Page 126 of Taste of Addiction

Britt narrows her eyes at us. “Sophia’s best friend.”

Claire smirks. “Oh, so a nobody.” She clicks her tongue and gets up from the bar, tugging my arm to pull me with her. “We don’t need to sit here with Miss Judgment. C’mon, Angie.”

Before I leave, Britt looks me up and down—making me feel dirty. “Never knew what Graham saw in you.”

I shrug. “I wonder that sometimes too.”

My admittance catches her off guard. Good.

“He had the second highest chip stack when Sophia texted me a picture.”

My eyes twitch over her comment.Do not react.Do not react.

She smiles wickedly at me. “I think she’s his good luck charm.”

Claire barrels around, seething at the mouth. “Quit spewing lies. Nobody has time for this shit.”

Britt holds up her phone, flashing the picture of Sophia with the table of men in the background. After we get a good look, she drops her phone onto the surface of the bar haphazardly.

Damn. Why is she there?

“Who would have thought that the whole—” Britt stops midsentence, putting her drink up to her mouth to silence herself.

Something seems off. It always has with Sophia. Without thinking, I snatch Britt’s phone from the bar before she has a chance to stop me. A warning pops across the screen stating that the battery life is low. I hurry and open up the text app to find where Sophia texted her the photo and skim through the back and forth messages.

Sophia: This whole fake stalking scheme that we constructed has been life changing. I think Graham might actually take me back.

“Hey! Give me back my phone!”

I keep reading, as the acid from my stomach burns my throat.

Britt: Just don’t get caught. Last thing you need is for this to blow up in your face.

Sophia: I would be back with him by now if it wasn’t for the wench that stole my man.

What the hell?! I thought she was making this whole thing up, but to actually see the proof is too much. Britt’s phone slips from my hands as my fingers can’t stop from trembling.

“She lied,” I squeak out.

Claire links arms with me. “Lied?”

“You have the nerve to steal my phone!”

I clear my throat. “Sophia lied about the stalking and the texts and the impending danger. She lied about it all.”

“What a fake bitch!” Claire yells, more to Britt than to me. “Who does she think she is?”

Britt’s eyes widen with fear, probably stemming from the rampage Sophia will be on once she realizes how I found out the truth.

I need to clear my head. “Let’s go,” I tell Claire, allowing her to guide me across the room toward the dance floor.

We stop once we are clear of Britt’s gaze.

“I swear to you, Angie, the few times I was near Sophia, I didn’t think she would go this far and be this type of evil whore. She can really play the victim card. She has so many people fooled.”

I can feel my eyes twitching and my nostrils flaring. “I’ve suspected it for weeks. Something always seemed too convenient about her text messages and stalker fears. Oh, the nerve of that bitch! I want to punch her face in and finish what we started back at the safe house. I never had such violent tendencies until I met her.” I shift my weight from foot to foot. “I mean, I wanted to hit things after Mom and James,” I choke, my eyes watering. “But, never a human being as much as I do her.”

“She’s asking for it. I wouldn’t blame you.”

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