Aching for His Discretion (The Discretion Dynasty #1)

32. Levi

Chapter thirty-two

Levi

E ntering my penthouse, I leaned my head back and cracked it to the side as I turned on the lamp. I felt the cat walk by me as he purred, and I bent down to pick him up. It had to be around two in the morning, and I had some things to take care of. I was able to get Tesoro mio to sleep a bit earlier, but she’d cried a bit when she woke up.

I did my best to calm her after removing her work clothes and getting her into something more comfortable, and the second she hit the pillow, she was out like a light. When she’d fallen asleep around eleven, I left the penthouse and sped over to one of my clubs.

Entering the building, I ran my hands through my hair, agitated as I headed for the basement. There, I found a shirtless Nico in a separate room with a doctor who owed me quite few favors.

“How’s he doing?” I asked.

Enzo, or rather Dr. Lombardi, who was wrapping the final bandages around his wound, replied, “He’s okay. The bullet caused a puncture wound but did not fully exit the body. Hemorrhaging is minimal, and no critical structures appear to be compromised. In other words, he’ll be fine.”

I nodded as I looked over to see Nico hunched over, oddly reminding me of when I got treated by Teegan.

“How is she?” he asked me sincerely, and I sighed.

The man had a bullet in his arm and was asking about Teegan. As if I wasn’t the only one obsessed with her, these guys would literally take a bullet for her.

“She’s fine… sleeping now,” I muttered, and he nodded.

I heard a knock at the door, and Micah signaled me to follow with his head. I patted Nico on his other shoulder, and exited the room to walk farther into the basement. There Elliot was cleaning a few of the… tools, if you will, and I noticed the four men I had tied up were asleep.

“Wake the fuck up!” I yelled furiously, and Alec, his father, and Theodore slowly opened their eyes. John, on the other hand, had a bit of a hard time, considering the blow he took from Elliot’s foot, but he was fine. We weren’t going to do anything to him now. As for the others…

Walking into the middle of the floor, I smiled as I placed my hands on my knees, looking down at the ground.

“I just don’t fucking get it,” I muttered and took a deep breath as I looked up at the silent men tied up in a row. “Did you think I wasn’t going to be… upset with how you treated my sweet Tesoro? How you all have made her suffer mentally, emotionally… physically?” I looked up at them in question, and they remained silent as their mouths weren’t exactly free to speak.

“I feel like putting a fucking bullet through all of your skulls… But I can’t, fuck, I can’t. I promised my sweet Tesoro that I would change to become a better man. I have to keep my promise… I can’t lose her again. And look at me: I was trying hard for her, and you all had to go fuck it up!!” I yelled as I had the urge to pull out my pistol, but I stopped. I couldn’t.

“If I broke my promise to her… then where would that leave me? Hmm? I won’t be able to let her go, but I also can’t let you all just get away with this. You’ve terrorized her, you know? And I… I don’t appreciate that much.”

Dr. Harrington tried to speak, and I nodded to Elliot to remove the tape over his mouth. He ripped it off, and the man spoke.

“So what the fuck are you going to do? You want to kill us, don’t you?” he asked, and I nodded.

“Of course I do… but I’m not going to break my promise to my sweet Tesoro and kill you three. No, no, no, no. I’ve left you unharmed as I told her… But do you know who didn’t make any promises and is going to kill you all?” I asked, and they remained silent as my face darkened.

“Her new fucking brothers,” I seethed, and Micah and Elliot both walked to stand beside me. I smiled on the inside as I heard another pair of footsteps, and Nico approached us as well.

“You not only pissed me off… but I think you pissed them off just a bit more. I mean, you tell me how you’d feel if your little sister was being terrorized by three fucking low-life men.”

Turning around, I walked to the steps before I looked over my shoulder to see their angry and pleading eyes looking at me in utter hatred.

“Have fun.”

Going into my room, I placed the cat on the bed as my sweet Tesoro’s eyes shot open. She looked over at me, and her bottom lip wobbled as I approached her. Sitting beside her, I sighed as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

I was responsible… I was the one who couldn’t fucking stay away, and now that I was obsessive and possessive over her, I couldn’t let her go or be free.

And after seeing everything as close as she did… I knew I had broken something inside of her.

“Tesoro… amore mio?” I said.

She didn’t say anything. I wanted to lay with her and tell her everything would be okay, but I was filthy and needed a shower. I knew she felt all over the place as she didn’t even get to do her nightly routine either. Grabbing her hand, I walked over to the bathroom and turned on the water as she simply waited.

I helped her take off her clothes and let her step in as I did the same and got in as well. I washed her hair for her as she slowly washed her body. Washing myself, I watched as she silently let the water run over her.

