Page 186 of Delilah In Discretion

I found Kimi and Sterling in the living room arguing through whispers, and as I approached them, they went silent.

“What’s going on?” I asked them, confused.

Sterling spoke for the both of them. “Nothing is going on... right, tiger?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Kimi stayed silent.

I went to ask again when Benjamin spoke for them as he passed by.

“The boy is waiting for you on the deck. Say hi to him for me, will you?” he muttered, and I scoffed as I turned back to look at Thing One and Thing Two.

“It was his fault! He let him in, and I told him not to!” Kimi growled as she hit his shoulder, to which Sterling whined and held his hands up.

“In my defense, he threatened me!” he replied quickly.

I ignored them both as I looked over my shoulder to see in the distance, just past the sliding glass door, he was sitting on the patio with his head down, most likely waiting for me to go to him.

I slowly walked over to the door, draining out any irrelevant sounds, and soon, I found myself pulling open the door.

He looked up, and I could tell he’d been overthinking just as I was.

“Princess,” he began, going to stand up, but I grabbed his hand as I sat beside him.

“Archer… you can’t threaten Sterling to see me,” I said softly.

He ignored me. “I’m sorry for not telling you the truth, Delilah,” he muttered.

I rubbed the back of his hand. “Well, technically... you didn’t lie, so you are forgiven in that aspect.”

He gave a small smile before looking away for a moment.

“My father only told me a little while ago that I would need to marry you. I think that’s what Stephan was trying to tell me; how I already had a ‘leg up’ and how he didn’t even need to make an effort and attempt to inherit our father’s business. The way it was portrayed that night, I choked up and froze. I never meant to hurt you.”

Pushing his hair behind his ear, I bit my lip. “Who said you did?” I asked softly, and his eyes met mine. “I know your father is crazy… mine no better. The way it came about was rather abrupt and rash, leaving me feeling a bit of betrayal and confusion. But you didn’t hurt me, Archer.”

I spoke truthfully, and as he stared at me, relief filling his eyes, I sighed in contentment as he leaned forward, his lips meeting mine. I loved Archer with everything in me... and forced or not, I would marry him in a heartbeat. Besides, my father would be the one to deal with the legal matters for now. It was a feud between him and Calvin. And I wasn’t going to let that get in the way of the love I have for Archer…

Speaking of the devil—

“Archer… it’s been a while,” I heard my father say, and pulling away from the kiss, I looked over and gasped to see a shotgun in his hand and my mother frantically coming over to the patio as well.

“What is wrong with you?!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

My father shrugged. “I’m only sending a message. I tend to hurt the ones I love, so I thought a visual might be more... beneficial.”

I looked up at him in shock, and I turned to see Archer with a small smile on his face.

My mother placed her hand on my father’s shoulder, and he stopped her for a moment as he raised the gun to be eye-level with Archer, who was ever so calm and collected while my mother and I were panicking.

“Killian, this is not good for my stress or the baby!” my mother said angrily.

My father shushed her softly. “I’m just sending a message, my love. Now... I know people who can make you disappear, Lockwood,” he said sincerely.

Archer shrugged, leaning back. “And I know people who will be able to find me. Your point?” he asked as if there wasn’t a shotgun a few inches away from his head.

“If you ever... hurt my little girl, my only option is to kill you. We have a bit of a record, if you will, within this family... you should be well aware,” my father argued.

Archer tilted his head. “Bit of a shaky record if you ask me... Eugene being the main one holding the record and having to ‘kill’ three people—twice, for that matter,” he muttered.

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