A/N: I tried to keep it light in this chapter because spoiler alert! The next are gonna be bomb.

Also thank you for all the reviews you guys left me for my previous chapters! You guys are the best! Please continue loving and supporting this series like you have for the all these sixteen chapters.

Chapter 17

Annabeth

Present day

Frenzy.

That's the best way to describe the situation.

Tonight is Jason and Piper's engagement dinner at the plaza and everybody is freaking out. Piper is upset about something which made Jason angry which in turn pissed off aunt Denise and then her husband drank too much and caused a scene and well everything spiraled from there.

"Oh my god Annabeth! Please tell me you sent the package to Nico?" Piper asked as she gripped my arms.

"What package?" I asked.

I'm the maid of honor for her wedding and so far, things have been going on really smoothly. Most people used to make fun of me for being super organized but look how well that worked out here. Plus, since I am organized, all Piper has to tell me is what she wants for the wedding and I'd present the best options to her.

There was a reason why I was the prime strategist for my dad's "organization"

I was really good at it, the best in fact. Percy was always very lousy when it came to planning out his missions. I did offer him my services one time but I shot it down before he could. If his family found out I knew about his mission, there would have definitely been a war at our hands.

Before I got lost in my planning and organizing skills, I saw Piper starting to panic, unfortunately with everything that's been on my mind, I'm not sure what package she's talking about.

"The one with the suit and the tie we picked out for him!" she replied.

"Yes, I did that the day we bought it" I said.

That's how I always did my work. If I had to do something today, I probably would have already done it yesterday when the plan was made. But I have a secret. We didn't just buy a suit and tie for Nico. I secretly did a little shopping too and managed to sneak it into the package but I just hope he wears it.

Five years ago

Both Percy and I were taking a holiday today. We have been working nonstop for quite some time and barely did anything together aside from, well… you know. That wasn't a healthy relationship in my book. We weren't just hooking up. We were dating and we needed to actually spend time together instead of just spending time kissing. Although that time has been going pretty well too.

Percy told me to dress up, he told me that he was taking me out today for an actual date. I'm not the kind of person who wears dresses and eats salads while making lovey-dovey eyes at the guys I'm with. He knows that I'm not an ordinary girl. I just hope he remembers it.

Just then I hear my main door opening.

It's been a week since we exchanged keys. Usually we would spend most of our time in his house because it was much bigger and nicer since he was pretty famous in the Mafia business, even the cops were scared of him. Me on the other hand? I'm supposed to be a food truck business owner and I had to maintain my cover.

So, when we actually exchanged keys, it used to be me who would go to his apartment late at night after I was done with work. But I'm glad that he had a key to my apartment, it made things insanely intimate between us.

"Hey Annabeth, it's me!" Percy called out from the hall.

"Yeah, just give me a second" I yelled and looked at myself in the mirror.

I was wearing a plain black shirt paired up with tight dark blue jeans. I had rolled up my ankles and wore high heels with my outfit. To top it all off, I wore my red leather jacket that I completely forgot I owned.

I applied some light make up on my face and put on a bright red lipstick that went well with my leather jacket and finished my look off with some eye liner. I sprayed some perfume before I exited my room and grabbed my purse that was on the coffee table.

"Let's go?" I asked and turned around to lead Percy through the door. However, he was still seated on the couch looking at me, "Percy? You okay?"

"Um yeah" he swallowed, "I have never seen you like this" he said as he walked towards me.

"Oh yeah, do I look bad?" I asked.

"No no! Pretty hot actually" he said and leaned in to kiss me. For a second, I was worried that my lipstick would smug or he would end up with his own lips. But it was a light peck, "This is weird"

"What is?"

"With the heels and all, you're taller and it's weird kissing you at this height"

"Yeah well I barely ever wear them so don't get used to it" I said but I saw that he had some lipstick on him "Wait, you have some lipstick on you"

"Oh, yeah. I tried some on for our date" he replied and smirked.

I didn't have a tissue nearby so I wiped the lipstick using my thumb.

Why was touching his lips so insanely erotic?

Before I withdrew my hand, he lightly kissed the pad of my thumb before he led me out my door.

If this is how our date started and if this was indicative of our date was going to be then I cannot wait for what the night entails.

Present day

I saw Percy entering with Nico in tow. He's wearing the tie! He's wearing the tie I got him. My guess was right! I searched all over the town to find this particular shade of green, the perfect shade of his eyes. Every tie I found was either too green or not green enough until I found the one. And of course, it looked magnificent on him.

It made his eyes pop.

Oh no! I shouldn't have gotten him the tie.

He definitely knows I got him the tie right? Like who else could have picked out a tie that went so well? I guess there was Piper and she was into fashion, but she never could have gotten the color this right?

Anyway, I should probably clear things between us to avoid getting awkward around each other.

