Chapter Eighteen

Gabriel didn't think Athena would agree so easily, especially since it took her so long to register his request. It was more of a demand than a request, but if she had really insisted against it, he wouldn't have pushed her.

After she revealed everything, she has been holding back from him, he feels he can understand her and her actions over the last month a little better. She may not have remembered what happened to her, but deep down she did. Something is compelling her to leave this world, and he wants to find out what it is.

Up until this point, their relationship has been strictly business, something Athena made clear and the main reason it seems that she didn't open up about any of her struggles until now.

He plans to change that tonight. They need to have a meeting outside of work, where she can hopefully feel more relaxed and comfortable around him, enough to talk more about her life. He isn't sure why, but he has wanted to help her with anything she needs help with since the moment he met her.

If not for Julian reminding him to be modest, he would've have bought the best room and service in the entire hospital when they first met and posted guards by her door in case anything happened. It wasn't anything in particular that made him feel this way, she has just captured his interest by her eccentric personality and wild ambition.

Of all the woman he has met, Athena is the only one who knows what she wants and goes for it, not because anyone told her she should, or to impress anyone, but purely because she knows she can. She sees through the lies and intent of people from first glance and doesn't buy into the bullshit.

Above all, she really is the most beautiful woman he has ever laid eyes on. Everything about her seems to be effortlessly flawless.

He wants everything to be perfect for their first dinner together, having Julian research the best restaurant in Luxe City and reserving a private booth, so nothing can disturb their conversation.

He is determined to move their relationship one step closer from business to personal. It is obvious that Athena is a timid person and will be frightened away easily. If he is too hasty with his affections, there is no doubt she will get nervous and head for the hills.

But he is finding it hard to contain his excitement and modesty when it comes to her. He wants to go all out and do anything he can to impress her, something he has never done for anyone, let alone a woman he has just met.

"Is everything prepared?" he asks Julian as he enters his office.

Julian lets out a heavy sigh. "Yes, everything is as perfect as you instructed, Mr. Monroe. I hunted down the best restaurant in the city and made sure they knew exactly who was coming, and to make the dining area completely private. I also stand by my point that I think you're overdoing this."

"Your point is once again noted and ignored. I don't think I'm overdoing anything; I think I can do more actually, but I don't want to scare her."

Julian scoffs. "You aren't serious? You don't think this isn't going to scare her away? For the last month you have treated her as nothing more than a common worker here, and now you're inviting her out to a high-class restaurant to talk about anything but business – and you don't think she will be scared away."

Gabriel stops his typing and thinks over what Julian has said.

"She is from a prestigious family and has gone to plenty of similar places for friendly dinners before. What's wrong with me doing the same thing?"

"Because this is more than a friendly dinner. You don't have to spell it out for me to understand what your intentions are with Miss Rose tonight."

Gabriel glares at Julian, but the man doesn't back down. He has dealt with Gabriel for enough years to know that it takes a lot to really offend the man, and as much as he hates when the truth is pointed out to him, he is a man of pride and will never lie out loud.

"So where do you think I should take her?"

Julian fishes out his phone from his pocket and taps on the screen for a few seconds, before sliding the phone across the desk to Gabriel.

"This place just opened up last week, classy enough that you won't feel like a cheapskate, but the vibe isn't as stuffy and high-end. They have tons of food options, so it doesn't matter what she likes, there is most likely something there for her. The place you want to take her is heavy on the red meat and wine options, whatever brings in the most money, chances are if she is a vegetarian, they aren't going to have a lot of options for her to choose from. This place has a whole vegetarian and vegan section-"

Gabriel snatches the phone away and waves his hand dismissively.

"Okay, okay I get it. I'll consider it, you can leave now."

Julian doesn't try to hide his smile and willingly leaves his phone with Gabriel, striding triumphantly out the door. It isn't easy to prove Gabriel wrong, or to be more knowledgeable than him on something. He has gone to the top schools overseas and raised in a prestigious family, he has learned everything there is to learn academically.

But when it comes to woman and dating, it seems the superior Gabriel Monroe is inferior.

***

"Miss Rose, I can't believe you've been asked to dinner by Mr. Monroe. If anyone spots you two out and about, it is sure to catch headlines, I can already see what everyone is going to say of you two. You really do make the perfect pair," Margaret rambles on while helping Athena get ready.

