Chapter Ten

This really has to stop happening. What can one do to make their mind stronger, as well as their body?

"Miss Rose are you awake?" the sweet voice of Margaret drifts through her ears and helps her open her eyes completely.

"Have you been sitting there the entire time?" she asks but Margaret just gives her a sheepish look in response. "Margaret, I appreciate your concern, but you need to take care of yourself as well."

"But Miss, you were bleeding. I called the doctor while you were asleep, and he said it was lucky you didn't hit your head any harder, or you might have–"

Chloe waves off her rambling. "I feel fine, no need to worry. Please just as the driver to be waiting outside and fetch me suitable close for a business drop-in. Then you can have the rest of the day off to get some rest, and that is an order."

Margaret looks as if she is going to protest but thinks better and nods her head before heading out to the closet to put together an outfit for her and lay it on the bed, than excuse herself to fetch the driver. Chloe slowly waddles her way to the bathroom and draws a warm bath, soaking her aching muscles for a few minutes before taking a quick shower to clean herself off.

She doesn't hesitate to tell the driver to head straight for the Monroe Towers the instant she is in the car. He gives her a suspicious look before peeling out of the driveway and speeding down the road. She knows very well she should be taking the time once again to be recovering in bed, and plotting a way to use this against Stella, since she was the one who attacked her.

Showing up unannounced to the house of the family who is shaming you, only to cause more harm to an already recovering patient while she lay injured in bed is sure to make the media go wild and spin the story out of control.

But right now, she has a bone to settle with someone else first.

***

"Mr. Monroe, I believe there is a visitor at the front desk here to see you." Julian pops his head into the office without knocking, something he rarely does.

"A visitor? I'm not expecting anyone today."

"Out of my way, please," Athena pushes Julian to the side and marches her way through the door, right up to Gabriel's desk. She slams her purse down on top and glares at him.

Trying to hide his amusement, he signals for Julian to leave and close the door, his gaze never leaving her heated green eyes.

"What brings you here, Miss Rose?"

She scoffs. "I think you know very well why I'm here. To be fair, I was going to wait until some time had passed for me to register the incident in the park, but I can never seem to have a moment of peace in my life, so here we are."

He can no longer hold back the amusing smile that spreads across his face. When she first walked into his office, she resembled a timid bunny. He didn't expect the bunny to be such a spitfire and have such a fierce side to her.

"As Julian has already explained, we understand the concern of that day, and expect it to have some influence on you accepting the job offer. If his assurance wasn't enough, I can personally assure you that you will be safe and well protected while employed at my company."

"You'll forgive me if simple words aren't enough to reassure me, Mr. Monroe. If it wasn't for your bodyguard, I could have lost my life that day, over something I'm not even sure of. On another note, why was Julian there to begin with? He said it was because you sent him for my protection, meaning you expected something like that to happen."

She walks over and slams her hands on the desk again. "You have a lot to answer for."

"For starters, I'd feel much more comfortable if you referred to me as Gabriel, and not Mr. Monroe. Also, I never expected or even hoped for something like this to happen, but even you can't be ignorant to the idea that a man like me has a lot of enemies, which I'm sure Julian has explained as well. Though our meeting was brief, I have enemies watching my every move, and those around me. I was simply taking a pre-caution for your safety, one that was obviously needed."

He gives her a leveled look, waiting for her reaction to spiral out of control. Instead, she seems to calm down and contemplate his words.

"Why did they target me?" she asks quietly, her anger quickly dissipating.

He knows Julian explained that briefly as well, but she wants to hear it from him, or else she wouldn't be there in the first place. The fact that she has even showed up to ask about all of this, tells him that she hasn't refused the job offer just yet, but she needs to hear the truth of everything from him, before she can make a conscious decision.

"I'm a wealthy and single bachelor, Miss Rose. My enemies are always trying to find my weaknesses, holes in my life to help them tear me down, which is why I have tried my hardest to make sure I don't have any. It is no secret that I hold my family dear to me, but it is also no secret that my family members are capable of handling themselves and their own many enemies, I've never had to worry about them being used against me."

He pauses and grows slightly awkward at the next train of thought.

"I suspected they might assume you have a personal connection with me, being one of the few rare females, other than family, to be seen entering and leaving my office. Especially after today, with the way I assume you bullied your way in here, one can be left to assume that you aren't just an ordinary worker if they saw that."

Gabriel expects this to make her lose her cool, most women in his experience would be offended at a man implying that she is a side piece to a man of his status, which one can misinterpret from what he said.

"I didn't bully my way in here, I just got tired of waiting at the front and let myself in. You might want to work on your security, no one stopped me on the way here," she says calmly and finally decides to take a seat.

"I'm aware of how wealthy and powerful you are, Mr. Monroe. But even I couldn't ever expect something like an attempted kidnapping to befall them right after having a simple meeting with you. One can assume that you are more than you appear to be and are hiding something much larger than a successful casino and hotel business. Something that a lot of bad people want to get their hands on and seem to be willing to do anything to achieve that."