I figured since Jason and Piper are getting married, the least I can do is make sure Percy and I can be in a room without me getting mad at him for the past.

I can avoid him after the wedding but until then, there would be several occasions where we'd be forced to be together. I guess I should go talk to him so that he knows that I'm still mad but I'm trying to be normal for my brother's sake.

I walked towards him and tapped him on his back.

"I'm sorry but I'm all out of kisses, but I'm pretty sure Jason-" he said and turned around.

What kisses? Who has he been kissing tonight? Wow, my aunts are really letting loose tonight. By the way he's looking at me right now, with his suit and his matching tie. I wouldn't mind getting a little action myself.

If only he hadn't killed my dad.

"It's okay, I'm not here for," I said and swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat. Why is it so difficult to talk to him? "Umm… Kisses"

"So, maid of honor huh?" he asked.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm Jason's sister and you are Piper's brother, it's best if we try to keep things civil between us" I said and took a swig of my champagne. I need to keep myself distracted or I'll end up doing something I regret.

"Civil?" he asked.

"Smile for pictures, but stay as far away as possible. Talk but not flirt" he laughed which got me to stop my list, "Percy! I'm serious!"

"Okay, I'll try," he said.

But I don't believe him. He was flirting so much with me at his beach house that I had to physically stay away from him to avoid getting sucked to him.

Suddenly, I saw a familiar person enter the plaza.

I hadn't seen him for about five years now. What was Luke doing here? He still looked the same but my heart no longer felt attracted to him. He just felt like a mentor to me. I guess my heart had moved on and was stuck on someone else who was wearing a fabulous green tie.

Luke and Jason knew each, he was my father's associate and one of his best friends. He used to come by our house regularly when we were children, hell he even played with us sometimes.

I guess I never realized how close Luke and Jason actually were. I guess I could go say hi to him.

"I… I have to go" I said as I excused myself and walked towards Luke.

I needed to stay as far as I could from Percy and Luke was the way to do it. I had to make sure my mind was fixed on one thing and one thing only and that was this engagement party and what I could do to make sure that Jason and Piper have a great time.

Nothing else mattered, not Luke and definitely not Percy.

"Hello Annabeth" he greeted me and leaned in for a hug.

"Hi, how long has it been?" I asked.

"Too long, Jason invited me, I'm really happy things worked out for him. What about you? How have you been?" he asked.

How had I been? Recovering from the loss of the love of my life who I had shot and then seeing that he was very much alive and was also the brother of my brother's fiancé. Now what is the word to describe such a situation?

"I'm fine, come on in" I said and led him towards everyone.

"Annabeth, I actually want to talk to you in private, it's about an operation" he whispered.

"Luke, I'm done with that. I don't want to be involved in that part of dad's life anymore. So, I'd appreciate it if it stayed that way-"

"Annabeth, I wouldn't be telling you this if it wasn't important. Come, I need to talk to you in private" he said and led me outside.

I looked over my shoulder and met Percy's eyes. He had a worried expression on his face. He looked like he was ready to come running towards me and take 'this man' away from me. But I shook my head and smiled at him. I cannot have Luke seeing him. For all I know Luke still thinks he's dead which means everyone in the business still thinks he's dead.

I cannot do that to Percy, I cannot push him into a life he voluntarily quit, even if he killed my dad.

I walked with Luke until he stopped and turned to face me.

"They know about Jason" Luke starts talking, "They know that he's marrying someone related to the Jacksons"

"Luke, Jason doesn't know about the Mafia and neither does Piper. It's not a ploy, trust me" I said as I rubbed my arms, it was surprisingly cold here and my coat was inside.

"I care about Jason and you, I don't want any of this to happen again, I just can't-" Luke continued talking but I was hooked onto a word he used.

'Again'

What did he mean by again?

"Luke, did something like this happen before?" I asked.

He remained quiet while his eyes were glued to his shoes.

"Luke! Did something like this ever happen before?" I asked again but this time with more assertion.

"Annabeth, you need to know that your dad never intended what happened that night" he said, I looked at him and urged him to continue. "Your dad called Percy and his dad to discuss the wedding, but it was just a ruse"

I could feel the tears in my eyes. Percy was right.

"Your dad didn't like that you and Percy were engaged so he-"

"Why didn't you tell me this before? Luke, it's been five years. Didn't you think I deserved to know the truth?" I asked.

"Annabeth, your dad died that night, Percy died that night, I couldn't let that memory be the last one you had"

Percy was telling the truth. In fact, he was always trying to tell me this. And I shot him. When he tried to tell me that he didn't shoot my dad, I shot him. Then at the beach house, when he told me everything and I shut him off.

"You have no idea what you did," I said as I rubbed my eyes and dashed towards the bathroom. Percy will never trust me after this. There is no way that Percy and I can have any future together. Not after this.

A/N: I was going to write more, but this seemed like an appropriate place to stop.