A/N: Once again, THIS STORY ISN'T MINE! I can't take credit for writing this masterpiece, I just copied and pasted it from tumblr so it can reach a larger audience! The writer of this story is tumblr user storiesoftheseven . Here's the link to the master post of Falling For the Devil : post/116271170930/fftd-master-post

To say Thalia took the news lightly would have been a big fat lie.

Thalia gasped and acted entirely too dramatic for Annabeth's liking, her hand grasping tightly to the hand she was holding. Thalia kept glancing from Annabeth's face to her hand, probably expecting her to say "JUST KIDDING" really loudly and wave her arms around.

Finally after a few minutes Thalia pulled Annabeth to the kitchen. She let go of her hand and quickly procured two wine glasses and one bottle of white wine.

"We're getting everyone over here to celebrate, tonight." Thalia muttered pouring them each rather large glasses of wine.

Annabeth accepted it graciously and took a rather large sip of it, "Chinese?"

Thalia nodded, "Absolutely."

Annabeth smiled slightly, "I feel completely out of my element."

Thalia frowned, "Here?"

Annabeth nodded, "Yeah, sort of… I mean I live with Percy now… and I don't live here and for so long this has been my home…" she trailed off, afraid she would say something that would tip Thalia off to the lie she had just told her.

Thalia set her glass down, "You want to marry him, right? You're not just doing this because you're afraid you'll get hurt by being associated with him?"

Annabeth set her own glass down, "Yeah…" She paused searching for the right words, "He's completely different than the way he's portrayed in the media. He has his moments- his temper is terrible… he's a dick- most of them time." Thalia frowned as Annabeth shook her head, "But.. there are times when he's completely gentle… and sweet… and caring. He does things that throw me off kilter, he's attentive when he wants to be… and thats enough for me." She stopped talking as the conviction of her words pierced her.

Yeah, most of the damn time Percy Jackson was an asshole but he had his moments, even if they were few and far between.

Annabeth picked up her glass again, taking a large sip.

"If you're happy." Thalia muttered.

Annabeth nodded, "Yes, now can we get on with the morning… movies? Then we can invite everyone over for lunch and spread the news." Both girls finished their wine while they watched several movies. When they finished ordering the food Thalia called all of their friends and invited them over. Annabeth watched from the living room as Thalia walked around the kitchen on the phone.

It was weird for Annabeth, being here- knowing this wasn't her home anymore. It made the anger she had suppressed come back, full force. She felt so out of control, her emotions everywhere.

Who wanted to be forced to do something? Who wanted to lie to their friends? She hated every single second of it.

She hated the fact that she had to pretend to love Percy, she hated that she had to lie to everyone just so he wouldn't hurt anyone she loved.

It was a hard price to pay.

Giving up everything she had always wanted just so he would get his way. Percy was manipulating her for his own gain while she gained absolutely nothing from it.

"Everyone will be here in thirty minutes!" Thalia declared with a huge smile.

Annabeth glanced up at her, "Great."

Thalia eyed her for a moment but then shrugged it off, "I'm going to change, you going to be okay?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Up until three days ago I lived here… go shower, Thalia… I'll be fine." Thalia shrugged but finally walked away to get ready. She refilled her wine glass and fiddled with her phone as she waited.

She had a text that she hadn't noticed. Annabeth hit the open button and was surprised to find a text from Percy waiting on her.

Everything okay?

Annabeth rolled her eyes and typed feverishly over the keyboard.

Why do you care?

She smiled to herself and took a sip of her wine. If he wanted to pretend they were on good terms with one another then he could, but she was far from that. Annabeth might have been cordial to him at breakfast this morning that didn't mean she had forgotten everything.

Her phone beeped minutes later.

So, you're not reining it all in anymore- good. The last thing I need is for your to explode in the middle of an event.

Annabeth grit her teeth together and squeezed the phone in her hand. She closed her eyes and took a couple calming breaths. The panic slowly rising. She couldn't marry him, she couldn't pretend to be in love with him.

Percy was taking away her chance at finding love, at finding someone to compliment you. To fight with you and for you.

Don't worry, you're more apt to make an ass out of yourself.

She responded back moments later.

A small smile played on her lips as she pressed send. She finished off her wine and put her phone on silent as the doorbell rang. Annabeth opened the door and found one of her bodyguards holding two large bags of chinese food, she grabbed the bags slowly and shut the door. Thalia emerged moments later- food had always been one way of getting Thalia out of bed.

