Page 128 of Taste of Addiction

As I pass in front of her to move to the back of the car, my foot catches on hers and I know that it is intentional. I stumble and touch my knee to the dirty floor.

“You okay, Angie?” Claire asks, concern evident in her voice. She rattles off a string of swear words to Barbie Bitch, reaching for my elbow to help me balance.

I pick myself up, and wheeling around, I see red. I dart toward Sophia’s frail, perfect body, shoving her shoulders until she hits the car’s wall. The elevator stops as our bodies crash into one another, bumping into the button panel.

Claire ducks to the side, trying to be my backup support. The small space is already feeling claustrophobic, as limbs swing at each other.

“What’s your problem?!” I bellow.

My arm is resting at the hollow of Sophia’s throat, pinning her. She’s not even fighting back, and there’s humor dancing in her eyes. And that infuriates me the most. She is taunting me with her fearlessness. Tormenting me with the growing doubt flooding through me that even if Graham learns the truth, that he may not actually believe it.

I want to punch her. To throw her down and tell her to stay away. Far, far away. To tell her that Graham ismine. Everything that I have endured and tolerated over the course of all these months is finally coming to a boiling point. I have put up with her blatant flirting, her comments over me being a fling, and her bullshit lies over having a stalker just to gain Graham’s attention.

Enough is enough.

Sophia’s nails dig into my arm, making me wince from the pain. I release my hold on her, stumbling back. I rub at the wounds she created, drawing blood from my arm.

“Apparently money can’t buy you everything,” she spits out. “Class is something you are born into, my dear, not something that can be purchased.”

“Stay away from him,” I snarl.

“Or what? You’ll hit me, Angie? Because if you haven’t noticed, Graham is a very powerful man”—she pauses and laughs even louder—“who knows what he wants.” She throws her head back and looks up at the ceiling. When her eyes join mine again, they sparkle. “And he wants me to be his company’s signature face. You hurt me, his business associates and board of directors will sue your ass. So if you want to deal with the fallout, then you better lawyer up. Because the marketing team was not happy I came into work after Thanksgiving break with a bruise on my face from where you took a swing at me.”

Her perfume burns my nostrils as I struggle to find clean air to breathe.

“I know the truth, you bitch.” I sneer at her, as the sparkle in her eyes dulls into a look of disbelief.

“What truth?”

I watch as her bottom jaw trembles and she swallows. “I’m sure it hurts to go from being at the middle of his list to the bottom,” I say nonchalantly. “And pretty soon, the only list you’ll make is the blacklist.”

Her hands fly to her hips. “You cause that man so much stress, you know that? He can do better, so much better.”

I keep my temper at an even level and deliver my next question with crystal clarity. “Do you get tired of being used goods to him? You keep pining after a man who has already cast you aside. He’s done with you. Give it up already.”

“Oh, honey, it’s better to be used by Graham than to not be used at all. We have had many intimate moments, and I’m sure he’ll grow tired of trying to preserve your innocence and come back to me for the excitement I can offer him.”

It takes everything in me not to punch her bleached teeth out of her mouth, right here, right now. “You know nothing about our sex life.”

“I’m just hoping he got tested after his time with your skanky ass,” Claire mutters beside me.

Sophia glares at her. “I know that he’ll grow bored. Always does. You can’t ride the gravy train forever. Eventually he’ll catch on that the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.”

I swallow hard and hope that she cannot see how much her comment has affected me. She somehow has determined one of my fears of being used and then pushed aside. While Graham claims I have the potential to destroy him, I know that he can equally do the same to me.

The elevator starts to ascend, resuming its climb toward the penthouse. Claire must have hit the button.

“I’ll never understand why he ever found you appealing,” I mutter. “He usually has impeccable taste—except when it comes to you.”

On the surface, Sophia is the epitome of perfection. The thought of the connection they share in both the professional and personal realms of his life nauseate me. Well, tonight that ends. I am done with the bullshit this woman spews.

“But don’t worry, honey, you are theitgirlof the moment. The media loves you,” she teases, her tone sardonic.

“Did you leak things to the press, you bitch?”

Her face genuinely looks surprised, and I can tell in this instance she is not the person who is trying to sabotage my reputation. “Hell, no. But I would enjoy the attention anyway. While it lasts. Graham does love a damsel in distress. He has been helping to keep me safe, making sure I am cared for. I’ll be waiting for him to have his fun with you but return to me when—”

“There is no when!” I yell. “I know you have lied about your stupid text messages and have been using Britt to help you. It’s all over, Sophia. Tonight’s the night where myboyfriendfinds out about how you have deceived him.”

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