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Which was, of course, the exact moment Hunter chose to exit the bathroom. A waft of steam followed him out, floating past him as he paused beneath the threshold. He was wearing nothing but a towel tied low on his waist and was staring at where Moon’s mauve lips touched Odin’s face.
Something flickered in his expression, but before Odin could figure out what it was, it was gone, replaced with a cold look as Hunter pulled the bathroom door shut behind him with a loud click.
“This must be him?” Moon said, pulling away from Odin. She clasped her hands together and tapped her chin, humming as she took Hunter in from head to toe. “I’ve been so curious about the little star you brought home. No one would let me near the stairs to this floor, let alone the actual room itself, so I’ve been forced to survive off rumors and gossip.”
“My apologies,” Odin wrapped an arm around her narrow shoulders, watching Hunter closely, “I wasn’t ready to share him yet.”
She clucked her tongue at him. “Well, in the end, you merely did yourself and him a disservice. If I’d been allowed up here sooner, he certainly wouldn’t have made it to this poor state.”
Hunter clenched his jaw but said nothing.
“Tell me more about these rumors,” Odin said. He’d heard many of them already, but Hunter hadn’t, and he was interested in seeing how the Huntsman might react. It was foolish because now that he’d gone quiet, it was the perfect time for Odin to rush him to get dressed and ready for the party, and yet…He didn’t like that detached look in Hunter’s eyes.
“Some say he’s a rival gang member who did you wrong,” Moon began, motioning one of the girls over and taking the rectangular makeup bag from her. She set it on the edge of the bed and unzipped it, pulling out the contents. “Others say he’s an old friend you ran into.”
“Boring,” Odin drawled.
Madam Moon was the co-manager of Club Cherry, tasked with ensuring the staff came to work presentable and keeping them safe. If anything went wrong, she was always the first to know, and then she decided whether the issue was worth Odin hearing about. At ten years his senior, she was someone who he’d known since he’d been in middle school, but not someone who would have come around the house or other work events.
She’d never seen Hunter before and would have no idea who he was even after learning his name.
Dressed in a gauzy white dress that clung to her curves, five-inch red heels and more diamonds than Odin could count, she screamed elegance and mystery. Her long, inky black hair was left loose, the stick-straight strands lustrous in the room's overhead lighting. She’d gone with a subtle makeup look, leaning more on the natural side with a mauve tint to her plush lips.
She was gorgeous, considered one of Odin’s crown jewels, and brought in a hefty clientele all on her own, despite no longer taking clients herself. There were very few people who could resist staring whenever she walked by.
Odin had been wondering if it was her beauty that had Hunter quieting, but that look of cold disdain never wavered on his face, and he held himself back against the bathroom door, in the same way, a cornered animal would. Like he was ready to attack, the second someone took a step closer.
Like he wanted to run.
“Would you like to hear my personal favorite?” Moon asked him, and Odin made a noncommittal sound he knew she’d take as a yes. “He’s the first love you’ve been searching for all these years, and the reason you’ve holed him away is to keep him all to yourself.”
Hunter’s cheeks turned a little redder, and he clenched his hands into tight fists at his sides.
“You’re right,” Odin found himself saying, sidling closer to Moon’s side, “that is the best one.” He rested his hand on her lower back. “Do me a favor, would you? Make sure that one gets spread around. I want everyone thinking or saying it.”
“Bullshit,” Hunter whispered, and Odin shot him a wink.
Corbi had made it sound like there was obviously something between them, and now, hearing it straight from Moon’s mouth, it was clear she’d been right. At least in that regard.
Why not use it? People were naturally curious, and it wouldn’t hurt to have them talking. So long as the things they were saying were beneficial to him. He’d wanted to rattle Isa, what better way than to have people talking about how the two of them were old flames reunited?
It even served more than one purpose. If Hunter was considered important to him, no one at the club would mess with him. It would paint a target on his back everywhere else, of course, but that could also work in Odin’s favor.
If the only place he was safe was at Odin’s side…
“You changed your hair.” Moon stroked her long fingers through Odin’s now dirty blond locks.
He’d stripped out the green earlier this morning. No matter how good his mask was, it’d be too much of a dead giveaway at the party. While he didn’t expect to go completely unrecognized, a little anonymity would be nice.
He still wasn’t entirely sure how he would react once he returned to that house. Too much attention could be a bad thing.
Hunter grunted. “Good.”
“Oh,” Moon gave them both a knowing look, “I see. You did it for your lover. How sweet of you. That’s romantic enough to make a girl jealous.”
It was impossible to tell if Hunter found that comment upsetting because of his involvement in it or because of the implication it made about Odin and Moon.
He could explain that there had never been and would never be anything between him and the Madam, but what would be the fun in that? Besides, he didn’t owe the other man anything. Hunter was his captive. Not his friend, and certainly not someone he needed to coddle.
