Aching for His Discretion (The Discretion Dynasty #1)

19. Teegan

Chapter nineteen

Teegan

M y heart quickened as I gazed up at my older brothers. Dakota was always the more classy brother, dressed in a black fitted shirt as well as slacks and dress shoes, while Declan had a halfway buttoned dress shirt, and his hair was as messy as his temper and attitude. My hands went clammy as they entered my apartment.

“Looks like you’re not living in a shoebox… that’s good, I suppose,” Dakota remarked as he entered and examined my space that felt safe only moments ago.

I closed the door softly as I bit my lip and played with the end of my sweater.

“What are... y-you two doing h-here?” I asked, and Declan scoffed.

“Can’t even visit our little sister anymore? Wow. Didn’t expect you to be this upset to see us…” he said as he walked around the living room as well. “But if you must know…” he continued as he took a seat on the couch. “We’re in town for business.”

I said nothing. Their presence in my small cozy apartment was overwhelming.

When Levi and the guys came over, sure, they took up space like no other, occupying the upper half of the apartment with their height as they wandered around, but I didn’t feel threatened by their presence.

Being in a room with my intimidating, overbearing brothers made the room feel smaller and made me feel ten times more vulnerable.

“We’re also debating whether or not you’ll be staying here for the rest of your schooling,” Declan muttered casually as if he didn’t just drop a bomb on me, and my mouth went dry.

“What?” I whispered.

Dakota shrugged. “I’ve never been a fan of you living in the city… so far away from us at that. And with a bit of convincing, Mama left the decision to us whether or not we want you to come back home,” he began, and I continued feeling lightheaded. I had just spoken to her yesterday, and she wished me luck on the rest of my rotation... and now she’s leaving the option of me staying or going back home in the hands of my misogynistic, sexist brothers?

“The crime rates in this city are only increasing, and you won’t be able to take care of yourself,” he finished, and I did my best to hold back my incoming tears.

“You want me to go back home. B-Back home to Illinois,” I whispered, and Declan’s jaw clenched.

“Better than you staying here in New York,” he muttered.

“But what about my career?” I asked softly, and he scoffed.

“What about your fucking career? Find some shitty school near home or in Chicago and finish there. You don’t need to be here,” he muttered, and I felt a tear come out of my eyes.

Being around them always invited feelings of unnecessary stress and anxiety. And now, when I was trying to start my day peacefully, they had to come ruin it. Almost as if it were their goal to make me miserable.

“I... I have to study. I think i-it would be best—” I stuttered, falling silent as Declan stood up from the couch and approached me slowly.

“Best for what...? Are you trying to kick us out? For wanting to protect you?” he asked.

I looked over to Dakota to see if he would save me, but his silence and the anger in his eyes toward me told me he wasn’t going to be much help. Looking back over to Declan, I cowered slightly as he caressed the side of my face slowly.

“Do we have to remind you... that you are our little sister? Hmm? Is that something that Dakota and I are going to have to do?” he said, squeezing my cheeks in his hands, and I shook my head quickly.

“Maybe we shouldn’t do anything to you to make you remember. Better yet, where’s that fucking cat , hmm?” he asked, and tears continued escaping my eyes as he shushed me softly. He wiped the tears from my eyes as a sob escaped my chest.

“You know you only cause more trouble for yourself with these tears of yours,” Dakota said as he approached us slowly.

I continued to sob uncontrollably as I felt utterly helpless.

“If I were you, I’d start thinking about what school you are going to transfer to and when you are going to move out of this city. Or… if you don’t want to listen, you can do us a favor and tell us where that fucking cat is so we can force you to,” Declan compromised.

I shakily wiped my tears with the back of my hand.

“Does she get a third option?”

We heard another voice, and a sense of relief filled my chest as I looked over to see Levi standing at my door entrance, a look of pure anger on his face. He made eye contact with me for a moment, and with his eyes alone, I knew he wanted me to walk over to him, but I was petrified... afraid of what my brothers, who were now dangerously silent, would say to Levi.

“The fucking devil,” Declan snarled, and my eyebrows furrowed as I’d never heard Declan speak another language… much less Italian.

“Come here, Tesoro,” Levi ordered.

