Some of his anger seemed to falter into uncertainty. For the first time, he looked like he wasn’t sure how to feel about this whole situation.
I could’ve told him anyone the owners picked would be worthy. They weren’t exactly the type to waste money or time, and they already had enough damage control to deal with without inviting more.
“Well, it seems introductions are on me,” she said, giving us a smile that practically screamed, ‘can you believe this guy?’
Don’t worry, darling. We absolutely could.
“My name is Roxie Crane. I runThe Gathering Place. We’ve recently expanded quite a lot, and during the scandal that I am not going to dance around, we were the ones that spoke to your former teammates’ omega and let her tell her truth to the world.”
She paused briefly, then her voice sharpened.
“And now I’m going to give you guys the same exact opportunity.”
I straightened a little in my seat as I waited for her to continue. This omega was a firecracker and I was here for it. We needed this.
“We all know what they did was shitty, and I’m going to assume most of you didn’t know the depth of the bullshit they put her through. Since I know there are some new faces, let’s go ahead and just lay it all out there.”
She leaned against the table slightly.
“They weren’t just accused of neglect. Therewasneglect. There isfactual evidenceshowing that they were responsible for nearly killing an omega, and I’m sure that puts a lot of you in an uncomfortable position because suddenly you were supposed to see every bit of abuse they likely hid very well from the world.”
The tension in the room rose and I half-expected Hayes to say something to stop her and put his foot in his mouth. Instead,he was just as stunned as we were. Everyone had tiptoed around this topic.
Until her.
“And for the rest of you who were living under a rock, your former front line decided it would be a really good idea to leave an omega alone and unmedicated during a heat.”
Nobody really wanted to talk about what they’d done, but unfortunately, it was necessary.
She had hit the nail right on the head. We were almost being held just as responsible as they were.
“We have one hell of a reputation to fix,” she continued, “but if all of you are willing to put in the work, so am I.”
She crossed her arms. Fuck she was hot. That attitude had me adjusting in my seat I was so fucking hard.
“I’m not bragging when I say thatThe Gathering Placehas quite the reach. It’s the exact reason your big boss chose me. There’s a lot riding on this partnership, and I’m going to trust that most of you are going to be mature enough to accept that. And if you’d rather fight the inevitability?—”
Damn. She was really just going to call Hayes out like that, wasn’t she?
“Let’s not mince our power here, princess,” Hayes growled. Oh she’d definitely called out his biggest insecurity here.
The amount of raised eyebrows and shocked sounds in the room should’ve been enough to tell him he’d crossed a fucking line, but he seemed unfazed. His full focus and annoyance was right on the omega.
“Oh, are we going to do this right now?” Roxie asked, sounding amused like she’d been waiting for this opportunity.
I couldn’t keep the grin off my face.
“I’m here whether anyone likes it or not. It doesn’t have to be a painful experience, but it absolutely can be,” she said bluntly.“I’m not going to kiss anyone’s ass. I’m also not going to make up lies to help you. You have to help yourselves.”
Her gaze swept over all of us to drive home her point.
“I rely on my reputation as an unbiased reporter for a reason, and I won’t risk that reputation to stroke anyone’s fucking ego. I have already been hired. That check is going to clear my account and those articles are going to post. It’s up to you to decide what those articles tell the world.”
She gave a fierce look around the room as if daring a single one of us to disagree.
Fuck, I think I’m in love.
Chapter
