Page 149 of Blue Moon

“There weren’t any egg rolls. He substituted prawn toast. I guess what I’m trying to say is that he’s not horrible, but he’s self-centred. He does whatever he wants, and you’re meant to fall in line. It’s easy to see that now, but I was young when I dated him, and I’d never had a serious boyfriend before. It took me months to realise that wasn’t normal.”

And he’d decided to abduct Luna Maara? I’d pay good money to see that battle of wills. Ryder said Luna had softened around the edges in recent months, but she’d spent years surviving in a cutthroat industry, and a leopard didn’t change its spots overnight. She was no pussycat.

“Did he ever hurt you?”

“Like, physically?”

I nodded.

“No, he definitely wasn’t that kind of guy. I still can’t believe he’d kidnap anyone. I mean, the only way he’d do that is if he convinced himself he was helping them. Like saving them from a worse fate or something.”

Now that…that was interesting. And also good news. Mark Antony had swooped in to save his queen, hadn’t he? It fit with what I’d been feeling in my gut all along. Fuck Tulsa and her statistics.

“Thanks for your help, folks. Brianna, keep your phone on, and try to stay somewhere with a signal.”

“That’s it?” the boyfriend asked, still dripping slightly. “We’re done?”

“We’re done. And just a tip—if you’re planning to get jiggy in the great outdoors, do it under a tree.” I pointed at the sky. “People are watching, and nobody wants to have to bleach their eyeballs.”

With that, I beckoned to Jacqueline and Slater and headed for the truck. Next stop? Berkeley. When we got Luna back, I was going to personally handcuff her to Ryder’s headboard. Trouble followed that girl around.

42

LUNA

“Are you freaking kidding me? No way am I getting in there.”

The four of us were standing in the bathing chamber. Michelle and Kacie were wearing tunics and pants that reminded me of beauty therapists at a spa, plus Crocs. Crocs! The indignity. At least Mark Antony had taken Kacie’s chain off. Not Michelle’s—a point that irked her to no end—but he had at least made hers longer. Now she could reach most parts of the house, noisily.

I was wearing a gold bikini.

“I’ll admit, I didn’t think it would smell this bad.”

“Seriously? It’s rancid milk. How did you not realise it would stink?” I asked as Michelle gagged.

When he told me he had a special surprise, my mind had cycled through everything from more jewellery to a pet camel to a cream-topped disco stick. Not gonna lie, I’d nearly puked at the thought of the last one. It was fun when Ryder did it, but this douche? Yeuch. Not once had a reeking milk bath struck me as a possibility.

“Google didn’t mention the smell. It just said that soured milk is better for your skin—something about lactic acid—and you used to love milk baths. It’s recorded in several historical documents.”

How could a man be smart and cunning enough to kidnap me from the Nile Palace, yet have the common sense of a sea sponge? I put my hands on my hips.

“What’s wrong with my skin?”

“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong with your skin, but you don’t want to get wrinkles, do you?”

“I’d rather have skin like crepe paper than get into that tub. And what do you expect me to do with the honey?”

“I think you stir it in?” Mark Antony frowned, and a bead of sweat rolled down his temple. It didn’t even feel that hot in the bathroom, although I was acclimated to Vegas. “Or maybe you just spread it over yourself?”

“And then what? I stick to everything?”

“I tried to tell him,” Kacie whispered. He’d roped my “courtiers” into helping with his dumb-ass plan because microwaving pints of milk was beneath him.

“If you put the honey on first, you can wash it off with the milk.”

“No.”

“No?”

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