Page 137 of Aching for His Discretion

His messy hair lookedtoo familiar.His roughed-up fists always concerned me, but now they were even more scratched and battered. My heart immediately clenched as he groaned in pain.

He tried to push himself up, but he couldn’t. My father-in-law, witnessing his feeble attempt, took it upon himself to deliver a brutal kick to his ribcage, forcing him to recoil slightly as he turned onto his back in pain.

“Who would’ve known the fucking brother that could never keep his mouth shut needed more than a few scratches and bruises to fucking talk, huh? All he had to do was get detailson your new little job in the clinic and your schedule. The fucker couldn’t even do that right without worrying about you like his good-for-nothing older brother.” Antonio shrugged and furrowed his eyebrows as he adjusted Silas in his arms.

“I’m sure you two have a lot to catch up on. Go on, you can go to him,” he said with a smile.

In an instant, I went over to Declan and dropped to my knees as tears spilled from my eyes. I wiped his cheeks slightly as he gazed up at me silently. He looked... so remorseful, empty, ashamed, full of guilt.

Averting my eyes from his, I softly felt his ribs with my hands over his shirt and almost choked as he had multiple broken bones and lacerations. I ignored Antonio as he went to sit in the rocking chair, and I went back to face Declan as I pushed his messy hair from his face.

I had to hold back the sobs that filled my chest, and he choked slightly as he attempted to speak to me. I shushed him as softly as I could, but he ignored me.

“Don’t... waste your tears on me,” he whispered, and I shook my head as I simply caressed his face. I was glad he was alive in the first place. However, I worried deeply about the potential internal bleeding he had as well as his fading consciousness.

Antonio looked down at his watch, and I could faintly hear the bedroom door down the hall being opened.

“Right on time. Do me a favor,Tesoro:bring your husband over. A lovely family reunion is just what we need,” he chuckled, and I caressed Declan’s face softly as he gave me a slight nod to go.

Wiping my tears, I stood, ignoring the blood that leaked onto my matching pajama set. Exiting the room, I looked down the hall to see a sight that made my heart race even further. I was met with an old but familiar sight, one that brought me utter fear—but in the moment, all I felt was comfort.

My Levi stood in the dark and dimly lit hall, his demeanor absolutely terrifying. With his head lowered slightly as his hair blinded his vision, I could visibly see him shaking in anger.

It reminded me of the night in the club when Beverly took me to the basement. It reminded me of what I ran from before, what made us separate initially... With the way he’d changed, I never thought I’d see this version of himself again, but I was almost grateful he was back.

I feared this part of him: the part that could so easily detach, the part that seemed to lose all warmth and humanity. But now I can’t deny how thankful I am for it as the danger of Antonio Amante, the man who made my husband into the man he is, looms. Without this side of my Levi, we’d be lost. Without this side of him, we wouldn’t stand a chance.

Approaching him slowly as tears left my eyes, I hugged his torso and hid my face in his bare chest. He remained stoic as I pulled him closer. He was silent momentarily, but his words stabbed me as he whispered.

“I failed you again,” he muttered, and I shook my head as I looked up at him. His eyes were staring blankly in front of him as he focused on the door at the end of the hall. I placed my hand on the side of his face, turning him to look down at me as I shook my head.

“You didn’t... not yet,” I whispered, and his eyes were filled with wrath, but his demeanor was all too calm. Although he’d tapped into his inner devil orDiavolo, he looked hesitant, doubtful of himself and his capabilities.

“We need you, Levi,” I whispered with a small sob, and he listened as I continued. “Declan needs you… Silas needs you.I need you, Levi.Please.”

“I killed him...” he muttered, lifting his eyes from mine, looking down the hall absentmindedly. “He’s still alive.”

I grabbed his chin and forced him to look down at me again.

I felt like a hypocrite.Making him bury this part of himself, and now… now I was asking him to bring it back out as if he hadn’t suppressed it for so long. As if he didn’t go to therapy to control it. As if he didn’t try murdering his father to ease his trauma.Ironic, huh?

When his eyes would go cold, when that darkness would sweep over him, I used to brace myself for the storm that followed, for the inevitable wreckage. But now, as I look into those same eyes, I don’t see a man about to lose control. I see a man who’s learned how to wield it. He just can’t bring himself to… not after the hurt I had experienced, not when he had become unrecognizably dangerous.

God, he’s still terrifyingly dangerous… but he’s no longer dangerous to me.

Tightening my hand on his chin, I swallowed my fear as tears continued falling from my eyes. He was our only hope. My brother was suffering to death, and my baby was in the arms of my sociopathic father-in-law.

His words lingered in the air as he looked at me for his next move.I killed him… he’s still alive.

“Then kill him again,”I seethed, and he simply stared at me. The look in his eyes changed, and as if it was the only confirmation he needed, he pulled away from me and stormed into Silas’s nursery. Following behind, I cautiously watched as he stood facing his father in the middle of the floor.

The room was silent. The only noise emitted was Silas’s soft babbling and Declan’s labored breaths.

I approached my brother silently and kneeled down beside him once again. Lifting him cautiously, I laid his head on my thighs. Running my hands through his hair, I shushed him softly as he wanted to speak, but I didn’t want to see him struggle.

“Figlio,it’s good to see you,” Antonio chuckled as Levi stood silently. He looked absolutely lethal as he narrowed his eyes on our baby in the arms of his father.

“Padre,”was all Levi had said as he took one step closer to them.

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