Slowly, I brought her into my embrace, and she wrapped her arms around me. It was silent. She wasn’t crying. She didn’t seem upset anymore… just tired.

I ran my fingers through her hair, and we simply listened to the water as it poured.

My Tesoro... I’m beginning to fall deeply for you. I don’t think I’ve ever been in love, and I’m sorry for what I’ve put you through. But I had to keep you safe...

I will always keep you safe.

Teegan

Waking up inside Levi’s room, I felt a minor headache coming on as I pretty much had a restless sleep. Feeling something crawl on my legs, I smiled softly as my little kitty purred in my ear. He lay on my neck as if he was forcing me to get more rest, and I giggled as I pulled him away and sat up. Holding him under his little arms, I smothered his face with kisses as he simply looked up at me.

I sighed at my little emotional support animal. “Mommy is okay, baby… she is,” I said, trying to convince myself, and he simply purred while I placed him over my shoulder as I walked to the bathroom to brush up.

Dressed in one of Levi’s oversized sweatshirts and a pair of tights I left over, I walked out of his room only to hear bickering downstairs.

Going through the penthouse, I smiled softly as I watched Nico, Elliot, and Micah standing in the kitchen doing their version of what seemed to be cooking. Micah had an apron around him, while the two other boys had scowls on their faces.

“How the fuck do you make an omelet?” Elliot whispered angrily, and Nico tried to figure out the back of a pancake mix box. I assumed Micah, on the other hand, would be doing a bit better given his attire, but I feel as though the apron held him back slightly as he was working with burned bacon.

“Good morning?” I said, confused, and their heads snapped over to me.

“You should still be sleeping. You’re tired,” Elliot practically growled.

“I’m not right now.”

Nico sighed as he placed the pancake mix down. “We tried making you breakfast, Little Mama. We’ve been here for about forty-five minutes.”

“Hmm. Well, I appreciate the gesture, however I think I could make something for all of us in the next twenty minutes…” I said, and Micah nodded enthusiastically as he ripped his apron off, but Elliot stopped him as he glared at me.

“You’re tired,” he reiterated, but I walked inside the kitchen as I grabbed the utensils from their hands and shooed them away. They seemed hesitant to walk away, but eventually, they made their way to the kitchen island and sat on the barstools.

As I redid their failed attempt at making breakfast, I spoke. “Where’s Levi?” I asked as I could feel myself wanting to feel his arms around me.

Nico replied, “Busy at the moment. He’ll be back soon.”

I nodded.

“How do you feel, Teegan?” Elliot asked, and I paused for a small moment.

I didn’t have the energy to think back to last night. From the frightening message from Levi’s father to Mr. John’s betrayal, everything felt like a nightmare, and I didn’t want to relive it through my memories.

“I feel a little… scared and hurt. That’s all,” I whispered, and they stayed silent for a while.

I finished breakfast after some time and sat in front of the three of them a plate of eggs, pancakes, bacon, a bowl of fruit, and a glass of orange juice.

I placed my plate down on the island but paused momentarily as I looked at Nico’s bandaged arm. He looked over to where my eyes were directed and shook his head quickly as I felt tears come to my eyes.

“I-I’m sorry, Nico…” I whispered, and he shushed me softly as he turned in his chair and gave me his undivided attention. He placed his hand over my now trembling one.

“There’s absolutely nothing you should be sorry for, Teegan. I would take another fifty bullets for you if it meant you would be safe. Nothing matters more to us, more to Levi, than your safety. Do you understand?” he asked, and I nodded as I tried to wipe away my tears. Elliot and Micah gave me a look letting me know they would do the same, and I did my best to calm down.

Before I ate, I quickly did a bit of tidying up in the kitchen, and the three of them glared at me as I wasn’t eating. However, I didn’t want Levi to come home to a messy kitchen…

Speaking of him—

“I thought I asked you idiots to make her breakfast this morning,” Levi muttered, and I felt my heart flutter as he wrapped his arm around my waist from behind. He placed a kiss on my cheek.

Micah spoke before he shoved a bite into his mouth. “We tried, okay?”

Levi didn’t say anything as he walked me over to my food and made me sit and eat. He directed the boys to finish cleaning, and they began to bicker about who would do what task. I, on the other hand, received a kiss on the forehead and a small “good girl” as I continued eating.

He walked to his office, and I remained in my thoughts as I stayed silent, still eating my breakfast. I felt confused. These men, these dangerous, cruel, scary men… put me first in front of everything. They did some horrible things to people, bad people, Levi told me. But they did their best to keep me safe.

I guess one of those so called bad people was Mr. John —a man I thought I could trust. I would ask Levi what happened to him, but I was afraid to find out.

The only thing my mind truly wanted to register was that I was safe now and that Levi and the guys would do absolutely anything to keep it that way .