Gabriel doesn't even try to hide his astonishment and joy. This woman is a lot more observant than he gave her credit for. When doing research on her and her family, he saw that their families never had any dealings together, not even a temporary partnership on any of their hotel chains in the past. The only information someone like her can have, is whatever she can find on the internet or through word of mouth, which can only be trusted about 50% of the time and access by anyone else.

Yet she has already put so much more together, just from the small interactions she has had with Gabriel and his company so far. He was right in thinking she would be someone useful for the position he picked for her. Someone as observant as her will notice any sort of mistake in the books and someone's intentions, no matter how small and minor they may be.

He needs someone like that to handle things when he needs to focus his attention elsewhere for the time being, and trust that they won't be someone who will betray them in their own way either. Athena hasn't struck him as the kind of person who places her trust in others easily, which also says a lot for how trustworthy she is as well.

Someone who doesn't trust easy, understands when someone else places their trust in them, and how sacred that trust is meant to be. Gabriel has lived his life similarly since witnessing second-hand his own father go through his own experiences of betrayal, from trusting too easily and putting himself in desperate situations where he needs to rely on another, no matter how untrustworthy they appear to be.

He never wants to find himself in that kind of situation. Gabriel wants to always ensure that he will never have to rely on someone else, unless there is a chance of exchange or favor. Being in debt to someone is the last position he wants to be in as someone with his status and responsibilities.

Even though he has no one to rely on, he has tons of people relying on him.

"If you fear for your safety, I completely understand and I'm willing to discuss another way for you to pay back your debt. I have already been considering other options ever since I heard of what happened–"

"I'll take the job."

The room falls into a heavy silence.

Gabriel is the first to break it by clearing his throat. "You'll take the bookkeeping job?"

"Yes, but there are some things I want to change in light of recent events, before I sign this contract."

Gabriel runs a hand through his thick dark hair and thinks over her words for a second. He was fully prepared for her to turn down the job and have to think of other ways to get what he wants from her, but she pulls this on him.

"Alright, what is it you would like to discuss? I'm all ears."

She names off a small list of changes, starting with an immediate pay raise from what was originally included in the contract, since there is an added risk factor to her life while being employed with the Monroe family, as well as permanent protection provided by the Monroe family for free, and capable protection, not half-assed kids.

Gabriel had already decided to keep Julian on Athena, even if she decided to refuse his help, he would have Julian trail her from the shadows like he is doing now and only interfere if her life is really in danger, otherwise he was to merely call for help.

This makes it easier for him to put Julian as her protection and start searching for his replacement for Gabriel.

"Is there anything else you wish to add or discuss while we're here?" he asks, writing in the new terms they have discussed.

"You offered to give me some tutoring sessions on the weekend, to help prepare me to take over the Rose family business when I come of age. Does that offer still stand?"

He is surprised for what feels like the tenth time that morning.

"If you feel you can find the time, the offer still stands. My time is precious and mostly reserved, this is something you will need to make sure you can always make time for."

Athena nods and smiles a little, the first glimpse of a real smile she has given him since meeting. "I can assure you; I will be here every Saturday ready to learn whatever you are willing to teach me."

"What else has happened to you recently, Miss Rose?" he asks.

This question catches her off guard and scrambling for a response. "I'm not sure what you're asking."

"When you first came in here, you said you had planned to wait a couple days before confronting me, but you never seem to get a moments peace. What did you mean by that? Has something else happened recently?"

Julian mentioned that he saw Stella Madden, the illegitimate daughter of Athena's father Jaden and his mistress, and someone who has been rumored to be butting heads with Athena and her family, though there seems to be two very different sides the media is portraying.

It's clear something happened between Athena and Stella after Julian had left, leaving her alone without any protection or witnesses, which ended up with her being knocked out once more and in a state of recovery.

Yet she rushed over here to settle this. Whatever it was that happened between the two girls, it was enough to shake her to need a distraction from the incident, so she chose to focus on this one even though she never had the intention of discussing it while being so hot headed.

"I'm not sure that is any of your concern, it was merely a family matter."

He's mildly surprised at how open she is about it being about family but can tell she isn't willing to speak anymore on it.

"I didn't mean to pry, now that you are my employee, I am merely concerned about things that might hinder your ability to work."

Athena looks like she fights the urge to roll her eyes and disguises it with a smile.

"Thank you for your concern, but I assure you I can handle matters on my own and won't ever let anything effect my work performance. I'll see you first thing Monday morning, and we can start the tutoring sessions the following Saturday, if that sounds alright with you," she asks, but is already packing up her bag and getting ready to leave, not waiting for his response.

"Yes, I think that would be fine. I look forward to it, Miss Rose."

