Page 4 of Auctioned to the Prisoners

Fuck. We should have kept our mouths shut because people have nothing better to do in this place than listen out for flecks of gossip.

“Better be glad we’re talking about women and not Brady. I heard he got a sweet ass, and he’s sick of your stench.”

Decker fixes me with an angry stare. I’m not interested in anyone’s ass, but he doesn’t know that for sure. Only thing he’s got in this place is his bitch and his stupid mouth. “Fuck you, Kinkaid.”

I step forward, and he jumps back, expecting a fist. Maybe, before last month, I would have clocked him, but not now. There’s no way I’m missing out on what I’ve earned. “Fuck off,” Igrowl, my shoulders bunched as I stare around at the huddles of men watching, always watching.

They’re going to notice we’re not around. That’s inevitable. Warden will have to tell them we’re in the hole. It’s the best cover any of us can come up with.

When Decker moves on, Hyde slumps back onto the bench, and Rock lowers himself carefully.

“Small soft hands,” Hyde says with a smile. “I hope she has small, soft hands.”

3

LORY

SELFLESS LOVE

“I need to take a month off.”

My boss, Dirty Doug, rears back like I just slapped him across the face. I haven’t taken a vacation in two years, so my request is a big surprise. Plus, it’s a month, so there’s that.

“You can’t take a month off,” he sneers. “We don’t have anyone to cover that kind of time.”

“It’s a family emergency.”

“I’m sorry about that.” He runs his fat sausage fingers over his bald head, already looking over my shoulder like he’s done with the conversation. “But I can’t help. Not right now.”

I take a deep breath and slick my tongue over my teeth as the pulse of anger I’m trying to contain flairs dangerously.

“I’ve given two years of uninterrupted service. I make the most tips in this place. I’m asking for an unpaid vacation to help my sister, not go to Lake Tahoe.”

“I get all that, but I have to keep this place running, and I can’t give you the time off.”

The chair beneath me is hard plastic, and when I curve my fingers around it, the sharp edge of the seat digs into my flesh. “Doug, I have to take this time off.”

“Lory. It can’t be done.”

I close my eyes, and swallow thickly, as frustration surges inside me. This asshole. This fucking asshole. I’m so done with working shitty jobs for shittier pay, trying to exist on money that never stretches no matter how many compromises I make. I’m tired of reporting to men who think they rule the universebecause they’re in charge of a few desperate people and a business that’s barely making enough bank to stay afloat.

I need this job, but Kennedy is more important. She’s all I’ve got in the world.

I stand suddenly, and the chair skitters over the tiled floor, clattering against the wall. “I quit.”

Doug’s eyes widen like I grew a second head or told him I won the lottery.

Maybe I should play today. The universe owes me like a billion favors.

“I want my money, Doug. Everything you owe me right now. And my share of the tip jar.”

“Lory.” He holds out his hands, the tight gold wedding band that means nothing to him constricting his ring fingers as though it’s trying to amputate. It’s just another reminder of the bullshit in this place. Maybe I should tell his wife he fucks half the staff in here in exchange for them keeping their jobs.

“Just give me my money.”

His mouth flickers with the smile men get when they think women are acting hysterically, and my right arm twitches with the urge to swing for his fat meathead. He really is a dogshit person, through and through.

“My money, Doug.” He snort-chuckles and my final nerve snaps. “And a bonus for two years of excellent service, or I’m talking. I’m sure Carrie will be interested in your extracurriculars. Or maybe the health inspector…” I leave the threat to trail. He knows he’s in breach of half a dozen requirements, and no one wants their food prepared where Doug’s been sticking his filthy dick.

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