Aching for His Discretion (The Discretion Dynasty #1)

20. Teegan

Chapter twenty

Teegan

W alking out of class, Beverly and I chatted as we headed to the library. I hadn’t genuinely spoken to her in a while, as she seemed a bit off lately. Ever since I introduced her to Levi, she’s been distant.

I didn’t question her much, but it was a bit odd. She knew she was my only buddy-buddy friend, yet she was somewhat ignoring me. However, when she invited me to the library, I was initially surprised, but I accepted. Upon entering, we found a seat in the back, and I settled in beside her, only to realize I had to use the bathroom.

“Bevs, I’ll be back. I have to use the bathroom,” I muttered, and she chuckled.

“One of the many perks of drinking a gallon of water daily, huh?” she teased, and I shooed her away as I decided to use the bathroom outside the library in the attached lobby of our medical school.

After doing my business, I stepped out and froze as I heard two familiar voices.

“Word about this does not get out. Conduct your search silently and do it fast.”

“Sir. We still haven’t been able to locate his whereabouts or any other clues related to his case.”

My eyes widened as I recognized the two voices of Dr. Harrington and Private Investigator Theodore Hale. They were talking about a… disappearance?

Peeking out of the bathroom, I realized they were right in the direction I needed to go, and I would be spotted if I left the bathroom. Pulling the door closed, I continued to listen.

“Fucking find something. Because all I have is pictures of his swollen face, a request of $750,000, and demands to drop half of my connections to medical schools and hospitals in this entire northeast region.”

“Dr. Harrington… rest assured we are exhausting all of our options and using every resource possible to find your son.”

Stepping back from the door, my hand flew to my mouth in utter shock. Alec is missing?

No wonder I’ve been breathing more easily on my rotations and in class. I thought he just didn’t show up because he didn’t want to, but it was because he was missing. Memories quickly flashed in my brain, and my heart rate increased.

“Don’t worry about that little boy… He’ll be taken care of.”

“His father has more business and hospital connections than brain cells, and Alec thinks the fucking world revolves around him. He will be taken care of.”

“Alec, huh...? Don’t worry, Tesoro. He will be taken care of.”

My hands began to shake, and I shook my head as I caressed the diamond pendant on the necklace Levi gave to me.

This is a coincidence. That’s all it is. That’s all it has to be.

Everything is fine.

There are many people who would target Alec and his father.

You know nothing about this.

Levi told you he isn’t dangerous, and you believe him.

Everything is fine.

Mitchel. Lidocaine. Trash bags. Blood. Killing.

TEEGAN!

Going back over to the door, I no longer heard any voices, and after peeking out, I saw that the coast was clear. Upon exiting, I made a beeline toward the library entrance on the other side of the hall until I felt someone grab my arm and push me against the wall.

“Teegan,” he growled, and I controlled my breathing as I looked up and made eye contact with the one man I was trying to avoid.

“Hi, Mr. Theodore...” I replied softly.

“You were listening,” he accused, and I immediately shook my head.

“I wasn’t,” I whispered stupidly, and he gazed down at me intimidatingly.

“I could believe you… or I could question why the fuck there is a connection between you and three of the biggest cases I have this week, including the death of one man and the absence of two others.”

“There isn’t. I promise,” I pleaded, and he scoffed.

“You mean to tell me that you have no recollection of anything happening while living in an apartment with walls that are paper-thin? Why are you the only student that is so invested in how that drugged-up criminal was killed? And why is it that Alec Harrington, who is also missing, is notoriously known to bother students doing better than him… example being you?” he asked.

I could feel my hands getting clammy. “I-I don’t know anything. I just want to go to the library and finish studying,” I whispered, shaking my head.

He simply looked down at me with an empty stare, and my heart rate increased as I could tell he knew I was holding back at least part of whatever truth he was searching for.

“Are you lying to me... Teegan?” he asked, and I shook my head again, not daring to utter a single word. He sighed as he leaned in closer, his presence dangerously looming over me as my heart raced.

“If I find out… that you’ve been lying to me, little girl, you are going to be in serious trouble, not with just the law or authorities… but with me,” he said angrily, his words shooting a tingling feeling down my spine as they sounded… oddly familiar.

“And do me a favor,” he muttered, and I bit my lip as he leaned into my ear and whispered, his words sending a feeling of sheer panic through my bones.

“Say hi to Mr. Amante for me, will you?”

Stepping into Levi’s car, I immediately looked out of the window as he shut the door for me. I found myself lost in my thoughts as he rubbed his hand over my knee, and we listened to the soft murmur coming from his car radio.

Say hi to Mr. Amante for me, will you?

Theodore was playing me. He knew much more than I thought he did, and it was scaring me. For some reason, I knew he was going to be looking into me too and that his intentions, in the beginning, weren’t as innocent as simply asking a few questions... but how much more did he know that I didn’t?

Upon reaching Levi’s apartment complex, he parked the car and sighed.

“What’s the matter, Tesoro?” he muttered.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me, baby. I know it’s not nothing... Say something. Say anything,” he pleaded, and I took a deep breath as I contemplated whether or not to share all that I’ve been harboring for the last few hours. Needing it off of my chest, however, I sputtered my sentences as if I felt out of breath.

“My neighbor Mitchel is missing. You and the boys are the only ones who I’ve seen near him and around his complex. There is a private investigator investigating both his disappearance and my involvement. I lied to him and my landlord about not knowing if anyone was there. A man died in the emergency room a few weeks ago from after bleeding out on the floor. He was administered lidocaine for his ‘procedure’ of having his arm brutally severed, and I coincidentally sent you a message telling you exactly what lidocaine does. The PI is investigating that, too. To top it off, Alec has stopped tormenting me only because he’s gone missing, and his father must either give up his entire reputation and a large sum of money, or God knows what happens to him. And you can probably guess who the PI thinks is connected to his disappearance,” I said in one breath.

