Page 191 of Delilah In Discretion

Luca gazed at her for a few more seconds before throwing her to the ground. She whimpered in pain as Jin’s heart clenched.

“Good,” Luca replied, looking back over to Jin as he approached him slowly. “To think I would hurt such a sweet little girl for something her boyfriend decided to spill… Hell, I’ve probably hit rock bottom already, considering I’m here contemplating if I should hurt actual children.”

Jin slowly stepped back as he gulped. Luca’s smile widened as Jin tripped over a branch, taking him to the ground. Leaning down, Luca sighed heavily.

“It’s almost too fucking easy,” he muttered, and glanced over his shoulder to see Ivory looking over to Jin with fear and sadness as she tried to lift herself from the impact of being thrown.

“I’m almost sad to see you two go through this. Key word beingalmost—” Luca began, but was cut off as he was hit over the head with something blunt.

Jin looked up and let out a breath as Zachary dropped the rock in his hand out of pure shock. After shaking himself from thefear, he pulled Jin to stand up by the hand and quickly went over to his sister, who was in the middle of a panic attack.

Her body was shivering, and her face was red, with tears constantly falling. She gave a little hiccup as sobs continued to escape her, and Zachary shushed her softly as he pulled her to stand. Noticing her legs giving out slightly, he picked her up carefully, and she laid her head on his shoulder.

“H-How did you know something was wrong?” Jin asked.

Zachary shook his head. “I didn’t.He did.”

They both looked over to see Stephan, Archer’s older brother, emerging from the trees with Killian, Archer, and their bodyguards, Nathan and Trent. Nathan grabbed Luca from the shirt and pulled him up off the ground while Trent placed the handcuffs on him from behind.

Stephan’s voice filled the silence. “I knew Luca was going to do something extreme. And I just couldn’t take it. I had to tell someone, but it wasn’t just something I could say over the phone. When I came to tell everyone, Zachary immediately took off into the forest to find you and Ivory. Call it a gut feeling, but he immediately knew something was wrong.”

Killian walked over to his daughter, who was still shaken about the whole experience. Taking her from her brother, he glanced over to Jin, who was avoiding all eye contact.

He leaned down toward Jin and spoke in a low voice. “When she’s feeling better... the three of us are going to have a bit of a chat regarding your relationship.”

Jin responded slightly shakily. “Of course, sir.”

Killian walked ahead as everyone followed. Archer and Stephan remained silent, but there was a definite tension between the two.

Archer and Stephan were standing in the living room, and there was a deafening silence.

“Congratulations on your engagement, by the way,” Stephan muttered.

Archer remained silent.

Stephan looked over to his younger brother and noticed the angry and resentful look in his eyes.

“Let it out, little brother,” he muttered, and as if a switch went off, Archer’s glare intensified as he seethed his following few words.

“You’re no fucking brother of mine.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Stephan sighed as he replied.

Archer continued, “Do you know how much shit you put me through the last few weeks, months… years?! Here I was, trying to gain your approval for all of my childhood, and for what? For you to attempt to ruin my relationship by exposing it to Killian early or for constantly being against me and blaming me for our father’s actions? He’s the one who played you, not me.”

“Archer... I know—”

“No, you don’t know any fucking thing. If you knew anything, you wouldn’t make it your goal to treat me like shit.”

“I know you love Delilah,” Stephan muttered, and Archer scoffed, shaking his head as if the mere mention of Delilah’s name coming from his older brother’s mouth was an insult considering all that he’s done.

“Of course I love her,” Archer snapped, his voice low and dangerous. “I also loved my older brother despite him betraying his own family and putting the woman I love and the people she loves in danger. Because of your own selfish jealousy, you schemed, you plotted, you did everything you could to tear us apart.”

Stephan’s face hardened, but there was still a flicker of guilt in his eyes. “I made mistakes, Archer, I know that. But it wasn’t about jealousy. It was about trying to protect you, even if you can’t see that.”

“Trying to protect me?” Archer laughed bitterly, the sound harsh and cold. “You weren’t protecting me. You were destroying me. You pushed me away for being the ‘golden child.’ That’s what you bitched about to justify your shitty behavior, right?”

“You’re right,” Stephan admitted, his voice steady despite the accusation. “But if I hadn’t exposed the two of you, something much more drastic would have happened. Imagine the potential rampage your future father-in-law would go on if he found out about you and Delilah in a more fucked-up way. Luca is not in his right mind.”

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