Page 19 of Private Dancer

I failed. I’ll have to take my last semester over again. I’ll be dancing at The Palace forever at this rate.

“Don’t worry, my dear. I’m sure there’s some wrinkled, old, rich guy who will overlook your worn-out pussy. Or maybe you can keep turning tricks at The Palace. That seems to be all you're good for.”

Karen’s words are like a slap to the face, but she’s right: even if I retake my last semester, no one in this city will take me seriously.

I want to lash out and tell her she’s wrong. They wouldn’t do this to me. They told me they loved me. Unless that was all part of the chase, once their prey thinks they love her, they crush her and make Karen do their dirty work.

A wave of hatred washes over me, not at Karen but at the three guys I so stupidly fell in love with.

“Chop, chop, girl. You need to be gone before they return, or I’ll have to call security.”

Wanting to be gone before they come back, I pack up what little belongings I have at my desk in the small box Karen so graciously handed to me with a smirk.

With only that small box and what is left of my shattered pride, I walk home and try to figure out what to do next.

fourteen

Jake

“She’s not here.” Ryan jogs from office to office, searching for Bri.

“Where can she be? What if she’s hurt?” I see the panic flare in Alec’s eyes.

“Oh, hey, Mr. King, Mr. Prince, Mr. Knight,” Doug from accounting enters my office. “Do you have Miss Rose’s address? I need to mail her paychecks to her.”

“What are you talking about?” I snap, causing Doug to take a step back. Lightening my tone, I add, “Why would you have to mail her checks? Everyone has their checks directly deposited.”

Doug visibly swallows. “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Karen. She dropped off Miss Rose’s paperwork on her first day. Miss Rose requested her paychecks be held until the last day of her internship.”

“Why would she do that? We pay our interns very well. She wouldn’t have had to work at The Palace if she had been getting a weekly check like everyone else.” I say.

“Like I said, you’ll have to ask Karen.” Doug shuffles closer to the door, anxious to leave this conversation.

“Doug, go find Karen and tell her to meet us in the conference room.” Alec grits out.

“Yes, Sir.” Doug bolts out the door, racing down the hallway. I’d laugh at his antics if I wasn’t so pissed at the situation.

“You think Karen has something to do with Bri standing us up for lunch?” Alec questions.

“I’m almost positive. She was angry when I told her to transfer Bri to us as our assistant.” Ryan says.

“I want her fired.” Alec seethes. “No one messes with our Beauty and gets away with it.”

Ryan and I nod in agreement at Alec’s vow. Karen will pay for hurting our girl.

“We need to calm down before we meet with Karen. Lull her into a false sense of security.”

Once we have gathered ourselves enough to face Karen, we make our way to the conference room. Ever the perfect employee, Karen, is already waiting for us at a table in the conference room.

“Gentlemen, you wanted to see me.” A sly grin crosses her face.

Ryan clears his throat and begins questioning Karen using our fake plan, “Karen, are you aware there is an employee who has been behaving inappropriately at work.”

She smirks, “Why yes. I was going to talk to you about Miss Rose. I had to let her go this morning. I caught her and that other intern, Tom, having sex in a conference room.” Her smirk gets wider.

I’ve never wanted to hit a woman before in my life, but Karen is making it hard not to make her the first one.

“Are you sure about that, Karen?” Ryan asks, giving her a bored look.

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