"It's just dinner, Margaret. I'm sure it's to talk about work and to give me another punishment for missing his calls for the last week and shirking my work duties. I'm just hoping he doesn't ask about the account books; I still haven't found them yet."

Margaret frowns in the mirror, fixing up Athena's long blonde hair into a high ponytail.

"A man like Gabriel Monroe doesn't ask just anyone out to dinner. Make sure to pay attention to where he takes you and how he treats you tonight, you might be surprised at what you find when you read between the lines."

Athena holds back a chuckle at her rhyming advice, but she does have a point. Gabriel Monroe is a man of very little time, and the only dinner appointments he attends are business related. But as far as she is concerned, they have already discussed all their work business earlier today.

He said he will only let her return to work with him, if she agreed to dinner. If she reads between the lines, what is that supposed to tell her? He likes taking advantages of the authority he holds over her, tell her to do whatever he wants?

Gabriel has never struck her as a man with ulterior motives, he has always been straightforward about what he is thinking and what he wants, though he does have the rare tendency to tease every now and then it seems.

"He is quite the mysterious man," she mutters to herself. Once looking over her appearance in the mirror and approving the dark red blouse and black dress pant attire, she curls the ends of her blond ponytail and applies minimal make-up.

The perfect business-casual outfit she can put together, without knowing what this dinner is really about.

"You look wonderful, Miss, as always. I believe there is a car already waiting for you downstairs, Mr. Monroe sure is a gentleman bringing a car to pick up his date, it must be nice to be that wealthy."

Athena laughs at Margarets wishful thinking but can't help feeling a little disappointed. She was hoping he would arrive himself, make it feel more authentic and not as prudish. They have money, but they don't always have to flaunt it. As much as she wanted a luxurious life, it wasn't so she could show off how well off she was to everyone else, she just didn't want to struggle anymore.

To her surprise, it is Gabriel leaning against the awaiting car outside, not Julian or a random chauffeur.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, though the question sounds dumb as soon as she does.

"I'm here to pick up my date, why else? Did you think I wouldn't send for you myself?" A sly grin spreads across his face as he walks towards her.

"To be quite honest, yes. I didn't think you would meet me personally; I was under the impression we would meet there," she says, trying to ignore how heated her cheeks became when he said 'date'.

It isn't a date, just a casual dinner between co-workers...or boss and employee. Is that weirder?

"What kind of gentleman would I be if I couldn't even pick up my date for dinner?" He gives her another coy smile while helping her into the car, even going as far as to do her seatbelt up for her before closing the door.

There he goes with that word again, date.

"Where are you taking me?" she asks.

"I wasn't sure what your taste is, so my aide recommended this place that apparently has tons of options, one of everything. You aren't a vegetarian, are you?"

Athena can't help but laugh at this new side of Gabriel, it's a lot different from the persona he has at the office or during work. He feels a bit more care-free and it's helping her to relax and not be so nervous of what to expect with the night.

"Not at all, Mr. Monroe, I'm glad to say I'm not a picky eater."

Gabriel frowns. "Probably best not to call me that in public, people might get the wrong idea."

The wrong idea? What idea is he expecting people to get from looking at them? Two co-workers out for dinner to discuss what the other has missed during their absence... or a couple on a date?

He has mentioned the word several times tonight and isn't dressed the way he usually does when conducting business. Athena is now noticing that he is dressed rather casually, compared to her supposed 'business casual' attire.

I feel extremely overdressed now.

"You could have told me what this dinner was for, so I could have prepared a better outfit than this. I thought wherever we were going it was upscale, where most businessmen go, I suppose."

It's Gabriel's turn to laugh out loud now, not able to contain the light chuckling.

"I was afraid if I revealed my true intent, you wouldn't have accepted."

"I had a choice?" she asks, dumbfounded. He really didn't make her feel like she had a choice, it was this or never return to work and lose this opportunity.

"Yes, go to dinner with me or not return to work until I deem you mentally fit. Those were your options."

Oh, right.

"I never knew you had this side to you, or have you always been this cheeky?"

He doesn't answer her but instead just smiles.

The place he picked out is in the lower part of Centre town, a place Athena would never be caught dead in before when she was at the height of her career, but she can accept her fall from grace. This would be the perfect moment for her stepsister to make her move and take the spotlight out from under her, she is practically handing her crown over to her stepsister willingly.

Yet why hasn't she made a move yet?

