8. Aphrodite

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.”

The fact that she’s still here, arguing with me, is promising. She knows she shouldn’t say yes, but there’s something in her that wants to. I force myself to slow down, to look at the angles.

I want her. I think she wants me, too. But she’s too stubborn to say yes for something as simple as lust. Even if it’s clear she’s fighting not to reach for me right now. Yes, she felt that connection. I’m sure of it.

The only way forward is to incite her curiosity. “Hades’s club is very exclusive. He barely lets me in there, and I’m allowed to go wherever I please.”

Her lips quirk. “Poor thing.”

I ignore her amusement and continue. “Some nights, he brings in professionals for the shows, but while those are like watching living art, they aren’t my favorites.”

Pandora hesitates, but finally says, “What’s your favorite?”

“Amateur night.” I smile slowly. “Not as perfect a show, but they have so much fun with it, it’s infectious in the best way.” I lean forward until our exhales mingle in the bare space between us. “Tonight is amateur night, Pandora. Are you sure you don’t want to join me? Not to participate. Just to watch.”

I see the exact moment her curiosity gets the best of her. “Fine. Tonight.” She licks her lips, her voice breathy and filled with desire. “But only because I want to see the club.”

I take a slow step back and allow myself to look her up and down the way I’ve wanted to since meeting her. Pandora is one of those people who is beautiful, but for the life of me, I can’t tell how much of it is physical beauty and how much of it is pure presence. Either way, I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted her. “Tonight, then. Your invitation to the lower city will hold.” A favor from Hades, though if he thinks for a moment it will endanger his people, he’ll withdraw both our invitations.

She looks like she wants to say something else, but finally nods. “Okay.”

I let her get her hand on the door before I speak again. “Pandora.” She glances at me, something almost like hope in her dark eyes. “There’s a car waiting for you in the parking garage. Go to the second level. No one will see you leave.”

She hesitates. “Oh. Right. Uh, thanks.”

This time, when she opens the door, I don’t call her back. I allow myself to feel a deep satisfaction that things are going to plan, but only until I get a text from my driver confirming she got to the car. Then I head back into my room to get dressed properly.

It’s time to see my allies.

---

My siblings have told me to see to my husband and leave the rest to them, but I am who I am. I won’t interfere with the layers and layers of plots they have going on, but I read the last report Apollo sent.

He might have seen promise in turning Ariadne against her father at the house party, but he hasn’t been able to get close to her since. Her father is actively blocking her access to any of the Thirteen, and that includes Apollo. One could argue that he’s doing what any devoted father would do for his beautiful daughter when faced with the circling sharks of Olympus, but considering he auctioned off a date with her at his party, I’m with Apollo on this. Minos knows she’s a weak spot and he’s trying to keep her locked down.

That’s fine.

Some things just require a softer touch than the Thirteen can manage.

My destination is a little bar right on the edge of the upper warehouse district. It’s far too early for it to be open, but this is one of Dionysus’s personal businesses, so he let me borrow the keys for this meeting. Not even our friendship is enough to get him out of bed before noon.

I’m still turning on the lights when Eurydice slips through the door, followed by her ever-present shadow. I give Charon a long look, but they’re a package deal, and neither of them seem to have much sense of humor when it comes to people asking questions about their relationship.

Eurydice, of course, looks fresh and lovely and like she had a full night of sleep instead of being out all hours of the night at a kink club. She’s also not wearing one of her customary pretty dresses, opting instead for a pair of cutoff shorts that leaves her long legs bare, and a slightly oversized T-shirt.

I barely manage to resist asking if it’s Charon’s. If I do, she might leave in a huff. “Thanks for coming.”

“Of course.” She walks up to the bar and leans against it, looking around with interest. “Dionysus owns this?”

“You’ve never been?”

“No.” Her mouth twists. “My mother and sisters have strong opinions about what is appropriate entertainment for me, and this hardly qualifies.” She motions at the wallpaper filled with pinups, their mostly bare bodies on display.

I don’t comment on that, though I have my own thoughts on how the Dimitriou women treat Eurydice. No one stays sheltered in Olympus for long, and trying to make that happen does a disservice to the person in question.

