Aching for His Discretion (The Discretion Dynasty #1)

59. Teegan

Chapter fifty-nine

Teegan

S ilas whined in the arms of Antonio, and I felt my throat close up slightly as he cradled my baby in his arms. I felt frozen . I couldn’t move. Time had essentially stood still, and my hands were growing clammy by the second.

“Don’t cry, little one… it’ll be over soon,” he whispered, and I could feel my blood pumping as my eyes stayed trained on him.

“W-whatever you want, we’ll give it to you,” I said, my voice pleading helplessly.

He shook his head. “My daughter-in-law, I’m simply here to visit my son and his family—”

“Please,” I cut him off as tears came to my eyes, and his eyes darkened slightly. I was absolutely petrified. If I’d previously thought Levi was terrifying, I would admit that his father struck a different kind of fear within me, especially as he held my baby in a tender caress—yet his eyes were absolutely murderous.

“I told you… you weren’t cut out for a lifestyle such as this. You decided to stay… you stuck it through and now you bear the consequences. You made him go soft. You made him weak . You made him change. You made him kill me,” he muttered, and my eyes widened slightly, and he narrowed his eyes at me.

“That is why you are so afraid, isn’t it? What, you didn’t know? While you two were on your sorry excuse of a break years ago, his therapist pushed him to get rid of what made him the way he was… to get rid of me . He was almost successful and it was amusing to let him think it for a while. But if you’re going to set a bomb in someone’s car, make sure that they’re the one that’s going to drive it— otherwise the situation will get messy for everyone involved.” He chuckled humorlessly.

I cleared my throat softly. “H-how did you find us?” I whispered.

He shrugged. “Well, it wasn’t hard, sweetheart. I will say, getting this close to you was a challenge with Levi’s security measures to ensure you’re kept safe... but I found a weakness, one that put me right inside the walls of your home,” he muttered, and I gulped softly as he stood with my baby and walked over to the closet door. Upon opening it, I gasped in horror as a body fell out and was surrounded by diapers and baby clothes that were now covered in his blood.

Looking at the man, I could barely even breathe or speak. The closer I looked, however, the more I began to hyperventilate.

His messy hair looked too familiar. His roughed-up fists always concerned me, but now they were even more scratched and battered. My heart immediately clenched as he groaned in pain.

He tried to push himself up, but he couldn’t. My father-in-law, witnessing his feeble attempt, took it upon himself to deliver a brutal kick to his ribcage, forcing him to recoil slightly as he turned onto his back in pain.

“Who would’ve known the fucking brother that could never keep his mouth shut needed more than a few scratches and bruises to fucking talk, huh? All he had to do was get details on your new little job in the clinic and your schedule. The fucker couldn’t even do that right without worrying about you like his good-for-nothing older brother.” Antonio shrugged and furrowed his eyebrows as he adjusted Silas in his arms.

“I’m sure you two have a lot to catch up on. Go on, you can go to him,” he said with a smile.

In an instant, I went over to Declan and dropped to my knees as tears spilled from my eyes. I wiped his cheeks slightly as he gazed up at me silently. He looked... so remorseful, empty, ashamed, full of guilt.

Averting my eyes from his, I softly felt his ribs with my hands over his shirt and almost choked as he had multiple broken bones and lacerations. I ignored Antonio as he went to sit in the rocking chair, and I went back to face Declan as I pushed his messy hair from his face.

I had to hold back the sobs that filled my chest, and he choked slightly as he attempted to speak to me. I shushed him as softly as I could, but he ignored me.

“Don’t... waste your tears on me,” he whispered, and I shook my head as I simply caressed his face. I was glad he was alive in the first place. However, I worried deeply about the potential internal bleeding he had as well as his fading consciousness.

Antonio looked down at his watch, and I could faintly hear the bedroom door down the hall being opened.

“Right on time. Do me a favor, Tesoro: bring your husband over. A lovely family reunion is just what we need,” he chuckled, and I caressed Declan’s face softly as he gave me a slight nod to go.

