Page 79 of Delilah In Discretion

Getting Stephan on his side was crucial, to begin with. Especially when he would want to seek revenge for being used by Calvin and not having a fair chance at inheriting their family business.

Exposing the truth of their growing relationship could be done in a heartbeat. But that wouldn’t be enough. No… that would be too easy.

Although Luca was slightly upset about the events that had occurred that night, he couldn’t hide the plastered smile on his face... planning for the chaos as he was more than excited to see it unfold.

Chapter twenty-five

Delilah

Stepping out of the room, I was now fully dressed and as ready as I could be for my day with Archer. I ran my hands through my hair.God, what am I doing? This is literally a death sentence, and here I am, welcoming it with open arms.

Soon, I heard footsteps, and Archer’s hand made it to the small of my back.

“Stop overthinking things,” he muttered, and I scoffed, trying to ignore the heat that ignited in my body at his touch alone.

“How, Archer? My bodyguard is probably going on a rampage trying to find me. We’re already too late to even think about joining the group.”

“Kimiko is handling your guard for the day, and as for the group, you didn’t really think I was on this trip to learn, did you? I outbid this penthouse to be alone and spend more time with you now. We’re spending the day together. End of discussion.”

I crossed my arms and looked over to him. “You offered a higher price than Killian Russel for a room for two weeks?”

He shrugged. “It wasn’t easy, but it definitely wasn’t hard.” He grabbed my hand, and I rolled my eyes as he dragged me out of the room into the hall.

“Where are we even going, Archer?”

He pressed the button and sighed. “I don’t know, Princess, but I feel like brunch should be good right about now.”

I groaned as we stepped into the elevator. “You kidnapped me to take me to brunch?”

He bit his lip, and I could see a smirk on the edge of his lips. “You like to complain and protest a lot... you know that?”

I scoffed, “I do not!”

He gave me a knowing look, and I looked away from him as he began to laugh.

Eventually, we ended up in a cafe and took a small booth in the corner. After ordering, I couldn’t help but stare at Archer as he did the same to me.

“You’re unpredictable, Lockwood,” I said, and he smiled.

“I could say theexactsame thing about you, Russel.”

I kept my expression the same and sighed as I continued, “I hope you know... for my entire life, I’ve been trying to either ignore or get away from you.”

“I’m quite aware of the extremes I had to go through for you to notice me, Princess...” he whispered.

I bit my lip. “Archer... you patronized me, threatened me, mocked me, and at times even made me cry or even afraid of you. All for what?” I asked, and he looked away. From what I could tell, his shoulders seemed tense, and his hands were fidgeting slightly.

“Surely we’re aware of the stereotype about a boy bullying a girl just because he likes her.”

“We were in kindergarten, Archer. We didn’t even know what liking someone meant or felt.”

“You could use that against me as I try to justify my actions, but I think the feeling I got around you or the fact that you stayed on my mind for endless hours at a time would back it up,” he muttered.

I sighed, looking out of the window. “We can’t be together, Archer... you know that.”

I felt his hand grab mine and gazed back over to him.

“Delilah... I know you feel at least something. You have to after everything we’ve been through.”

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