Addicted (A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance)(23)

April gaped. “What?”

I grinned. “It’s my last day working for the unbearable witch. The only thing I’ll miss is you and Gabe, but I’m sure we’ll still talk from time to time.”

April frowned. “Vicky . . . are you sure about this? You’re basically giving up your career if you walk out on Christine.”

“No, I’m not.”

“You’re not? You must have really lost your mind then. Christine will make sure you never work in fashion again. You know as well as I do that she has a penchant for being vindictive.”

“I won’t need Christine’s referrals. I’ll be able to make my own work.”

April peered at me warily. “Oh yeah? How’s that? You’re just starting out in this business with virtually no contacts. How in the world do you expect to get the resources to become successful?”

I smiled sweetly as the elevator door opened. “Tyler Locklin.”

“What? Tyler Locklin—Vicky, what have you gotten yourself into?”

“Sorry, April. Gotta’ go. I’m itching to tell the witch what I’ve been wanting to say for months. I’ll be sure to stop by and tell you and Gabe bye before I leave.”

“Vicky, wait! You’re making a very big mistake!”

The elevator doors slid closed on April before she could finish her protest. I really didn’t know why she was bothering. I was done with Christine for good.

On the top floor, ready to kick ass and take names, I marched purposefully to Christine’s office and kicked her door open.

Seated at her desk with a man who looked vaguely familiar standing behind her, Christine jumped, startled by my brazen entry.

What the hell am I doing? I thought in a moment of panic.

“Victoria!” Christine barked with surprise. “What on earth do you think you’re doing marching in here like that?”

“Shut up!” I 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.