Look at what happened with Eurydice’s ex, Orpheus. Or, rather, the stunt my father pulled in order to draw Hades onto the wrong side of the river. She never would have fallen for such a trap if her family didn’t insist on wrapping her in gauze to keep her safe.

“You’re here now. Want a drink?”

“No.” She starts to look back at Charon, where he’s taken up a spot against the wall near the door, but stops herself. “Let’s get down to business.”

I almost poke at her a bit more, but ultimately business is why we’re meeting. “You did wonderfully with Pandora.”

“I hadn’t planned on her getting that drunk.” She makes a face. “I feel bad.”

“It served its purpose. She slept it off in my bed and was none the worse for wear.”

Eurydice gives me a long look. “And you upheld your end of the agreement.”

It’s not a question, but I roll my eyes. “I didn’t touch her. Gods, who do you think I am?”

“I think you’re one of the Thirteen and you’ll do anything to serve Olympus.”

She’s not wrong, but it still makes my face burn. “I draw the line at sexual assault, thank you very much.”

“But not murder.”

“Oh, please.” I wave that away. “If you came here to be self-righteous, we can end this right now.”

She glares, but gives herself a bit of a shake. “I got Ariadne’s number out of Pandora’s phone. I’ll reach out later today. I plan to take the commiserating approach—both of us younger daughters who have been locked away by our families.”

“Smart.” I cross my arms over my chest. “Though she’s not a fool. She won’t respond.”

“Yes, she will.” Eurydice lifts her chin. “I know you had your own trials growing up the way you did, but what she and I have experienced is unique enough that I would bet good money she’s climbing the walls right about now. She was flourishing at that house party with so many people around, and now her father has essentially locked her up and thrown away the key, all in the name of her safety and his ambition. She’ll respond, even if it’s to get some interaction with someone who isn’t family.”

If she’s wrong, then we’ll try something else…but I don’t think she’s wrong. I nod. “Keep me updated. If you need anything, I’ll provide it.”

Eurydice pauses, shoots a glance at Charon again, and blurts, “Why me?”

“What?”

“Why did you ask me for help with Pandora?” She speaks quickly, words tumbling over each other. “And then again with Ariadne? Surely you have people on staff who could do this sort of thing. You could have picked someone else to avoid pissing off my sisters and mother.”

She’s not wrong. The Dimitriou women were formidable when they were just daughters of Demeter. Now Psyche and Persephone are both married to dangerous men, and Callisto has become Hera. Even without that, Demeter is one of the most terrifying people I’ve ever met, and I take great pains not to cross her.

Or I did until now.

Should she find out about this little scheme Eurydice and I are running, she would undoubtedly consider it a betrayal that needs to be punished. Her daughter Psyche took down the last person to hold the Aphrodite title, after all.

But I grew up in Zeus’s household, and frankly all four of those women do Eurydice a disservice by trying to swaddle her up to protect her. The woman I interacted with at Minos’s party—the one standing before me now—has a backbone.

She deserves a chance to use it.

I shrug. “You’re smart, beautiful, and perfectly placed for this kind of thing. I think we can both agree that you’re being underutilized at the moment, and you’re obviously itching to do more or you wouldn’t have been so receptive to my offer.” I jerk my chin at Charon. “And you’re hardly unprotected.”

She smiles slowly. “You know, I think you’re the first person to see me as valuable instead of just a pretty thing to be admired.”

I glance over her shoulder to where Charon watches her with molten eyes. He catches me looking and shutters the expression quickly, but not quickly enough. I don’t think I am the first person to see you as valuable.

I pat Eurydice on the shoulder. “Keep me in the loop.” I pause. “Oh, and stay out of the club tonight. I’m bringing Pandora and I don’t want her thinking about anything but me and the show.”

“Okay.” She turns toward the door, but pauses. “Thanks for this. I mean it. Olympus is my home, too, no matter how flawed, and I want to help.”

“You are helping, and I appreciate it.” I inject warmness into my tone, but for once I’m not lying. Not really, anyway. I like Eurydice, and she’s useful. Win, win from where I’m sitting.

Everything is going according to plan.