"Athena."

He gives her a blank stare.

"If you insist on me calling you Gabriel, it will only make me feel comfortable if you used the same formalities." With that said, she excuses herself, leaving him there to ponder over the rather intriguing conversation he just had.

It was the most fun he ever had while discussing something as dull as business.

He looks forward to working with the little spitfire bunny he seems to have quite literally run into. After he feels she has left the building, he calls Julian back in and informs him of the new changes, as well as gives him a new assignment.

To find out anything and everything he can on Stella Madden and her family, and Jaden Heroux and whatever weaknesses he may have.

"Is there something you have in mind, sir?" Julian asks. There are many things Gabriel has asked him to do and many people he has ordered him to research, but there have always been bigger ulterior motives behind it.

Jaden Heroux isn't exactly a saint, but he isn't known to be someone that Gabriel would waste his time on looking into, let alone figuring out his weaknesses to potentially take him down. Why else would anyone want to know someone else weakness, if not to bring harm to them.

"I'm not sure, I seem to be having fun."

Having fun? What does that mean?

It is a simple phrase, but coming from Gabriel Monroe, it seems almost foreign. Julian has only worked with him since he took over as head of the family just a little over 2-years ago, and not once during the entire time working under him, has he used the word 'fun'.

Despite being so young and full of potential, he had many responsibilities and burdens dumped on him before he had the chance to experience anything a man his age should've experienced. Gabriel had the chance to avoid all of it, allow his father to ruin the family and bankrupt the company, continue living his life until he lost everything and had to move forward into a life of either middle-class or poverty, with how strong his mother and sister are capable of being in tough and challenging situations.

Who knows what could have happened. He just knew he couldn't let what his grandfather and great-grandfather worked so hard for, come to complete ruin due to one utter fool who couldn't control his habits and greed. He knew he had the capability of taking over for his father and raising the family name and company to a higher potential than they ever stood at before.

And he has done exactly that. Gabriel has done what his father should have done the moment online gambling was introduced. It didn't take long for people to pick it up and realize it is much easier to gamble their life savings away or hit it big, from the comfort of their own home, and prefer it over attending a casino and having to purchase at least one overpriced drink in order to sit at a table.

His father refused to accept that the luxury and joy of gambling in a real casino is no longer an everyday desire or need. It has quickly become a rare event or occasion rich people attend to remind themselves and others how rich and luxurious they are, by dressing up fancy and wearing their best jewels to attend a high-end hotel and casino that only those wealthy enough can attend.

When Gabriel took over, he already had a major investment idea in mind, and that was online gambling. He wanted to move their family casino business from mostly physical to digital and invest more in the online virtual lottery business. There is much more money to be made there anyway, with the ability to gather customers from all over, rather than the small radius of their city and the tourists from the outer cities.

One of the major investments he focused on, was a new kind of technology that was developed from an older and out of date tech that was used to act as a firewall for online currency exchanges, mostly for online credit card purchases to ensure that the person making the purchase isn't a scammer, or a robot used by a scammer to steal from the persons bank account or credit company, once the card and purchase are confirmed.

With that tech, he created his own firewall made specifically to act as an extra security for online gambling, to stop robots and scammers from joining online sessions, or to block hackers and their systems from stealing from the accounts and customer balances.

From the first testing performed last year, it has proven to be a huge success and the percent of fraud and loss due to hacking and scammers has gone done by more than 50%.

Due to this wide success, the technology has attracted of lot of people with darker intentions, and it wasn't long for one group of skilled hackers to figure out that if you take the firewall system and pretty much reverse the technology, it can be used for its opposite purpose; to steal and hack into the systems directly and undetected.

They are the only group that pose a real big threat if they do get their hands on the technology. If any other group that is after it manages to get hold of it, they are looking to merely destroy it and wipe it clean from the online gambling system all together, so they can go back to their usual ways of hacking and stealing.

Gabriel is confident that the people who attacked Athena in the park are the people from this particular hacking group, but even with the months he has spent trying to get any information on them, even just a name, he has come up with nothing.

Yet they were able to figure out who Athena is and that she might have a minor connection to Gabriel and were able to track her down and attack her in broad daylight. If Julian wasn't there, they would have been successful in kidnapping her, and doing God knows what before anyone noticed she was missing, or even reported the kidnapping.

Every time he thinks about the possibilities if he hadn't made the decision to have Julian watch her, Gabriel feels an ache in his chest and a sick feeling in his stomach, a feeling easily recognizable as guilt. He never intended to involve her in something like this, especially put her life in danger before she even has the chance to step foot into the family business.

He knows that if used well, she can be a powerful asset to the company and plans he has for the online gambling society and using it to drive his company forward even further. But if things continue the way they are, he risks losing her and her potential.

After what he has learned of today's events, it's clear that the group of hackers aren't the only obstacle standing in his way of completely claiming her.