Chapter Thirty-Three

Gabriel has had plenty of things to occupy his time and keep him busy at the office today, yet his mind has not failed to continuously drift off into thoughts and concerns of Athena, wondering if she is alright at home and if she is missing him as much as he is missing her. He wasn't able to sleep at all after their brief conversation on the terrace, unsure of how to take her silence after his slight confession, and the way she seems to politely excuse herself and run off afterwards.

He has wracked his brain the entire day, barely paying attention to the meeting to discuss the quarterly review for the casino to calculate their income so far for this year, and if they've met their quarterly quota and how close they are to reaching their annual. There are many areas of the casino and hotel towers above it that need a lot of minor construction and some major.

Gabriel has wanted to start with the office where Athena has done her work for the time being, only able to transform it a little bit to make it seem more spacious and hopefully comfortable until he can secure the funds needed to renovate it properly.

But even with that thought on his mind, he hasn't been able to get over what the meaning of her action were last night, and if he possibly blew his chances in one sentence. She didn't reject nor accept his confession, which leaves him with nothing but confusion and the options to either wait for a proper response or assume rejection if the conversation never comes up again.

He doesn't want to force her feelings in case that pushes her away further bus he doesn't want to give her the chance to weasel her way out of exploring her own affections towards, clearly evident with the way she responded to his kiss and also seemed slightly upset over the issue with Verona last night. Athena is clearly the type of person to avoid strong and unknown feelings, as well as uncomfortable topics.

If given the chance, she will avoid it completely until it eventually fades into nothing. Gabriel doesn't want this issue to fade into nothing, he wants to move forward with his feelings and take advantage of the connection they already have to move their relationship to another level.

Though it is close to the end of the workday, Gabriel still has a lot of proposals to go through and to at least start the renovation plans for the clerical offices and other areas that were discussed during the meeting today. Knowing he needs to at least allow himself a little bit of peace of mind, he decides to give Julian a call and check up on how Athena has been doing, hoping that she has let her guard down while he is away and given some sort of signs to her true feelings towards their conversation last night.

"Am I glad you called, sir," is the first thing Julian says when he answers the phone.

His tone sounds light, but Gabriel can tell that it isn't a good thing.

"What happened?" he asks.

"We had an unexpected guest today, Miss Rose's stepsister, Stella Madden. I tried to stop the staff from letting her in, but Miss Rose insisted on allowing her in the suite and speaking to Miss Madden on her own. It was obvious that Miss Madden hadn't come here with good intent and chewed out Miss Rose for being close with you and accusing her of being nothing more than a plaything to you, claiming that you will get tired of her soon and toss her aside." Julian tries to recite everything he overheard during their conversation as closely to the real conversation as possible.

Gabriel clenches his hand into a fist on the table, controlling his anger as much as he can, seconds away from grabbing his jacket and marching down to the Madden estate and tearing down their whole family. He has always disregarded Stella's advancements in the past and shaken them off as nothing more than a mere crush, but it seems he has been too light with his rejections.

"Is that all that was said? How is Athena's mood now?"

Julian seems to hesitate. "She badmouthed Miss Rose a little more when it came to her past career as a model and actress, claiming that she is washed up retired celebrity that could never compare to the celebrity Miss Madden has become, even before she left the industry. It was another comparison that she made when also claiming you will soon abandon Miss Rose once your interest with her runs out."

A low growl rumbles in Gabriel's throat the more Julian describes the conversation he overheard. Is there something in the water lately? What is with all the women storming into his suite and claiming they have the love and affection of Gabriel, when he has never shown them an ounce of romantic feelings before? Has he really just been ignorant to how natural of a flirt he has been, or are these women just delirious in the respectful way he has treated them?

When it comes to Verona, Gabriel can understand to some degree where her misinterpretation of his feelings towards her might have come from, due to their past as childhood friends and the way he did dote on her and tolerate her a lot more than others.

But he can't fathom where Stella Madden got the idea that he had any interest in her whatsoever, enough to force her way into his hotel and personal suite to declare this to someone like Athena, who has been given a permanent place in his personal suite and has been the only woman he has bothered to show so much interest in and even allow to work with him.

