“Pass.” Hephaestus’s face twists. “Everyone knows I didn’t choose the marriage. No one will believe I’m following my unfaithful wife around with hearts in my eyes.”
“Not if you keep standing next to her and glowering like you want to murder her.” I set my glass down. “You need to make them root for you. The only way to do that is to play on their pity.”
“I do not want their pity.”
Pity is obviously a sore spot for him, but I don’t care. “Let me paint you a picture.” I lower my voice, forcing him to lean in. “The steadfast, loyal husband and the philandering wife who flaunts her lovers in public. Who do you root for?”
“Pick another option.”
“You’re not capable of any other option and Eris is too beloved, even if it’s that they love watching her spectacle. You have no chance of being more charming than her. You don’t have her connections. Minos is tolerated right now the same way people tolerate an amusing jester, and he shows every evidence of building that amusement into goodwill, but you don’t have his skill. People do not like you.”
“Tell me something I don’t already know.”
I eye him. “If you’d played it the way I suggest from the start, pretending to be in love with her, or at least besotted with her, then people would empathize with you. Half the city wants to be in Aphrodite’s bed, and the other half wants to be her. You’re a newcomer to Olympus, so it’d be easier to project their feelings onto you…except you keep being an asshole, which turns that empathy to hate. If you’d started things this way, she never would have been able to pull that stunt this morning.”
His mouth thins. “I don’t like it.”
“You don’t like any of this, so that’s hardly news.” I catch my tone going playful. I am not going to flirt with him. I don’t even like him. “That’s my offer. Take it or leave it.”
He considers it. I like that he doesn’t simply take me up on it without thought. Finally, he says, “If you’re trying to get close to me to spy, it’s a waste of time. I’m not soft enough to share pillow talk, and Minos certainly isn’t going to let anything slip.”
My skin flares hot at the idea of pillow talk with Hephaestus. I want to say desiring him is just a side effect of a broken heart, but there was a spark when we first met, too. Not enough to indulge in, not when I was with Eris.
But I’m not with Eris anymore.
That’s enough. You said you didn’t want her hurt, and now you’re fighting not to flirt with her husband. What do you think that would do if she found out?
Not that hurting me was enough to give her pause before moving forward with her plan.
“Then I suppose you have no reason to say no.”
His smile widens. “Guess you’re right.” He reaches out a big hand and I do my best to ignore the zing that surges through me when I slip my hand into his. “Okay, Adonis, you have yourself a bargain.”
8
APHRODITE
Pandora obviously has no intention of lingering despite not leaving with Hephaestus, but I’m not about to waste this opportunity. I watch her pull the rumpled bridesmaid dress over her wide hips and have to fight not to lick my lips. She really is delicious. “Eurydice said you were interested in the club.”
“I was drunk.” She tugs the fabric up around her stomach and then breasts.
I’m already moving. “Let me.”
She huffs out a breath, but turns to present me with her back. I would like to say it’s my mercenary streak that has me dragging my knuckles up her spine as I zip her up, but really I just want an excuse to touch her. Adonis and I were always so aware of appearances that when we were “on,” we never stepped out of the respectable, monogamous box Olympus put us in. As a result, it’s been a long time since I touched anyone else like this.
Too long.
Even thinking that feels like a disservice to him. Being with him was hardly a chore. I loved—love—him. But there’s always been a secret part of me that felt stifled by what we had. I’ll never admit as much aloud, and certainly never to him, but it’s the truth.
I finish Pandora’s dress and can’t stop myself from touching the bare spot just above it. “There.”
She releases a shaky breath and turns to face me. “I’m not some club you can beat Theseus with. He’s my best friend, and I won’t hurt him.”
“Of course not,” I agree easily. “I would never ask that of you.” I don’t need her to agree to hurt him when her presence will serve the same purpose.
That’s not the full truth, though. I am curious about this sparkling woman who lives among the snakes of Minos’s household. She caught my eye at the disastrous house party a few weeks ago, a bloom that stands apart. I doubt she knows much about Minos’s plan, but that’s fine. I want to know about her.
Best our information can tell, she was raised in the same orphanage as Hephaestus. Apollo couldn’t find much info about it, other than that it was named after some historical figure from Aeaea, and it was shut down abruptly a few years ago.
When Minos brought Hephaestus into his household, Pandora came with him. I had thought maybe something insidious was going on there, but Minos appears to mostly ignore her and no one has found evidence to contradict that. Which means she’s there for Hephaestus.
And that is just as interesting as the fact that my husband seems to genuinely value her above all others.
I give her my most charming smile. “I would like to get to know you. Show you around.”
She laughs and starts for the door. “Don’t lie to me. You want to parade me around and stir up trouble for him.”
Well, yeah. I can appreciate that she sees right through me, even if it’s inconvenient. I follow her down the hall. This will be my only chance. If I don’t hook her here…
What?
There are other people I can leverage in Olympus. The important part is humiliating Hephaestus and undermining his power. I don’t need Pandora, specifically, to do that. Yes, she’s the most likely to drive my dear husband into a blackout rage, which is personally entertaining for me, but as far as the public is concerned, the identity of my lovers matters less than the fact they exist.
None of that makes any difference right now. I want her. I’m not willing to let her walk away just yet.
“There are no cameras in Hades’s little playground.” I’m speaking too fast, but she’s almost to the front door. “We’ll arrive separately and leave separately. No one talks about what goes on in there unless they want to run the risk of never being invited back.” The exception, of course, is when Hades or Persephone wants to spread information about a certain pairing or activity, but they use that power sparingly.
Pandora slows. “Why are you so invested in this?” There’s something there, a thread of curiosity in her voice.
“Isn’t it obvious?” I wait for her to twist to look at me. That same curiosity is there on her face, and it’s the only motivation I need to take one step after another, closing the distance between us. I don’t stop until her back hits the door and one deep breath will press her breasts against me. “I want you.”
Her jaw drops, but she recovers quickly. “I told you not to lie to me.”
“I never lie when pleasure is involved.” I twist a strand of her hair around my finger and laugh a little at her disbelief. “Okay, that was a lie, but I know you felt that little zing when we kissed at Minos’s party.” I lean down, gratified when she tilts her head back, almost as if she can’t help herself. I lower my voice. “I bet if I kissed you right now, we’d feel that zing again.”
She shakes her head, but her response is slower this time, her gaze lingering on my mouth. “I appreciate the offer, but—”
“Do they have kink clubs in Aeaea?”
“They have kink clubs everywhere, Aphrodite. They’re not mythical places.”