She rummaged through the bag and grabbed an egg roll, "Hey! Wait on everyone before you eat." Annabeth chastised. Thalia stuck her tongue out at Annabeth and continued eating the egg roll

It was ten minutes later that their friends started trickling in, starting with Nico.

"Who the hell are the two surly assholes outside your door?" He asked walking into the kitchen.

Thalia rolled her eyes are her boyfriend, "They're Annabeth's body guards."

Nico looked at her with raised eyebrows, "Bodyguards? I'm definitely missing something."

Annabeth glared at Thalia, "Long story short, I'm engaged!" She paused, "To Percy Jackson." Nico made the same face Thalia did when she found out. Annabeth held out her hand to show him the ring.

"Motherfucker." Nico cursed looking at the large diamond. Annabeth chuckled slightly as Piper and Jason walked through the door. She repeated her news again for the last time, receiving identical shocked stares from her friends.

Finally, they all congratulated her and dug into the food.

She hadn't picked up her phone since she put it on silent. Annabeth was sure she had a couple text messages from Percy but she didn't care. She just wanted a day without him suffocating her. When they were all full of chinese and a little tipsy on box wine they settled on the couch to watch a movie.

Five minutes into the movie the doorbell rang, Annabeth jumped up. Her body automatically doing the things it would have done had she still lived there, "I got it!" She walked toward the door and opened it with smile.

A smiled that turned into a scowl and then a glare.

"What are you doing here." She hissed. Percy smiled and she pretended to not notice how undeniably attractive he looked in a simple pair of straight leg jeans, a button down and a cardigan thrown over it.

"You haven't been answering my messages." He said, leaning against the doorframe.

Annabeth looked back at her friends before answering, "You should have taken the hint that I didn't want to talk to you."

Percy chuckled, "Don't forget how easy it would be for me to pick off your little friends… they're all so conveniently in one place tonight."

Annabeth grit her teeth together and decided rather foolishly to call his bluff. She stepped forward, "What are you going to do, Percy? Take all of them out right here- right now? Then you wouldn't have anything else to manipulate me with."

Percy smirked and for a fraction of a second Annabeth was truly afraid she was about to see a side of him she didn't want to see.

"You're right." He spoke in a voice so calm it sent shivers up her spine, "I wouldn't do a thing right now… I would wait until we got home. Send someone to their homes maybe, make it look like a burglary. Then you'd get a call at three a.m. from a hysterical Thalia trying to explain why Nico was in the hospital."

Annabeth looked back at her friends to make sure they weren't paying attention and then pulled the door closed behind her.

"You're an ass," Annabeth hissed.

"No," Percy regarded her calmly, "I'm a businessman."

Annabeth wanted to scream at him but she needed to keep her friends safe, needed to keep up the ruse.

"Fine, dear fiance, come in and meet everyone." Annabeth sighed and grabbed his hand pulling him into the apartment with her. If he was going to surprise her well she wanted the element of surprise as well. She didn't even give a warning as she shut the door and all of her friends looked back at her expectantly.

All of them scrambled onto their feet when they saw that The Percy Jackson was standing right in front of them. She laced her fingers with his and pulled him into the living room but not without throwing a smirk over her shoulder at him. She could see the anger he controlled in his eyes, he was pissed at her.

Annabeth didn't care.

"Guys, this is Percy." She looked back at her fiance, "Percy this is everyone… Thalia, Nico, Piper and Jason." He stuck his hand out and shook all of their hands, muttering greetings to each person. He was nothing if not cordial.

They all settled back around the living room and watched the movie. Annabeth made a show about sitting in his lap, getting curious looks from her friends.

She shrugged off each look with a, "He's my fiance." That seemed to make all of them nod and agree with her logic. Percy, however, was not so subtly digging his fingernails into her side. Anytime she shifted, trying to get comfortable- which was a lot harder when the person you were trying to cuddle with was a manipulative son of bitch who could pass as an ice sculpture being so rigid- he would dig his fingers in a bit deeper.

She leaned over and pretended to give him a kiss on the cheek, "Loosen up… you're making this incredibly hard."

Percy sighed and loosened the grip he had on her waist. His hands encircled her stomach as she leaned back against his chest, nuzzling into his neck.

"That's more like it." She whispered.

They finished the movie and everyone said their goodbyes. It was still early in the evening when Annabeth left with Percy, his arm thrown over her shoulder as they walked toward their car.

