Page 143 of Delilah In Discretion

I knew Eugene well enough to know when he was administering a threat. I knew what he meant. I knew I would soon have to come to terms with it.

My older brother was giving me less than a month to live.

Delilah

“You shouldn’t meet with him… it’s too risky,” Kimi said, and I could tell she was worried.

After showing the message to everyone, we sent Ivory and Jin away for a moment as we discussed.I was even tempted to send Sterling away, too.

“I agree,” Archer began, and I looked over at him as he continued, “But this could be a chance for us to see what the hell he wants. Understand his motive for returning. Understand if he truly wants to build a relationship with Delilah,” he explained.

We thought about it for a moment.

“If he has other intentions… do you think Uncle Eugene would do something to him?” I asked, and Archer shrugged.

“I believe he might. An opening like this would give him access to both Michael and Stephan. If Eugene truly is working with myfather, he wouldn’t do anything to Luca per se, but to keep the peace or to de-escalate things, I think he’d go after Michael,” he muttered, rubbing his hand on my hip, and I sighed.

Kimi shook her head. “If we do this, my father and Uncle Blaine need to be made aware. They need to be kept in the loop of things,” she advised.

I nodded slowly, my mind trying to process what was to happen in less than a week.

I was finally going to properly meet my biological father.

Chapter fifty

Delilah

“Iknow it needs to be done… but something feels off. I don’t like the idea of you being with him alone,” Archer muttered as he sat with me in the car on the way to a cafe. He had a business meeting with his father’s associates in an hour or so, and he was so tempted to cancel last minute in order to stay with me.

I grabbed his hand in mine and rubbed his palm softly. I had agreed to meet Michael, and we were meeting at a small cafe by a park as I didn’t want us to be secluded.

“I don’t either... but Kimi’s ‘philosophy’ still stands. Look him in the eyes one last time, then never again. I will make it clear to him that I have no intentions of building any sort of relationship with him.”

It was the truth. I’d never met the man until a week or two ago, and I didn’t intend on acting as if we knew each other forever.

“Still don’t know why you are so keen on keeping her around. We should just let both her and Sterling into the wild,” Archer muttered, and I rolled my eyes at his comment.

“Are you going to be at the office long?” I asked him, and he sighed.

“Unfortunately, I’m on damage control since Stephan has been MIA for some time now, and my father is handing me all his work.”

I nodded softly as I continued to caress his hand.

He muttered as he brought my hand to his lips, “Side note, Princess. You look adorable today—any day really—but I like this look. It almost makes me want to give into my intrusive thoughts and pull over to the side of the road.”

His hand left mine for a moment, and I pouted slightly before a blush rose to my cheeks as he placed his hand on my thigh.

It was a simple outfit, nothing I wouldn’t be caught wearing on the regular, yet for some reason the man beside me was almost beside himself as he gazed at me.

“Pull over to do what?” I asked, and he chuckled.

“To do anything I want with you, baby, in the backseat, preferably,” he muttered casually.

I blushed profusely as I hid my face in my hands. “You’re terrible, you know that?” I responded, and he chuckled as he caressed my thigh slowly.

Looking out the car window, I sighed, as this was probably going to take the most courage I’ve had in a while. And for some reason, I had a gut feeling that I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

My knee bounced as it crossed my other leg. I took a sip of my tea slowly and gazed at the sign that stood a few feet away from the coffee shop I was sitting outside of. Waiting seemed to be the worst part of it all as I could barely keep my composure. Not onlyhad we informed Uncle Blaine and Uncle Shin, my mother was looped in as I didn’t feel comfortable going this far without her.

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