Page 188 of Delilah In Discretion

“I’m married, by the way, and so are you,” Killian muttered.

Calvin chuckled as he took a sip of his lemonade. “I see Porter’s jokes are starting to rub off on you. Let’s make sure it’s not too much.”

Killian shrugged. “I’ll do my best.” And the two continued to play in silence. However, Killian couldn’t help but think about Calvin’s words. Did he really need him? Was this all a ploy to get into his head?

From the beginning, he knew Calvin would stop at nothing to get into his business, but he couldn’t help but wonder. Would having him closer actually benefit him or harm him?

In the past, it obviously harmed him, but that was child’s play: a way to stir him up and get him riled while indirectly keeping Calvin in the loop of his circle. They were desperate measures to simply gain his attention, ranging from attempting to invest millions and billions of dollars into multiple departments to threatening to stir drama in the press.

Killian wasn’t sure if it was the openness he had to develop due to his daughter being with Archer, but now, he seemed to be reconsidering his thoughts on Calvin. For as much as he went through to pull this off, Killian had to admit that he was slightly impressed.

“You’re never going to stop, are you,” Killian muttered after realizing he had practically no more moves left, and Calvin had essentially won the game of chess. Well, practically no moremoves left except one that would prolong the game for longer than necessary.

Calvin shrugged as he watched Killian make the final move that would allow them to continue the game of chess. “That depends, Killian. You could let me win or ultimately put an end to the games at any second. The question is, if I never stopped,would you?”

Meanwhile, Archer and Delilah were walking along the beach hand in hand as they looked off into the ocean. The sun would set soon, however, there was only one thing on Archer’s mind as he watched Delilah smile and kick her feet playfully in the sand.

“I kinda want a ranch house when I finally move out of my parents’,” she said nonchalantly.

Archer chuckled as he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. “Is that so, Princess?” he asked.

She nodded. “I’ll still have a home in the city, but… I really want a chance to live an easy-going life, even if it’s just for a day or two. Does that sound weird?” she asked.

He stood behind her as she stopped and wrapped his arms around her from the back. He looked down at her as she leaned into his hold comfortably, and he watched as she sighed happily.

“I think it sounds perfect,” he replied as he rubbed his thumb over her stomach.

This could be… would be an ideal time to propose, and it probably was. What’s the worst she could say?No? She wouldn’t.

He thought back to the moments that led to this point in his life with the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Their family was full of lies and secrets, but they somehow found each other in the midst of it all… even if they were somewhat forced into a relationship from a rather young age.

Archer reached into his pocket and felt the ring box he’d been holding for the last few months. He had bought it before he gaveher the bracelet, but he knew she’d oppose it. Thinking back on the memory of giving her the bracelet, he let a small smile show on his face.

“It’s beautiful, Archer.”

He picked it up and slowly placed it around her wrist. She watched as he clasped it, and after he pulled away, she began to read the small pendant hanging from it.

“Really? ‘A.L.?’ You even placed your initial on me to lay an even bigger claim than you’ve already established?”

He bit his lip as he grabbed her hand and shrugged.

“This will suffice until I propose.”

And it did, but he almost couldn’t take it. His mind was begging him to take the moment to propose as he had planned for the last few hours. To say his hands were sweaty would be an understatement as his nerves started to get the best of him.

His heart pounded in his chest as he held the box in his hand, feeling determined to do what he’d wanted for so long… but something was wrong. He tossed the box in his pocket for a moment and noticed it was a bit lighter than earlier.

His heart sank as he opened it discreetly and felt around with his thumb, only to feel it empty. He did his best to keep his composure as Delilah continued to stare at the sunset, his arm still wrapped around her.

“You know,” she began, and Archer felt defeated as he knew he would have to rummage through their belongings to find it before Delilah or anyone else did.

“The sunset is beautiful,” she muttered.

Archer reluctantly nodded. “It is.”

She pondered for a moment.

“Yeah… but not as beautiful as this,” she said, and Archer went to speak before his eyes went wide to see Delilah holding up the engagement ring on her ring finger, the very one he was going crazy over for potentially losing.

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