"It seems that the moment I'm able to gain Athena's mutual affection, I'll have to go public with my feelings towards her. Maybe with that, these delirious women will at least stop targeting Athena."

"Sorry to say, sir, but if you want my honest opinion then I don't think that would be a good idea," Julian says.

"What makes you say that?"

He takes a deep breath, preparing himself for the outcome of his words.

"Miss Rose has always seemed like a reserved and private person. Though she still has yet to accept your feelings openly, even if she were to I would believe she would want to keep such a relationship under wraps, in fear of making her an even bigger target for the other women out there who potentially have hidden romantic feelings towards you, and may get jealous over Miss Rose's new position and lash out at her as Miss Dynes and Madden have," he rambles, getting the words out quickly and bracing himself.

Gabriel is silent as he thinks over what Julian has proposed. He isn't entirely wrong, Gabriel is very aware of the influence his charms and good looks alone have had on women he has met for mere minutes at a time, and he didn't think what they might do once they learn that a popular bachelor such as himself is no longer available.

No woman would think to go after Gabriel, him being the target of affection in the end, which leaves them no choice, if they are overly angered by this fact, to negatively target the woman who has usurped their position as future Mrs. Monroe, to open up the position for themselves.

Woman can be quite vicious towards other women and Gabriel never thought it could be this bad, until he witnessed the scene between Athena and Verona last night, and now hearing the exchange between her and her stepsister. He is learning firsthand just how terrible a person can be when driven by jealousy and blinded by greed.

"What is she doing right now?" Gabriel asks.

"Miss Rose seemed to have a plan today and was monitoring the computer surveillance of the villa earlier this morning. After a few hours of sitting there, it appears she got whatever she was looking for and asked me to drive her to visit the lawyer, Mr. Collins. We're here now, she is inside and I'm waiting nearby for her message to pick her up once she is done."

Gabriel looks at the time and realizes he still needs to pay a visit to Verona and explain to in depth that she can no longer hold on to the hope of them getting engaged or married in the future, but he was hoping to use his pursual of Athena as his biggest defense if Verona becomes unreasonable or difficult to deal with.

Now that Julian has claimed she might dislike that idea, he isn't sure what he might do, and also has a bigger urge to go home as soon as he can and see Athena after the events of today. He has never doubted how strong and willful Athena is, but ever since he his realized his feelings towards her he overthinks and becomes overly anxious when it comes to the risk of her cutting off their connection and leaving.

Letting out a frustrated groan he comes to a decision, grabbing his coat and tossing the leftover proposal papers in his drawer before locking up. Heading down to his car he dials Julian's number again.

"Text me the address of where Athena is and when she tells you she is ready to leave."

Meanwhile, Verona is waiting up in her newly decorated home, expecting the arrival of Gabriel with the misunderstanding of his visit, not knowing that he has decided to run to the side of another girl tonight, sending Julian in his place to inform her.

"What do you mean he isn't coming tonight?" she asks through clenched teeth.

Julian stands with his hands behind his back and a safe distance away from the trembling Verona at the door.

"I mean exactly that, Miss Dynes. Unfortunately, an urgent matter has come up and Mr. Monroe is unable to visit you tonight as he previously said he would. I apologize for the inconvenience, please enjoy the rest of your night." He excuses himself and rushes back to the car before she has the chance to explode with anger like he suspects she will.

Verona slams the front door shut and lets out a strangled cry, picking up a rather expensive vase of flowers by the door and throwing it to the ground, letting out another frustrated scream.

It is almost 10 o'clock at night. She knows without a doubt that the urgent matter Gabriel is attending do involves that lowly homewrecker Athena Rose and feels her skin crawl with disgust and stomach turning with rage. She can't wrap her head around why Gabriel is wasting his time on this girl now that Verona is back, thinking their last conversation back in New State with his mother had gone rather well, and he was going to propose to her once she arrived in Luxe City.

Instead, she comes back to find him hiding some random slut in his private suite, showering her with all his wealth and affection, treating her like she is some sort of precious diamond, when in fact she is nothing more than a rock in disguise.

"Mark my words, Athena Rose, I will take back everything you have stolen from me."