If she closed her eyes and ignored every single thing he had done to hurt her so far, she could pretend it was real. That his affection was real, that she didn't loathe him with everything she had in her.

That he wasn't slowly suffocating her with his hovering.

He opened the car door for her and she slid into the backseat. He got in beside her as the car started and then slowly moved down the road after he shut the door.

Like every other time they had been in the car together it was silent. He didn't try to carry on any type of conversation with her. She hated it and loved it at the same time. Annabeth had always hated a car ride filled with silence, it reminded her too much of her childhood.

When she got home she did the same exact thing she had done the night before. She sensed a routine in the making. Annabeth didn't get too far into the tv show before she started falling asleep, lying to all of her friends had been exhausting. Pretending for Percy in front of her friends, the people who knew her the best, had been so hard.

But she was doing all of this to protect them.

That was the bottom line, she was protecting them from the wrath of Percy. That was what she was gaining from all of this.

0-0-0-0-0

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Reyna, his oldest acquaintance- the only person he'd consider a friends in the slightest asked.

Percy looked at her from his spot in front of the mini bar in his office, "With Annabeth?"

She nodded as he handed her a glass of bourbon,"Yeah, I mean… is all of this worth it? This plan has too many holes for my liking."

Percy took a sip of his bourbon as he sat in his office chair. Everything he had done to get to where he was had plans with too many holes. Nothing was a guarantee in the world he lived in.

"I guess… this is a gamble I'm willing to take."

Reyna laughed, "If I had a penny for every time I've heard you say that." she took a sip of her drink, "But is threatening Annabeth to marry you worth having Athena in your back pocket? Pretending for everyone? I know… believe me I know what having Olympic Industries on your side would do for business… but have you thought about what would happen if Athena cut Annabeth off? Because of your marriage."

She steeled her gaze, "Then all of this would have been for nothing."

Percy leaned forward against the desk, Reyna was always one to see the problems areas of any plan he was hatching.

"I've thought about it… of course I have… But Athena isn't one to be charmed… she can see through anyone's bullshit in the first ten seconds of introducing yourself. I've gone over every possible scenario in my head and this was the only one that had any merit."

Reyna nodded, "Why not just try to get her to love you like all of the others do?"

Percy finished his bourbon in one gulp before answering, "Because I don't want a messy marriage. I want the lines to be defined. I don't want love. I just want someone by my side, someone who can work the crowd, be a hostess- handle the things I can't. Annabeth just so happened to be the perfect candidate."

Reyna took a drink of her bourbon, "I just want you to know what you're doing, Percy. I want you to be sure."

Percy chuckled, "I'm sure, Reyna."

"In that case," Reyna said crossing her legs and staring pointedly at Percy, "You need to ease the hell up on her."

Percy got up from his desk and poured himself another glass of bourbon, "Why? So, that she can-"

"Shut up, Percy," Reyna said drinking the last of her drink, "If her cooperation wasn't forced it would make your life a whole lot easier."

Percy looked at her, his glass half full in his hand, "You know, I never thought about it like that."

Reyna rolled her eyes, "Of course you haven't." she got up and walked over to the bar, "Ease up on her body guards and for gods sake let the poor girl go to work by herself, only send one body guard out with her just as a security precaution and don't have her locked in her room like some hostage."

Reyna poured herself another glass, "If your plan is to work you need her on your side, you need her alliance."

Percy thought over her words. Reyna was right, obviously- this was why he convinced her to work for him all those years ago. She was smart, calculative and knew how to get what she wanted. He trusted her more than he trusted anyone else- and that trust was still limited but it was enough to take her thoughts into consideration.

"So, you're suggesting I make her feel more at home?"

Reyna eyed him like he was an idiot, "Yeah." Percy walked back over to his desk and sat down, she followed and pulled her own laptop bag from the chair beside her.

They were both silent for a moment, waiting for their computers to turn on so they could have their intended business meeting. Meetings with Reyna always turned out like this, he always asked for her opinion on his practices before they started discussing business.

"I need to warn you," Reyna said, catching his attention, "There is a new asshole working his way up in our world. He took out Octavian and his crew two weeks ago and he's taken several of our guys with him."

Percy mulled over this. There were always guys trying to reach the level he was at but none ever succeeded. He couldn't count how many guys he had lost to the lower thugs who thought they could overthrow Percy.

