She Plays the Game Well (slight R18)
Both women looked amazed.
"That's not reasonable," Amanda said thoughtfully. "The best one loses. What does the other one get?"
"I will keep that a secret for now," Bastian said harshly. "You both are free to perform badly if you want to. That just means that I will not reward either one of you."
He smiled to soften the blow of his words.
"I don't think you are in a position to question him," Anasta said, blowing her nose on a napkin. "You have made him look at you in a different light already. We…we can't go on like this, Amanda. We need to make this count."
Bastian thought smugly of the reward he intended to give to the winner.