Without question, I quickly ran over to him, throwing myself into his embrace. He shushed me softly as I practically melted into his hold as my tears were wiped away by his sweater while he held my head still, comfortably blocking my view of my brothers. His other arm, however, moved, and he spoke to my brothers as I was too busy trying to slow my breaths.

“It’s already loaded. Do something stupid, and I’ll blow your fucking brains out, brother to her or not.”

“You wouldn’t dare to do it,” Dakota said, although I had no idea what he was talking about. I tried to move my head, but Levi shushed me softly, keeping my head tucked away. Trusting in him, I wrapped my arms around his waist tighter and sniffled softly as he caressed my hair.

“You think I wouldn’t? Only reason I haven’t done anything is because of this little girl here. For all the shit you two have done to my business and reputation, you better be thanking God that she’s your sister. Otherwise, I would’ve put a bullet through your heads already.”

I heard Declan scoff, “You think I’m afraid of you? Huh? You think you have some kind of power over my little sister just because she’s naive?”

Levi let out a dark chuckle as he pulled me deeper into his embrace, not that I minded, before he responded once again in Italian.

“Well, if she’s begging me to fuck her… Then yeah, I do have power over her.”

I flinched in his hold as I heard something fall on the ground and quick footsteps.

“The fuck did you just say to me?” Declan growled.

“Declan, stop,” Dakota ordered, and I felt Levi move his other arm once again, before he slowly turned me as he wrapped his hands around my stomach from behind.

I wiped my tears away as I noticed my books were on the floor, and Dakota was basically holding Declan back from approaching Levi and me.

“I think it’s best you two leave... Teegan has a lot of work to finish. She doesn’t have much time for distractions… isn’t that right, Tesoro?” Levi said, lifting my head slightly to look up into his eyes.

I nodded as I was excited to spend the day with him, but my brothers had to go and ruin it. He leaned down and placed a kiss on my lips before looking back up at my brothers.

My face turned red as I bit my lip and looked back over to my brothers as well, who were furiously watching our interaction. The both of them made their way to the door.

Declan whispered angrily, “Didn’t know you were going to grow to be such a little whore.”

I bit my lip even harder before he slammed the door shut.

I went to bury my face in my hands as my feelings began to overload when Levi shushed me softly and walked me over to the kitchen counter. There he wiped my red, teary face with a napkin and shushed me softly.

“Tesoro... amore… no more tears, hmm? Gonna get yourself more worked up, and I don’t want you to have a headache later, baby,” he said, trying to comfort me as I took a seat on the stool. He walked over to the stove and pulled out the cookies that were miraculously done, and set them on top of the stove. I sniffled softly as he came back over to me and embraced me in a hug.

“I-I was having… such a good morning,” I whispered as I tried to hold back my sobs, and he nodded softly as he rubbed my back soothingly.

“I know, Tesoro. Let it out, baby,” he muttered.

I continued to cry into his shoulder as I did my best to block out my brothers’ words that continued to replay in my mind. After a few moments, I heard a small cry from my bedroom, and I pulled away from Levi slowly as I stood up and grabbed his hand.

He followed me into my bedroom, and I went over to my closet to open a bin that Grayson had no trouble entering but could only get out if I came over to open it. Upon opening it, he jumped into my arms and did his best to soothe me with his head rubs as I wiped away my remaining tears.

“I’m assuming this has happened... before, hmm?” Levi asked, most likely noticing the routine my brothers, Grayson, and I had. I nodded as I turned to see him sitting on the edge of my bed.

After I placed Grayson on the floor, Levi held his hand out to me, and I walked over, allowing him to make me sit on his lap. He caressed the side of my face for a moment, and I sighed as I played with the rings in his other hand.

“I wanted to have a good morning with you… I already feel so stressed, and now, they’re telling me I need to go h-home.”

He hummed as he intertwined his hand in mine and pushed my hair behind my ear.

“Is that something that you want, Tesoro?” he asked.

Unconsciously, my other hand played with the diamond on the necklace he’d gifted to me.

“No.”

He hummed again, and his eyes looked down at the necklace for a moment before returning to my eyes.

“Good. Don’t you worry your pretty little head, Tesoro. No one, and I mean no one… is going to take you away from me .”