Page 16 of Bully

Right now, she was annoyed; purple.

“Does a doctor get to decide which patients to treat?” Sloane snapped back. “Does a waitress get to decide which customers to serve? No.” She held her hand up, stopping whatever probably dumb retort the girl was opening her mouth to clap back with. “The answer to those questions and yours, is no. You do not have a choice. That’s not to say there isn’t some begging, borrowing, or pleading that you can do with your coworkers or your managers to trade here and there. But it’s not about picking and choosing unless there is some legitimate reason to pass on a client.”

“There is no picking.” I called out, announcing my presence and walking into the room as every head turned to stare at me. I hadn’t met most of these women before, and the black-haired Raven from the other room’s words came back to me as I looked over the crowd.

And you think fresh blood can survive the actual job?

Dammit, the answer was no. Looking at most of the fresh youthful faces in the crowd, I knew we’d lose more of them than I had expected after the first night.

I gritted my teeth and joined Sloane at her spot at the head of the room. “The customer picks. They’re the ones with the power to decide. If you don’t do the job you were hired to do, you won't work here anymore.” I turned to Sloane and caught her fiery eyes as she stared angrily at me. “Change of plans, I’m hosting a party in two weeks.” Looking back out at the women, “Any of you left employed here by that time, will work the party. Ten of the seasoned vets will work it too. But make no mistake, they’re the best of the best and their sole task of the night will be to get you fired. Whoever makes the most money that evening wins. If you lose, all of you are fired.”

Gasps and sputters filled the air, including some from Slone at my side. “What’s the point of that?”

I looked at her, soaking in the way her eyes rounded when I stared down at her and imagined how she’d look on her knees, but kept going before I got anymore distracted.

“The point is, the Vets don’t think any of the fresh blood has what it takes, and I’m inclined to agree with them.”

Sloane shook her head, and waved her arm out at the crowd of shocked onlookers. “You hired them!”

“I know. And pretty faces and nice bodies will not be enough to survive. You know that.”

“So what?” She sputtered, putting her hands on her hips, “You plan to pit them all against each other?”

“No.” I shook my head, “I plan to let you spend the next two weeks training them to be the picture perfect entertainers of Prism. And if you do it right, they’ll win. There’s twenty of them to the ten vets. And then they’ll get to make something of themselves at the grand opening.”

Sloane rolled her eyes and shook her head, cracking her neck in aggravation. “You’re just starting drama between the two groups before they even meet. They’re supposed to be coworkers and equals. That’s what you said!”

“Yeah, well, Raven makes a convincing argument against that plan.” I turned back to the crowd. “If you want this job, listen to Ember and learn as much as possible from her. She’s the best in the game. And then go out there and fucking earn it.” I glanced back one last time at Sloane as I walked back through the crowd. “Oh, and Rainbow,” Her eyes squinted angrily, “We have an event to attend tonight. Your outfit will hang in my office after training is over. We leave at ten.”

“Sure, whatever you say, boss.” Sloane groaned back as I walked out. I smirked and walked through the construction site whistling a stupid fucking tune as I went back to the stage room to share the new plans with the Vets of Prism.

It was time to give the women someone else to hate beside me.

Chapter 8 – Sloane

Ihuffed,suckingineveryounce of willpower I had as I zipped up my dress. Well, notmydress, the loaner dress that magically appeared in Tamen’s office. You know, the one that looked as though someone had sculpted it, stitch by stitch, to fit my body and personality perfectly.

Yeah, that one.

The one I was standing in admiring in the also magically appearing floor-length mirror in his office as well. The dress was gold, because of fucking course it was the exact same shade as my peculiarly light hazel eyes. But it had an iridescent sheen to it that made it look like it was liquid as I moved, changing shades and flowing to move with my body, almost like I was wearing a waterfall.

Similar to the one between my thighs as I put it on. Why did the man have to feed into my sick obsession with getting gifts? I was a shallow person, everyone knew that; I liked shiny stuff.

And here was the shiniest, most beautiful gown I’d ever seen before. From the man I wanted to hate the most.

Did hate.

Ididhate Tamen Bryce. Even if I wanted to put a bag over his head and ride him like a donkey all the way to Bethlehem. I was a sexually expressive female, after all. And he was as sexy as sexy could be, aside from his arrogant, snarky, cold, British personality.

I turned in the mirror and admired the way the back of the gown draped right above the start of my ass crack, billowing down the back of my legs but leaving the entirety of my back bare aside from the tie at the back of my neck.

The front fell between my breasts and stretched across my wide hips. God, it fit like a second skin. My body hummed with arousal from the way the fabric slid across my skin with each movement as I pinned my hair up off my neck in a fancy twirl.

Thank God a show girl went nowhere without a full kit of makeup on hand for unexpected events like this. I ran the tip of my finger over my bottom lip, crisping up the line and then blew my reflection a kiss. I was delectable.

Tamen didn’t mention where we were going tonight, and originally I had contemplated leaving the building altogether with the other girls after training to test his patience with me for the fun of it. But one peek at the outfit he left for me, and I was hooked. I had to wear it.

Even if it was just for one night.

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