Page 5 of Delilah In Discretion

Pierce walked back into the room and placed the tea on the coffee table. As he exited the room, I placed a few sugars in mine before I spoke.

“So, you called me to come to see you because…?”

Calvin tilted his head innocently. “What? Can I not invite you over for a simple chat?” he asked, and I shrugged. Sure, it could’ve been a small chat, but there was always a double meaning behind it.

“I suppose. You haven’t been giving my father any problems, now, have you?” I asked, and he shook his head.

“Not that I know of, no.”

“Let me rephrase: You haven’t beenplanningon giving my father any problems, have you?”

He chuckled as he took a sip of his tea. “You got me there, Kitten...” he said, and we heard footsteps walk past the room. Thinking it was Pierce, I didn’t look over to the open door, but Calvin did.

“Oh, Archer,” he said, and my heart dropped to my stomach.

The footsteps came back to the door and into the room.

“Father,” he said, and I couldn’t move in my seat. Unfortunately, along with being my godfather, my father’senemy, and a manipulative, potential psychopath, Calvin Lockwood wasArcher’sfather.

Ever since I was a child, Archer has been my bully and my tormentor. He never made it clear if he hated me or not; it was just him manhandling me, forcing me to speak to him, and just staring at me with a distinct look in his eyes.

He was one of the reasons why I left the academy to focus on working in my father’s business during my last few years of high school. I only decided to go back because I heard from Calvin that Archer was occupied with his COO position in LCWD Co. for the last year and hasn’t been too involved with going to campus every day. I wanted to spend some time at school with Kimi, so I decided, why not? Since he still went to school, I expected to see him at least once, but not this soon.

“Tell me, son, how did the meeting go this afternoon with my executives?” Calvin asked.

Archer responded, “Pretty well. They’ve kept up with their supply and have all their accounts in check for this upcoming season.”

Calvin nodded. “Great. I wanted to make sure you were all up to date before your official return to the academy. I don’t want you to prioritize other things before finishing up all of your classes… wouldn’t you agree, Kitten?” he asked, looking over to me, and at that moment, I wanted the earth to swallow me whole. Playing with my sleeves, I felt Archer’s predatory gaze on me as I nodded my head silently.

Not only was he now going back to the academy to be there full-time, but I was also now going to be there, making the possibility of running into him multiply by a million.Just my luck.I looked over my shoulder at him briefly and saw him staring me down like he normally did. He took a glance towards his father and gazed back at me, emotionless.

Looking back over to Calvin, I grabbed my purse and stood up.

“All right, it looks to be getting late. I should get back home for dinner. Have a good night, Calvin… Archer,” I said, acknowledging his presence in the room.

He didn’t say anything as I left, releasing a breath I didn’t even know I was holding.

Archer

“Why was she here?” I asked my father, who stood up and walked over to his desk as I stood in the middle of the floor.

He shrugged. “Should I have to invite someone over for a reason?”

“No, but from father to son, I know you like the back of my hand. Why else would she be here the second I returned to the city?”

“Coincidence?” Calvin said, but the look on his face said it was bullshit.

“You and I both know it isn’t.”

He smirked. “If I did have a reason, I could tell it to you, but I’d rather not.”

I turned away to head to my room but his voice stopped me.

“Your brother will be arriving back from Singapore in a few days.”

At the mention of my brother, I looked over to him.

“That’s fine,” I said in response, and with that, I left his office and went into my room.

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