It has been too quiet with her stepfamily recently, which is never a good thing.

"I mainly asked you out to dinner because I was hoping we could get to know each other better, a strong relationship can only form when the parties can trust one another. I haven't given you many reasons to trust me, so we're here to change that."

Is he doing this because she didn't tell him about her amnesia? Was he really that bothered by not knowing? Everyone was kept in the dark, even her own father still doesn't know. Why would it have bothered him so much? She must be overthinking it.

"I have no reasons not to trust you, you've helped me out tremendously without even knowing the reasons why. How could I not trust a person like that?"

Unless the person had ulterior motives, but Gabriel strikes her as the type to help when it is beneficial to him, not just for one-sided gain.

"That may be true, but if I had known what you were struggling with before, I could have been more help. I feel like I've given you a ton of work on top of everything else, like I said I don't wish to become another burden in your life, Athena."

Chills run through her body when he utters her name, liking the way it sounds on his lips a little too much. It is not the first time he has called her name, but it is the first time in such a setting as this.

The restaurant is a little hole in the wall place, no windows on the front of the store to offer a more open seating area with the feeling of sitting on a patio but without the harsh elements of the season, with low ambient lighting and floral decoration, reminding one of sitting outdoors for a night gathering, drinking with friends or a loved one.

Which makes their appearance all the more awkward, being one of the fanciers dressed people, everyone is staring and whispering about them.

"What a pretty couple."

"Look at that man, isn't he handsome? Imagine being taken out for dinner by him?"

"She's lucky, they're both gorgeous."

Athena should be used to the praise of envious eyes and jealous whispers, but Chloe isn't. Although she has more of Athena's personality in her than her former, it will take some getting used to regardless.

Even in her previous life, Athena never met a man as handsome and domineering as Gabriel Monroe. The men she was always courted by just wanted her for her money or name, to help them boost their own fame or make a name for themselves by piggybacking her career.

That's why Athena never dated or settled with anyone, she could never trust any of the men who tried to wriggle their way into her life, knowing they all had impure intentions with her, whether it be to steal her money, fame or innocence. Athena might not be a virgin anymore, but she has still maintained as much of her purity as she can for when she does meet the right man.

But before she tried to end her life, she never met him.

I wonder if she had met Gabriel sooner, would she still feel that way about men?

If Athena had met Gabriel before she made the decision to end her life, could he have changed her mind. Given her even a small reason to continue on?

He isn't even sure of it himself.

When he first heard her story, he wasn't sure what to think at all. From what he had learned about her online, you could never tell her life had been falling apart so terribly, she wanted to end it. No one could tell through the countless interviews and videos she did, her face gave nothing away in her numerous magazine spreads and fashion shows.

She always held her head high and made sure no one was able to look down on her. She was fighting a battle within herself, but she never let people know how much she was losing it.

I never want to imagine what living like that is like. I promise to the former Athena, I will give you a life worth living.

"Why don't we start with what has happened this past week," Athena says, wanting to steer the conversation and her thoughts away from what happened to her. "Where did you go this past week? I do remember now that you had a business trip in New Sate for the week. How was it?"

Gabriel stops and contemplates telling Athena the real reason he was called overseas to New State and the meeting he had with his mother. Verona will be moving to Luxe City within the month, and knowing his mother, she is going to force a position for her in Monroe group. Gabriel will have no choice but to introduce her to everyone he works closely with, including Athena.

He doesn't put it past Verona to not act discreetly, her mind already set on them getting engaged. Her only goal is to become the mistress of the Monroe family, and the heiress to the company. If she still harbored any feelings towards Gabriel, she would have reached out to him a long time ago. Now that he has become successful and taken over his father's company, she has come back like she never left.

"We don't have to talk about it, we can talk about something else. If there's anything you want to ask me..." Athena trails off. The way Gabriels face seemed to drop, and his eyebrows knitted together told her it was a topic he isn't willing to discuss.

"It was a meeting with my mother and sister, she's trying to set me up for marriage, so she disguised a blind date as a business meeting, but it turns out I've known this person for a long time."

There is a painful twitch in her chest at the mention of a blind date.

He went halfway across the world, just for a blind date.

But he just said he didn't know it was a blind date until he got there, his mother tricking him. "Is this something your mother does often?" she asks.

