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“I mean, do you get more or less than your share? Is life kind to you, or a raging cunt like she is to so many?”
Talking to Athena isn’t what I expect. She has the face of an angel, the mouth of a sailor, and the brain of a shrewd businesswoman. All strategy and seeing more than most would like. It’s clear she reads people the same way I read code. I have no doubt that for her, it’s incredibly easy, but it baffles lesser people.
“Depends on what we are talking about. I have always been lucky that money has never been lacking in my life.”
“But something else has been.” Her bright blue eyes seem to see through me, something I should find incredibly off-putting, but for some reason, I don’t.
“It has.”
She looks like she wants to press, and part of me wants her to, but she sits back and just watches me.
“Trust,” she finally says. “Freedom. Love. A Home.”
“Those used to elude me, the freedom one is still kind of iffy, but with those men you hate so much, I found my home with a family I trust.”
She nods like that is an acceptable answer, and I can’t help but watch the way her little tongue darts out of her mouth to lick the bit of foam her coffee left on her lips.
I want to kiss her.
I have no idea why. I shouldn’t want to. But I do.
“What about you? Has life been generous or a cunt?” I ask, hoping I can wash away the thoughts of tangling my fingers in her hair as I dance my tongue with hers from my mind.
“A bit of both. Like you, I don’t know what it means to struggle financially, and I know I am lucky for that. But everything else has been a scarce commodity.”
I nod. I know exactly what she means.
“What’s with you and that computer? I think this is the first time I have seen you put it down.”
“Hacking is a hobby.” I shrug. “Nothing too serious or illegal,” I lie.
She shifts a little and tilts her head. Something tells me she knows I’m lying, but she decides not to push me on it.
“You don’t live at the mansion, why?”
“How about this? You answer a question for me, then I will answer one for you,” I offer, not wanting her to take control of the conversation. I know one thing about Athena—she’s used to taking control.
“Sure, but if we are going to hang for a while, I need more coffee and food.” She rubs her stomach, and I look at the clock. We have already been talking for awhile. “They make great bagel sandwiches here, you want one?”
“Sure, but let me get them. What are you drinking?”
“Mocha latte,” she says.
I nod and get up to grab our food.
I half expect her to be gone by the time I return, but she is still sitting at the table with her phone out, scrolling through social media. She seems so carefree and at ease. I am in awe of this woman. I can’t pinpoint exactly why, but it’s as if she’s a siren or has some spell cast on me. Part of me feels I’m betraying Perseus and the others by not hating Athena. Actually, hatred isn’t an emotion I’m feeling at all.
We dig into our food, trading questions, some serious but mostly light. I know she is smart; she has to be in order to run Medusa like she does. And I know she is stubborn, but I had no idea she is so charming and witty. At one point, she makes me laugh so hard I can’t swallow my drink until I calm down. I don’t remember the last time I laughed this hard. We just sit talking for a little over an hour when an alarm on her phone goes off.
“Shit. I have to go. I’m going to be late for a meeting with the next party planner.”
“Would you like a ride? I am heading back to the estate.”
“That would be awesome, thanks. You know you aren’t nearly as mean and stuck up as I thought you were.”
“Thanks? Well, you aren’t as evil and vindictive as I thought you were. So—”
“Don’t count me out just yet.” She gives me a playful wink. I think she’s flirting, so on a whim I do the thing I have been thinking about for the past hour.
I kiss her.
Her body freezes, but she doesn’t pull away. It only takes her a second before she is kissing me back. Her lips are soft against mine. Her breath merging with my own. The others will hate me for this, but right now, I can’t help it, and I don’t want to.
Chapter
Twelve
Athena
I enter the mansion after having returned from a meeting with a florist for the garden party in a month, and of course, all the guys are in the living room. Perseus is sitting on my favorite couch with some skank on his lap.