"Keep an eye on him." Percy decided.

Reyna bit her lip, "I think we should go ahead and take him out, he's ruthless… you should have seen what he did-" Percy held his hand up.

"I understand, Reyna but I think we need to keep him on our radar… for now. If he gets more out of line I'll send someone in."

Reyna nodded, "Okay."

Even if he did trust Reyna he was still in charge. Besides, sometimes these lower level thugs only wanted a little bit of power. Just enough to get them recognized, to get them on the inside with Percy. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Percy had several guys like that on his payroll- people who had guys under them and controlled certain aspects of his empire.

The meeting passed quickly, just an update on how everything was running. Before Reyna left she reminded him to lighten up on Annabeth. It rattled him a bit, not having eyes on her all throughout the day. But Reyna was right, he needed an alliance with Annabeth if this was going to work. He needed Annabeth to like him- for her to trust him.

But he didn't know how to do that without making her fall in love with him. That was the one thing that couldn't happen. He couldn't be married and have the women he was married to love him, it would make this whole plan more complicated. Besides, he had enough people who loved him.

Percy chuckled to himself as he climbed into his bed. Those girls only thought they loved him, they didn't love him. They loved the things he made them feel. If they knew the real him, if they knew the things he had done to get into this position they'd look at him like he was monster.

And rightfully so, there were a lot of things Percy would admit to being and a monster was one of them.

0-0-0-0-0

It was weird, after three days of being followed by her guard dogs, to not have anyone standing at her door when she walked out of it ready for work. Annabeth had stopped, confused by the empty hallway. But then she shrugged and went to the dining room for breakfast.

Percy was up, he was always up at the same time she was. He was dressed much more casual today, almost as casual as he had been the night before at Thalia's.

As they ate breakfast she almost asked why her body guards weren't hovering around her but she didn't. Maybe it was a fluke, maybe they would meet her by the front door and follow her all the way to work.

"No meetings today?" She asked taking a bite of her omelet.

Percy looked at her, confused, "You're not in a suit." Annabeth explained.

Percy looked down at his attire, "No… well, I do have meetings but they don't require a suit and tie. These meetings are much more casual."

"So, you're having lunch with your senator friends at a country club." Annabeth guessed.

Percy chuckled and took a sip of his coffee, "Something like that."

Annabeth smiled slightly and finished up her breakfast. She got up from the table and was on her way to the door.

"Annabeth."

She turned, her hand on the door knob, "Yeah?"

Percy leaned back in his seat, "I'll pick you up from work at five, I want to take you to dinner."

She swallowed and nodded, her mind whirling. No bodyguards and now he wanted to take her to dinner. She couldn't get a grip on her emotions. Wanting to chat with him one minute and then beat the hell out of him the next second. He was threatening her and then being nice to her.

What the hell was his game?

It bothered Annabeth that she couldn't figure out what he wanted. Why he was using her. She knew he wanted her name, just by being engaged to an Olympian opened so many doors for him. But he wanted something else, she just didn't know what.

Annabeth grabbed her jacket, purse and large tote she carried her work in. She ventured into the hallway again, expecting her bodyguards to be there.

But there weren't.

She walked to the front door and opened it, her car was waiting. She looked around and walked forward, she opened the door and slid inside of it.

"Good morning Ms. Chase." The driver said.

Annabeth smiled, "Good morning."

The drive to work was silent, Annabeth checked her phone. She had several text messages from her assistant. It was always like this on Monday mornings. Her weekend was silent but as soon as Monday started her phone would start buzzing every couple minutes with meeting reminders and deadlines.

The morning passed in a blur.

Not enough time to think about anything but work and all of things that needed to be taken care of. It was lunchtime when she looked at the clock, her stomach growling slightly. She hadn't realized she had been working that long without a small break.

Annabeth picked up her phone and was about to ask her assistant to order her some lunch when a knocked sounded at her door. She looked up and smiled when she saw blonde hair.

"Hey." She greeted as Luke walked into the office. He smiled and Annabeth felt her stomach do a little flip flop.

"Do you wanna grab some lunch?" He asked while stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Annabeth beamed up at him, "Yeah… yeah, that would be great.. just let me save some of these documents. I'll meet you by the elevators in ten?"

Luke smiled a bit wider, "Sounds great." He stood there for another moment before leaving the room. Annabeth felt her face break out into a grin as she started saving the open documents on her computer screen. A few moments later she was grabbing her purse and walking to the restroom to freshen up.