"I expected it to start happening sooner or later, but this is the first time she has initiated such an invitation, she will do anything she can to see me when she wants to see me."

"I heard you were rather close with your family; do you not see them as often though?"

Gabriel shakes his head. "It's not a matter of I don't get to see them. As much as I love my mother and sister, they can be overbearing at times and don't understand what it takes to make up for my father's mistakes, both within the family and the company. I'm the only one who is able to make any final calls, everything falls on my shoulders at the end of the day. My mother thinks I'm too young to take on such responsibility, but my father was the same age as me when he met my mother and was already President himself."

"Do you think because she saw firsthand your father do the same thing you are doing now, that she has the fear you might have the same difficulties as him?"

This seems to make Gabriel stop and think.

"You may be right, she was always the first one to suffer from my father and his problems, there might be more to it than meets the eye. Regardless, I also saw firsthand what this business and company can do to a man, and I've prepared myself not to turn out the same. Nothing is guaranteed, except that I know I'm not my father. I will be different."

Athena had only ever known what she read online and in the news about Gabriel's Father, Leon Monroe. There wasn't a single person in Luxe city that didn't hear about his admittance into rehab, no matter how much they tried to cover up and disguise his trip overseas, everyone knew where he was really going.

The fact was proven the moment Gabriel took over as company President for his father, then became the permanent chairman of the company a year later, another sign that things weren't going so well. It has been 2 years since then, yet no news has been heard about Leon or his condition.

"How is you your father doing, if you don't mind me asking?"

Gabriel hides a small smile. She is the only person he doesn't mind asking him about his personal life.

"Not as well as we would have hoped, but the decision of recovery is up to him. There isn't much my family and I can do for him that we haven't already done. My mother and sister have been staying in New State so they can be closer to him, thinking it would help, but it just tells him that we will always be tolerant of his behavior, no matter what he does."

"You don't want him to think like that, do you?"

"Not at all, he should be a man of pride and honor, even when he is facing down his own shamelessness. That is how I have thought a man should always be, it's the kind of man he raised me to be but can't even be that man himself. It's disappointing to say the least."

Nothing is ever as it seems on social media or tabloids. Ask anyone on the street what they think the relationship between the Monroe family members is, and they will say nothing but positive things, they are the perfect ideal of a loving and supportive family.

But if get a look on the inside, like Athena is now, you can tell their relationship has just as many hardships and struggles as any other family, money doesn't solve everything and that is very much the case for Gabriel and his father. They have thrown a tremendous amount of money no doubt into caring for his father and helping him recover from his alcohol abuse, but in the end, it doesn't matter, his father can't be helped.

"I'm sorry, I know pity is never something someone wants from another, but I can relate a little to your family troubles, I understand the difficulty of carrying your family name on your shoulders and having everyone looking towards you for the answers. When my mother passed, it truly felt like I had been left alone in this world, and even more so when the news of my father's 20-year affair came to light, there wasn't anyone I could turn to but so many people turning to me. It didn't make any sense and didn't seem fair that I was to be the one to shoulder everything."

That's why the former Athena couldn't take it and chose what she thought was the easy way out; to just run away from it all forever. She never thought she had the chance to take on her father and stepfamily.

"I pray you don't blame yourself for what happened to your mother, or your family," Gabriel says, giving her a meaningful look.

Athena smiles gently. "Thank you, that means a lot. I will say there were times when I blamed myself, wondered what would have happened if I had convinced her to stay in that night, or if plans had changed and she never had to leave to begin with. Maybe she would still be here, but I know that doesn't matter. Fate has a funny way of playing things out for us, and we can never really tell where we're going to end up next."

"Do you believe in fate, Athena?"

It's a simple question, yet to her so complex. Her fate should have been to die from accidental overdose, but here she is, living the life of someone else, very much alive.

"I believe we control our own fate, and although we might be set on certain paths, we have the ability to divert from those paths and change our fate. I'd like to think I'm doing that right now, changing my fate."

"How so?"

She thinks carefully before speaking next. Thankfully, Athena's death isn't as different as Chloe's, it won't be as hard to lie and connect the two.

"If you think about how my life has gone so far, if it were really up to some pre-destined fate, I shouldn't be alive, right? For some reason, I was given a second chance, but I'm not sure why and what I should do with this second chance. So, I'm just following what my heart, my mind, whatever speaks to me from within."

"Is that why you've decided to take over your family's company after all?" Gabriel asks.

