Annabeth's POV

Both my bosses looked in my direction as I walked in, though only one of them could see me. Percy sensed—or smelled—my presence and grinned, but Nico seemed completely dumbfounded. I thought Percy would have told I was coming, or that he would have warned Nico about us. But who was I kidding? Percy clearly got off on the element of surprise. Nico shook his head fiercely before resting it in the palm of his hands. In an instant, I saw my career flash before my eyes, destroyed just as it was taking off. He was going to fire me on the spot, in the foyer of his childhood home. But when he looked up at me a moment later, Nico cracked a small, skeptical smile.

"I should have known," he mustered. "You two make a cute couple."

Couple? Is that what we are?

I didn't have much time to ponder the label, as a sharp squeal pierced the silence, turning the cavernous room into an echo chamber.

"YAY!" It was Reyna, running towards me, arms outstretched. "I knew it. I have a sixth sense when it comes to matters of the heart."

I wasn't one-hundred percent convinced Percy was concerned with my heart, but she didn't need to know that. She hugged me like we were already sisters. Percy found his way over to me and took me by the arm.

"Thank you for coming, Sei bellissima."

I smiled. If you want to keep a woman happy, compliment her in Italian. He started leading me toward the living room, but I tensed and stopped in my tracks when I realized who stood on the other side of the door. I can't go in there. I'm not ready to meet—

As if he could read my mind, Percy lowered himself to my ear and whispered. "Relax, they'll love you. How could they not?"

He gently pulled on my fleshy lobe with his teeth. I recoiled. I couldn't be damp when I greeted his parents for the first time. Deep breath, Annabeth. And one more. And one more. I finally summoned the courage and crossed the threshold into the adjacent room. Sally and Poseidon Jackson looked as elegant in person as they did in the portrait that hung above Nico's desk.

"It's lovely to meet you, Annabeth." Poseidon was walking towards me, hand outstretched. He held my gaze as I shook it. "Good, firm handshake. That will take you far."

"It got me here, didn't it?"

Sally was standing next to him. I went to shake her hand, too, but she drew me in for a hug.

"Welcome, sweetheart."

"Your home is absolutely gorgeous." I meant it.

"It better be," Percy interjected. "If only you knew how many times she'd made me rearrange the furniture in here."

"Well, if you had gotten it right the first time, you would have nothing to complain about," I shot back with a wry smile.

"That's right." Sally eyed me, amused. "It certainly seems you've met your match, Percy."

Clearly, his mother had no idea he was looking for a submissive, not an equal.

Percy's POV

Normally, with Annabeth standing this close to me, I would already be undressing her in my mind…undoing her silk blouse one button at a time, hiking up that skirt over her perfect ass. But with my parents standing a few feet away, my mental image of her remained fully clothed.

I listened intently as Annabeth and my mother engaged in a verbal joust, impressing each other with their rivaling humor and smarts. Dirty thoughts about Annabeth were replaced with ones of pure admiration and pride in the woman on my arm. My heart sunk when I remembered she could no longer engage in playful banter with her own mother. The only urge I felt in this moment was the overwhelming desire to wrap her in a deep embrace. Instead, I just slipped my hand gently into hers.

I imagined Nico would be watching our every more, eyeing our interlocked fingers with judgment and suspicion. I knew my brother well. No way was he going to let us off the hook that easily, not with the business on the line. But I would deal with him later. For just a moment, I let myself feel at ease.

Two loud dings interrupted Annabeth mid-sentence, and she started scrambling around in her purse for her phone.

"I'm so sorry, I should have turned it off. I'll be right back."

And just like that, my hand was empty. I couldn't wait to hold hers again.

Annabeth's POV

No, no, no. Not now.

It was the last name in the world I wanted to read on my phone screen: Octavian.

Octavian: Don't shit where you eat, .

Octavian: You will starve sooner than you think.

Annabeth: You don't know anything about me.

Annabeth: But I see right through you. And your plan isn't going to work.

Octavian: We'll see about that. Don't say I didn't warn you.

When I looked up from the screen, Nico was hovering over me. I jumped.

"Is that Octavian?" A developing frown line deepened between his eyebrows.

"Unfortunately." I needed to level with Nico, and now was my chance. "He's not backing down. Octavian will do whatever it takes to dismantle this company from within."

"I'll kill him," he muttered. For a second, it looked like he meant it.

Nico's POV

For a second, I really goddamn meant it. I struggled to regain my composure. I spotted my brother out of the corner or my eye, smiling to himself, unaware of the catastrophe brewing on the other side of the room.

What. An. Idiot.

"One thing is for sure," I mustered. "He can't find out about you and Percy. He will definitely try to use that against the both of you, and it doesn't look great for—"

I cut myself off when I noticed the grimace that involuntarily appeared on Annabeth's face.

"For fuck's sake. I just found out twenty minutes ago, and Octavian already knows? How?"

"I don't know how," she snapped. "I obviously didn't mean for this to happen."

"But it happened, Annabeth."

I needed to let out some of the rage that was bubbling inside me. I pummeled a fist into my palm. It stung harder than expected.

"I hired you to clean up messes, not create them. And I definitely didn't hire you to screw my brother. I should have listened to Reyna. She thought something was going on between you two. But if you can't handle this job—"

"Nico, please. I can handle it."

She looked me dead in the eyes. I tried to spot any trace of self-doubt in her gaze, but she was only communicating confidence. Either she really could handle it, or she was a damn good actress. I decided to give her one last chance before cutting her loose from the company completely.

"You need to prove that to me, or you need to go."

I turned my back on her and immediately faked a smile, nodding at a passing couple. This was a party we were at, after all.

Annabeth's POV

I watched him go. Nico moved over to Reyna and embraced her from behind, placing his hands on her burgeoning bump. I found it hard to believe this was the same man who had delivered a razor-sharp gaze in my direction just moments ago. I longed for Percy. It was crazy that his touch could feel like both ultimate danger and ultimate protection. Right now, I need the latter.

When I surveyed the room, he was standing right where I left him, waiting for me like a loyal pet. I approached him quietly, letting him know I was there by gently grazing a finger down the hairs on the back of his neck. They stood to attention, and so did he. He turned, grabbed my waist, and pressed his lips into mine so casually it made this thing between us feel all the more serious.

"Who was that?"

"Malcolm."

I didn't want to lie to him, but I didn't want to worry him either.

"Is everything alright?"

I was about to lie again, concocting some story about how Malcolm was locked out of the apartment, when I was saved by the doorbell. As the sound blared through the house, Sally moved gracefully from the bar where she now stood, toward the source of the noise. She disappeared into the foyer, but when she returned her countenance had wilted and all the color had drained from her face.

"It's—Why is she—?"

Who?

But apparently, the identity of the new visitor was already abundantly clear to everyone but me. Percy untangled our limbs and took a big step away from me, just in time for Red to materialize in front of us. There she was, even more beautiful than I remembered her. It truly looked like she had walked off a runway and into this moment.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees, or maybe that was just the icy-cold glare connecting Percy to his ex-wife as he squinted to barely make out her shape in the door frame. The tension was so thick, you would need to sharpen a knife to cut through it. After a deafening silence, Percy finally spoke the first words.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to talk to you," she rasped.

"Have your lawyer email me."

"Percy, I'm not here to cause a sense. Just give me a few minutes of your time."

He thought about it for a moment, and then said, "Outside. I will not let you cause my family any more pain."

"All right. Outside."

She turned to leave, and he followed after her, leaving me alone with a million questions and zero answers.

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