Chained: Reckless Desires (Dragon's Heart Book 1) Read Free

do. The senior partners have fined me as well, for steering Mr. Heath towards you. They blame me for the entire affair.”
    Bella opened her mouth to apologize, to tell Robert not to feel bad, that it wasn’t his fault. But she couldn’t. He didn’t deserve that. He couldn’t show up at her home on a Saturday, fire her, and then expect forgiveness. She’d done nothing wrong. To be punished for it, to have her life ruined for doing the right thing, it was just perverse.
    “Black, Cross and Landon officially requests that you vacate and quit the premises immediately,” Robert said, handing over a letter to Bella. She accepted it with numb fingers.
    “But this is my home?” was all she could say. They couldn’t evict her. That couldn’t be legal, and yet she knew it was. She helped enough rich jerks divest themselves of unwanted mistresses to know how it worked, Her name wasn’t on the lease. She’d never paid a dime in rent. And her employment contract spelled it all out—her habitation bonus was contingent upon employment with the firm. In her mind, she outlined seven different ways she could challenge the firm, but all of them required time and money, two things she really didn’t have.
    “No, this unit is the property of the firm, to be used exclusively by employees of the firm. If we let you stay here past six p.m. today we’d be opening ourselves up to tax liabilities and the possibility of a lawsuit. I’m sure you understand.”
    “Six? That’s not enough time. I’ve been here for two years. I have things! I can’t get movers here that fast or even pack.”
    “You’ll have to hand over your phone as well. And your computer. And any other company property. The partners are concerned about your behavior last night, Ms. Hart.” Robert said in a voice dripping with contempt. “There is a fear that if left to your own devices you might try contacting former clients, current clients, or the media. They’ve requested that I remind you of the agreements you signed when you were first hired by the firm. Contacting anyone about your termination, outside of immediate family, will be met with swift action. The full weight of the firm will fall upon you. Do you understand?”
    All of those papers, those non-disclosure agreements and non-compete agreements. They’d seemed so innocent when she’d signed them. Boilerplate text, they’d said. Industry standard clauses. Nothing to worry about. At the time, she’d agreed. She’d been flattered and desperate—a terrible combination. But standing on the other side, she saw the injustice threaded through those documents.
    “Robert, where am I supposed to go?”
    “That really isn’t my problem, Ms. Hart. Whatever happens to you from this day forward, it’s your own actions that have brought you here.” He produced a plastic bag from under his arm. It was thick and gray, with the firm’s logo stamped on the side. “I need your phone and computer now.”
    “But I don’t have another phone. How can I call for help?”
    “Use a payphone.”
    “Where, in 1997?”
    Robert pursed his lips and then sighed. “Bella, you have time to make one call. They’re shutting the service down right now. And then you need to gather what you absolutely need from here, and then get lost. At six, men will be here to lock you out. You don’t want to be here when they arrive.”
    She almost said thank you to Robert, as if showing the barest amount if decency towards another human being was worthy of praise.
    The phone could be shut off at any second. Who should she call? None of her work friends could help her, and they probably weren’t even her friends anymore. Who knew what stories were being spread about her by Charles Edward Heath. Most of her friends from law school had scattered to the wind, to Portland, to Seattle, to Los Angeles. And anyway, staying with them would probably violate a dozen clauses in her contract about associating with opposing counsel after