Athena shakes her head and frowns, once again having to think over how to answer him. She doesn't want to involve him in her family affairs, and she knows if she tells him how much trouble her father and stepsister are causing her, he will want to help.

The whole point of this dinner it seems, is to try and trust each other more.

But she isn't ready to trouble him with that, if she ever will be.

"Well, I'll be turning 21 soon and I know my mother intended to leave the company to me at that time, with my father only temporarily running things." That is one thing she can reveal.

The public isn't aware yet that Athena is the true heiress to the Rose group and that her father is only acting president. It doesn't help that he has been telling everyone that he is the permanent company president, with the former Athena never taking ambition towards taking over when she comes of age.

"Is that the only reason?"

Athena is surprised he isn't reacting to the rather big bombshell she just dropped on him. Then again, Gabriel never seemed to be the one for gossip or drama.

"I've been playing it by ear before but now that I have my memories back, I'm not really sure what my next move is."

He lifts a brow at her. "But you still want to come work for me? Why is that?"

Athena shrugs and takes a sip of her drink to stall for an answer. The reason still remains that he will be useful for her goals, but that is solved with him giving her business classes in replacement of school, on Saturday's. That doesn't have to stop, but she isn't sure her reason for still wanting to work with him.

She can't admit to him, or herself, that she finds him greatly attractive and has mild interest in him. A man as powerful, wealthy and sought after as Gabriel Monroe would never look twice at a girl like Athena, regardless of what kind of model she is. He has so many other options out there, girls who are more his speed and who can hold their head high while standing next to such a domineering man.

Athena has always felt so small compared to him, physically and in name. She can only ever gaze at him from afar.

"I need a job, don't I? I quit my modeling gig and as much as my family has money, it isn't just lying around for me to take willingly, my father always asks for a reason which is why I went and got my own job. Most girls like me from rich families get allowances or some sort of unlimited car from their parents, but mine raised me to understand making your own wealth, regardless of where you come from."

Gabriel nods in agreement. "I can get behind that way of raising a person, it's important to be independent and take pride in earning your own wealth and success. If it weren't for my father's failures, I probably would have started my own company using the technology I built, but instead of building a main casino to run my online casino, it would be focused all online."

"You wanted to create your own online casino?" she asks. It isn't that surprising, but for someone who runs a very successful casino in person, you would think the online business would be his competitor.

"I want something of my own, not whatever was handed down to me. I've always respected my father and the company he has built, but much like me he never worked for anything he has, it was given to him by my grandfather. He is the one who built the Monroe group with nothing but the sweat of his back, he is the kind of man I have aspired to be, but instead I've turned out like my father, inheriting everything I have."

He isn't wrong, but he isn't completely right in Athena's eyes.

"I remember the day the news broke that your father was stepping down from the company, even my own father was shocked. It wasn't something anyone saw coming, despite the slow decline in company stocks. If it wasn't for you, everything your grandfather worked hard to build would've disappeared, his efforts swallowed up with the company. But you didn't let it go under, and even though it isn't what you wanted in life, that doesn't mean you can roll over and take it lying down. Right?"

Athena's words stun Gabriel into silence. He had never thought of it like that, he was always so caught up on the fact that he isn't where he thought he would be at this point.

We control our fate.

Just because we're walking a set path, it doesn't mean we aren't allowed to divert from it somewhere along the way.

"This is just a temporary set-back," he mutters to himself.

"Don't think of it as a set-back, this opportunity you have can help you even more to achieve your goals. You have a hand in the gambling industry already, I would treat the Monroe casino as a guinea pig. Anything you want to try out with your online casino, try it out first with the customers you currently have, and if it proves to do well, use that research and data to implement into the new system."

Gabriel can't help but laugh in astonishment. This woman has given him so many groundbreaking ideas that he can feel a little light of hope coming back, and a small amount of the determination he thought he lost.

"There is still the small matter of the thieves trying to make sure this new system doesn't come true. I've spent most of my time trying to track them down than actually working on my technology."

"Maybe I can help with that," Athena says. She has already thought a lot about this since the first day she was almost kidnapped. Nothing suspicious has happened recently, but that isn't to say they aren't doing the same thing as her family and are just waiting for the right time to strike.

"How do you propose you can do that?" he asks, not liking where the conversation is going.

"It's simple really; use me as bait."