Wiping my tears, I stood, ignoring the blood that leaked onto my matching pajama set. Exiting the room, I looked down the hall to see a sight that made my heart race even further. I was met with an old but familiar sight, one that brought me utter fear—but in the moment, all I felt was comfort.

My Levi stood in the dark and dimly lit hall, his demeanor absolutely terrifying. With his head lowered slightly as his hair blinded his vision, I could visibly see him shaking in anger.

It reminded me of the night in the club when Beverly took me to the basement. It reminded me of what I ran from before, what made us separate initially... With the way he’d changed, I never thought I’d see this version of himself again, but I was almost grateful he was back.

I feared this part of him: the part that could so easily detach, the part that seemed to lose all warmth and humanity. But now I can’t deny how thankful I am for it as the danger of Antonio Amante, the man who made my husband into the man he is, looms. Without this side of my Levi, we’d be lost. Without this side of him, we wouldn’t stand a chance.

Approaching him slowly as tears left my eyes, I hugged his torso and hid my face in his bare chest. He remained stoic as I pulled him closer. He was silent momentarily, but his words stabbed me as he whispered.

“I failed you again,” he muttered, and I shook my head as I looked up at him. His eyes were staring blankly in front of him as he focused on the door at the end of the hall. I placed my hand on the side of his face, turning him to look down at me as I shook my head.

“You didn’t... not yet,” I whispered, and his eyes were filled with wrath, but his demeanor was all too calm. Although he’d tapped into his inner devil or Diavolo , he looked hesitant, doubtful of himself and his capabilities.

“We need you, Levi,” I whispered with a small sob, and he listened as I continued. “Declan needs you… Silas needs you. I need you, Levi. Please.”

“I killed him...” he muttered, lifting his eyes from mine, looking down the hall absentmindedly. “He’s still alive.”

I grabbed his chin and forced him to look down at me again.

I felt like a hypocrite. Making him bury this part of himself, and now… now I was asking him to bring it back out as if he hadn’t suppressed it for so long. As if he didn’t go to therapy to control it. As if he didn’t try murdering his father to ease his trauma. Ironic, huh?

When his eyes would go cold, when that darkness would sweep over him, I used to brace myself for the storm that followed, for the inevitable wreckage. But now, as I look into those same eyes, I don’t see a man about to lose control. I see a man who’s learned how to wield it. He just can’t bring himself to… not after the hurt I had experienced, not when he had become unrecognizably dangerous.

God, he’s still terrifyingly dangerous… but he’s no longer dangerous to me.

Tightening my hand on his chin, I swallowed my fear as tears continued falling from my eyes. He was our only hope. My brother was suffering to death, and my baby was in the arms of my sociopathic father-in-law.

His words lingered in the air as he looked at me for his next move. I killed him… he’s still alive.

“Then kill him again,” I seethed, and he simply stared at me. The look in his eyes changed, and as if it was the only confirmation he needed, he pulled away from me and stormed into Silas’s nursery. Following behind, I cautiously watched as he stood facing his father in the middle of the floor.

The room was silent. The only noise emitted was Silas’s soft babbling and Declan’s labored breaths.

I approached my brother silently and kneeled down beside him once again. Lifting him cautiously, I laid his head on my thighs. Running my hands through his hair, I shushed him softly as he wanted to speak, but I didn’t want to see him struggle.

“ Figlio, it’s good to see you,” Antonio chuckled as Levi stood silently. He looked absolutely lethal as he narrowed his eyes on our baby in the arms of his father.

“Padre,” was all Levi had said as he took one step closer to them.

Unfortunately, Antonio wasn’t a fan of the gesture, and he quickly pulled a pistol from his hip and aimed it toward Levi. My tears grew immensely as I watched, but I became distracted as Declan mustered enough strength to sit up slowly.

Looking over at him, I tried to get him to lay back down, but he was adamant. And to my surprise, he grabbed me by the arm softly and hid me in his chest away from the scene.

