He pulled his eyes off the crowd and set it on her.
“What?” She lifted a single shoulder. “Am I wrong?”
“Why are you dressed like that?” He frowned, finally noting the glittery black halter top and leather shorts she was wearing. “Are you working the floor right now?”
They’d both agreed with Kian to stop being hosts at the club as soon as their semester started. As university students, there was enough on their plate, and Kian hadn’t wanted them involved with customers, even though the two of them had always had a hands-off policy. No one was allowed to request private sessions, there always had to be at least two other people, and they wouldn’t enter any of the private rooms.
Customers probably thought it was Kian’s way of protecting his siblings.
In reality, he was just protecting his business.
Neither Sloane nor Shiloh would ever suffer an insult, and if anyone did ever try to push their boundaries, they would strike first and ask questions later. Since the whole purpose of a host club was to provide entertainment, if word got out that two of the staff members had maimed a paying customer…
“You may have sequestered him away somewhere, but the underboss’ last order is still in effect. Not being allowed to go to school means I have nothing to do. Unlike you, I have no interest in establishing myself as a princess of the mafia.” Sloane tapped her cobalt nails against the metal railing. “I’ve switched over to online classes. But even that only fills so much of my time.”
When they’d been children, running away had almost always been her idea. She’d sneak into his rooms in the middle of the night, tell him to pack a bag, and the two of them would flee. There’d only ever been one occasion where they were successful, managing to stay hidden for two whole years, before they’d been ruthlessly dragged back.
Perhaps that was why it’d been so easy for Shiloh to pretend to be normal and kind. He’d had practice. Admittedly, he hadn’t been very good at it back then. Sloane had been the one to perfect the act, allowing them to survive on their own, making friends with some of the elderly neighbors and convincing them to take pity on them.
They’d looked after the twins, thinking they were being nice to orphans. It’d been…pleasant.
And then it’d ended.
Their mother had given them a choice. At the time, Kian had yet to be discovered, and she’d needed an heir. But only one. They’d had the option to choose amongst themselves and allow the other to go free, but years of punishments and conditioning had turned them jaded and leery. “Free” was a relative term in their world.
They hadn’t been able to trust she wouldn’t kill the twin who refused.
In the end, neither of them wanted to risk the other’s life, so they’d stuck it out together.
Shiloh wasn’t unaware that the only reason Sloane was still here was because of him. Because he’d stumbled on an alpha, while bleeding and near death, and had fallen for him.
If there’d been no Sarang, the two of them would have walked away the moment their mother died and Kian had taken over. Instead, Shiloh had chosen to put them on this path, all so he could claim an alpha’s knot.
He was wholly selfish. Before, that’d translated to spoiled in Sarang’s mind, thanks to the way Shiloh always managed to reframe things. But now…Now he knew the truth.
And Dio had been right.
Sarang didn’t want him.
Maybe, at some point in the years they’d spent together, there’d been moments he had. Moments where he’d cherished the mask, but it was too late to regret and redon the disguise.
His alpha could either get over it and accept him, or remain trapped, locked up like an unruly pet. Shiloh would prefer the first, but he was unwilling to let Sarang go. Similar to how Sloane wasn’t willing to leave Shiloh even though she had no interest in the Eumia.
“You aren’t the only one who has to blow off a little steam, brother.” Sloane crossed her arms, seeking out a target from below. “With you in charge at the moment, it’s not like there’s anyone here who can stop me from hosting.”
“It’ll get back to Kian,” he warned, but she merely snorted.
“And he’ll do what? Yell at me? Boo Hoo.”
Shiloh chuckled. “Already planning on asking Sky to tell him to go easy on you?”
“Having an empathetic brother-in-law certainly has its perks.”
Sloane and Sky had gotten on rather quickly. The friendship between them was real, and the fondness in her voice wasn’t fake like it might have been if it’d come from Shiloh.
Not that he had a problem with Sky. He didn’t. Arguably, he liked him as well.
But mostly because he kept Kian busy and off their backs.