It wasn't until she was walking out of the bathroom that she noticed the large ring on her finger. No one at the agency had asked her about her engagement to Percy but she had seen the looks she received from a few of the people there. Luke hadn't acted like he knew she was engaged and Annabeth really wanted to keep him in the dark about the whole thing.

Because… honestly she just wanted him to be hers. She just wanted this one little secret- the one last thing that belonged to no one but her. Annabeth wasn't a fool she knew that she belonged to Percy. She knew the way he viewed things and in his mind she was his property.

Annabeth stopped slipped the ring off her finger and put it in a side pocket of her purse. She saw Luke by the elevators and smiled, lunch wouldn't hurt a thing.

"Ready?" He asked.

Annabeth slipped her jacket on, "Yeah."

"I was thinking we could hit up that sushi place down the block." Luke said as they walked out of the front doors of the large building.

Annabeth beamed over at him, "It's one of my favorite lunch spots."

Luke looked down at her, "Mine too."

It was ridiculous the amount of butterflies that started dancing around her stomach just at the sight of him. This was what she wanted in a relationship, she wanted the butterflies, the awkward conversations that ended in laughter. She wanted to watch a relationship grow into love, she wanted dates and not manipulation.

Luke opened the door to the restaurant for her, his hand resting on her lower back as she walked in. A smile so incredibly wide planted itself on her lips as the hostess led them to the bar area.

"How was your weekend?" Luke asked.

Annabeth pulled her arms out of her jacket, "It was… different."

Luke laughed, "That's the worse explanation ever."

Annabeth couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped her lips, "It was the best thing I could come up with."

Luke pulled his own suit jacket off as she asked, "How was yours?"

He shrugged, "I finished my paper and then celebrated by crashing all day Sunday and eating way too much pizza."

Annabeth looked over the menu, "Sounds like the perfect Sunday."

It continued on like this until their food came. Then they were silent as they dug in, eating a bit quickly since they did have to be back at the office before one.

Her phone rang when they were finishing up, it was like a cold dose of reality as she answered, "Hello?"

"Annabeth, it's Katie."

Annabeth bit her lip and excused herself for a moment, Luke smiled as she slipped out of the chair "Hey Katie!"

"I was calling to confirm the date we talked about on Saturday, since it's only three months away venues tend to fill up quickly. I was going to reserve a few of them and then have you decide when we meet next week."

Annabeth sucked in a deep breath, there was nothing like her wedding planner calling to confirm her wedding date to bring her back from her little bubble, "That date is great! I talked with Percy Saturday evening about it."

"Wonderful! I'll let you get back to work, I'll see you soon!"

Annabeth sighed, "Bye Katie." She hit the end button and leaned her forehead against her phone.

"Everything okay?"

Annabeth looked up and saw Luke standing in front of her holding her purse and jacket, "Yeah… nothing I can't handle." She grabbed her stuff, "Thanks."

He smiled, "You're welcome, I already paid the bill so we can leave if you're ready."

Annabeth nodded, "Yeah, lets go."

The walk back to the office was a lot less talkative. Annabeth mulling over her predicament, she was engaged and planning a wedding but she really liked Luke. She didn't want to marry Percy and was being bullied into doing so.

So, why did she feel a loyalty to Percy? Why did she feel bad for wanting something with Luke?

It wasn't that she felt bad because she had feelings for Percy. Other than the occasional, "He's good looking" thought she didn't feel anything for him but hatred. He had torn her from her life, the life she liked and forced her into something.

She shouldn't feel bad for wanting to be happy and if Luke could make her happy then why not try something with him?

Any chance at a loving marriage was lost because she was marrying Percy. But what if she could have happiness anyways. Percy had his harem of girls, what was so different about her having someone?

She was so lost in her own thoughts she almost didn't realize they were in the elevators, alone.

"I had a great time." She whispered looking at him, "Sorry… about spacing out… I just have some things I need to take care of."

Luke placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, I hope we can do it again… soon… preferably this week."

Annabeth chuckled but hesitated before answering, Percy flashed in her mind. She shoved it down, shoved the feeling of betrayal down. Percy didn't have to know about Luke.

"I would love to." Annabeth responded.

Luke smiled as the elevator door opened, they stepped out, "I look forward to it then." He said before turning and walking down the opposite hallway. She watched him until he disappeared, a stupid smile planted on her lips.