful. I was finally going to be free, and it felt good to be able to tell the witch what I’d been wanting to say since my first day on the job. “Sure I do. An unbearable, miserable, narcissistic, old hag who is so unhappy with her dull life that she makes a career out of giving young girls poor self-esteem issues.”
    “How dare you!” Christine raged, jumping to her feet and gripping the edges of her desk with rage, her eyes blazing.
    “How dare I?” I demanded, my body shaking from head to toe now. “How dare you! You’ve treated me like shit since I first started working for you and made my life a total hell. You know, at first I thought it was worth it. I thought that, hmmm, maybe working for this vile, evil woman would open doors for me one day, and I’ll only have to suffer for a little while before I can find my own way. But you know what? Eat shit! Because it’s not worth putting up with it anymore. I quit!”
    The look of utter shock on Christine’s face made my day and I let out a burst of maniacal laughter that I’m sure made Christine think I’d gone stark-raving mad.
    This time, I didn’t laugh as long as I had with April, and when I was done, I turned to leave but stopped to add, “Oh and by the way, you can save your little threats about how you will ruin me and how I will never work in this city again.”
    I flashed one last triumphant smile the witch’s way and swirled around and began to leave the office. But the sound of Christine’s voice brought me up short a second later.
    “Victoria.”
    I should’ve ignored her and kept going. After all, I’d gotten the last word in, and there was no reason to engage her further and listen to her empty threats about how she would ruin me, but for some reason, the tone in her voice made me freeze. I had to hear what she was going to say.
    Slowly, I turned around to see Christine regarding me with amusement in her eyes.
    Why is she smiling ? I wondered. I just told her off. She should be steaming mad and wanting to kick my ass out of her office.
    “Do you recall when you first came to work for me?”
    “Yeah? It was on a day that—”
    She interrupted me, obviously not looking for me to actually answer her question. “You signed a contract.”
    Her words were like a sucker punch to the stomach.
    I licked my lips that had suddenly gone as dry as a desert. “So? What does that matter?”
    Now it looked like Christine was the one holding back maniacal laughter. “Do you recall what was in the contract, Miss Young?”
    The room began to spin around me as panic began to seep in.
    I’d been so desperate to get the job working for Christine, I hadn’t thought to go read through it all, eager to sign my soul away for the chance at a future career in fashion. A chance at reaching that first step in achieving my dreams.
    “No,” I admitted.
    Christine grinned. “The terms and conditions were that you cannot terminate your job with me without at least a sixty-day notice for any reason outside of a medical or family emergency without opening yourself to legal ramifications.”
    It took a lot to steady