His blood-soaked clothes were flushed against me, but I didn’t care. Because at that very moment, all I could focus on was the comfort of my brother’s arms. It felt different… foreign almost. I wasn’t used to this side of him, and I felt utterly confused.

Wrapping my arms around him, I could feel him attempting not to go limp, to shield me from the scene and potential bullets that could come our way… to protect me as a brother should. I maneuvered us slowly, and as much as he tried to fight my efforts, he couldn’t. He ended up laying his head on my shoulder as I held him close to me.

Looking back over to Levi, Antonio, and Silas, I watched as Levi continued his steps despite the gun drawn toward him.

“Stop fucking moving,” Antonio seethed.

Levi menacingly tilted his head to the side. “You would kill me? You would kill your only son?” he asked.

Antonio remained firm. “You tried to kill your father!” he responded.

Levi stopped walking. A slight shiver ran down my back as he let out a smile—a chilling, wicked, bloodthirsty smile.

“I did kill you. You were dead to me long ago.”

Levi took another step. My heart raced as Antonio’s hand tightened around the gun.

I silently sobbed as I briefly imagined my Levi on the ground, dead. I wanted to put a stop to this. I wanted to do something, but I felt stuck. With Declan essentially dying in my arms, I felt helpless.

“You ruined my fucking life. My empire… my marriage… you ruined everything, Diavolo ,” Antonio seethed, and Levi remained stoic. The topic of Levi’s mother was a buried subject he often didn’t discuss. Antonio seemed to be projecting his own faults, his own weaknesses onto his son.

“Then kill me,” he whispered to his father.

Antonio remained silent. And in that moment, even I could feel that the air had shifted. Something… something was wrong.

Antonio was filled with rage, but he seemed… afraid, almost terrified. Of Levi? Then why hasn’t he shot the gun yet? Glancing back at Levi, I noticed his chest was basically against the barrel of the gun. I choked back a gasp as Levi placed his hand on his father’s wrist as Antonio seemed paralyzed. Slowly, Levi moved his father’s hand, aiming the gun up until it rested under his chin.

Antonio seemed visibly shaken as Levi’s smile only grew wider as he let out a humorless chuckle like he wasn’t seconds away from being shot. “And I’m the one who’s gone weak , right?”

In a swift motion, Levi disarmed Antonio and unloaded the gun as he kept his deadly eye contact. The bullets fell to the ground, and he tossed the gun and empty clip to the corner of the room.

Antonio looked enraged… and oddly enough, Levi was able to pick up Silas from his arms. After placing our baby safely in his crib, he approached Antonio once again, who seemed frozen.

“I want you to kill me, Padre,” Levi seethed, and I could almost see Antonio cower away slightly as he felt cornered.

In an instant, Antonio tried to push Levi out of the way as he rushed for the door. I audibly gasped as Levi body-slammed his father onto the ground after catching his arm. Antonio tried to get up, but Levi was too fast.

He pushed Antonio back onto the ground and twisted his arm behind his back. I squeezed Declan as I heard the audible crack of Antonio’s bones being broken. He let out a gut-wrenching scream, causing Silas to flinch and whimper as he began crying.

However, Levi didn’t let it deter him, and I shielded my eyes in Declan’s shoulder as he grabbed his father’s hair and slammed his face into the ground, over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

The audible screams lessened, and the sound of bones crunching and blood splattering filled it instead. I knew Levi would have to force himself to stop… because, at times like this, this was his therapy, this is what soothed him.

Once Levi ceased the torture, my body practically trembled in fear as I held Declan closer while Silas’s cries were only soft whimpers. I couldn’t bring myself to look. It was a truly gruesome scene. I could almost throw up. However, I did my best to keep my composure.

Unfortunately, in my efforts to remain calm, the stress of the night began to weigh on me. And with Declan over me, almost like a weighted blanket, I slowly drifted in and out of consciousness. Before I was completely out of it, I heard Levi speak into the phone.

“Elliot... I need Dr. Lombardi and Dr. Wyatt here immediately. Tell the guys to get here, too. Teegan’s brother needs medical assistance, and… it’s about time we took out the fucking trash.”