There was silence in the car. All I could hear was my heart beating in my ears and my labored breaths.

I couldn’t bear to look at his face. There was too much evidence stacked against my perception of the perfect man beside me, and I was trying my hardest to hold onto the flawless image of him that I had planted in my mind.

He sighed for a moment as he grabbed my hand.

“Tesoro,” he muttered, and I sniffled as tears came to my eyes.

“Please tell me you’re not dangerous, Levi. Please tell me you had nothing to do with anything. P-please,” I whispered, and he shushed me softly.

“Tesoro. I… am not dangerous, and I promise I had nothing to do with anything. Look,” he began, and I watched as he pulled his shirt over his head and pointed to a few healing stitches that looked homemade on his other arm that didn’t have the bullet wound I treated.

“Unfortunately, a few days after my hospital visit with you, I was cut with a bit of glass while doing some remodeling in one of my clubs. There had just been a bar fight, and there was glass, broken chairs, and everything you could have thought of. I asked what the lidocaine was for only so I didn’t have to go to the hospital and so Nico could clean, numb, and stitch my wound for me. Silly, I know, but I didn’t want to tell you because it was something small, and I didn’t want you to worry,” he muttered.

Slowly, he pulled out his phone. “And as for Mitchel, take a look at my phone. These were the last few messages I sent to him. I haven’t seen him either,” he muttered.

I opened the phone and scrolled through the messages.

The boys got all of the trash out of your apartment.

Mitchel: Thanks. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.

I worry for you, Mitchel… I don’t want you to get hurt.

I know. I just need to get away. I don’t want to be a burden any longer.

Putting the phone down, I sighed as he began to debunk every single accusation that was coming to my mind.

“And as for that little boy Alec who has been bothering you, I filed a police report for sexual harassment and attempted sexual assault. Look through to find the message I sent to one of the officers... I couldn’t sleep knowing he was hurting you, and I knew you were too afraid to do anything about it. All the information I know is whatever the police told me they were doing in their investigation. The fact that he’s missing is simply news to me,” he said truthfully.

I placed his phone down as I pushed my hair out of my face. I felt speechless... and liberated.

He cleared up all of my worries and doubts, and I felt horrible for thinking that way about him at all.

“I’m sorry, Levi,” I whispered as tears came to my eyes.

He simply moved his chair back and patted his lap twice. Climbing over the car console, I straddled his legs and wrapped my arms around his neck, guilt washing over me as I shot wrongful accusations at the perfect man in front of me. He ran his fingers through my hair gently and placed a kiss on my shoulder.

“I know you overthink things, Tesoro… and that’s okay. I know you are very emotional, and I can understand your frustration when putting the pieces together about what you’ve learned. No need to apologize because you did absolutely nothing wrong. I’m happy you expressed what you were thinking so I could explain to you everything that has actually been going on. The only thing I can truly apologize for myself is going to the police about Alec without asking for your consent…”

Shaking my head, I smiled as I pulled back. “No. You’re perfect. You did nothing wrong. I’m… I’m sorry for think anything else.”

He placed a small kiss on my lips, and I pulled back as I spoke once again.

“And Levi,” I whispered, and he hummed, listening intently. “I... I think I want to give us a try. If you still want to, that is,” I said, shrugging.

Levi pulled me impossibly close to him as he replied, “Of course I do, Tesoro. I want to be your everything... because you… you are my life, the air I breathe. You are my everything, ” he whispered lovingly, switching to his romantic native tongue before he sealed the deal with a kiss as he moved his hands down to my waist.

I moaned softly into the kiss as he ground his hips into mine, making me feel his length. Familiar feelings of lust began to come back to me as I could just how much he wanted me.

His attempts to bring us closer became more desperate and starving as the friction between our clothes didn’t feel enough. Soon, I found myself under him as I lay back in the chair of his car. His movements and thrusts grinding into me sensually became more as his lips hungrily devoured mine, the clothes between us growing more disheveled.

I gasped as his hand found my breast on the outside of my shirt, and he toyed with me however he pleased. I moaned as my hands found his naked chest, causing him to groan.

“You’re so fucking sexy…” he whispered in my ear as he pulled my shirt over my chest, continuing his torture below as he created the least space possible between us.

“I just want to cherish you... make you feel loved… wanted. Will you let me do that, Tesoro?” he whispered, and I whined as I felt his hot tongue against the sensitive bud on my chest.

“Would you let me fuck you… any way that I wanted? Use you… adore every single thing about you?” he asked once again. I whimpered as I was feeling close to my release, and by the way he continued to increase his speed, I could tell he was, too.

“Yes... please.”

He growled as he grabbed my hips, pulling me flush against him as he threw his head back in ecstasy. I bucked softly as I’d found my release, and tears came to my eyes as he continued to use me to find his.

Feeling overstimulated, a second feeling of release washed over me as I bit my finger and looked away from him. My face grew red, my pants growing damper by the second. After a few moments, Levi shuddered out a breath as he finally ceased his movements, allowing me to actually breathe.

He pushed his hair out of his face and leaned down to me to place a kiss on my lips.

I had no choice but to trust him and only him.

He saved me from my brothers.

He saves me from myself.

He knows me, cherishes me, and makes me feel heard and understood.

I had to trust him. It was the only way I would feel at peace. I had to trust him because I couldn’t trust anyone else.