Page 81 of Aching for His Discretion

I turned around and looked directly at her. “What?” I muttered, confused.

She simply stared at me as she responded, “I just don’t get it. He was afteryou. He wanted to dateyou… you didn’t even bother to give him a chance.”

Stepping down the steps, I tilted my head in confusion. “Beverly... he assaulted me and demeaned me. I told you that, and you’re trying to tell me that I shouldn’t have turned him down? I think you’ve had too much to drink.”

She practically fumed. “That has nothing to do with this! What really matters is now you are datingthe fucking devil, and for allwe know, he could have done something to Alec,” she retorted, and I furrowed my eyebrows.The devil? Levi?

“Beverly... what has gotten into you?” I asked, and she crossed her arms.

“What’s gotten into me is Alec has gone missing… And everyone is acting like nothing happened. And you know something? I thought I was doing you a favor,pushing you to be with the guy that I liked because he was interested in you, not me,”she said sincerely.

I bit my lip at her revelation. I had no clue she was interested in Alec. I knew she would often encourage me to talk to him, but she knew my dislike for him as well as the cruel things he’d done to me… and after all that, she still likes him?

“Bevs… Alec and his father… we all know they weren’t good people. Alec did whatever he wanted, and his father allowed it and abused his power, too.”

“You didn’t know him like I did!” she said angrily as she approached me, and I backed up slightly. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My friend Beverly…could I even call her a friend?She was putting Alec and Dr. Harrington before our relationship like none of it even mattered, like I didn’t confide in her when I felt hurt or afraid.

We both jumped as the basement door slammed closed, and heavy footsteps began descending the steps slowly. My heart raced slightly, but it relaxed as Micah came into view.

“Little Mama… what are you doing down here?” he asked me cautiously, and soon his eyes caught sight of Beverly, who looked like a deer in headlights.

“Where the hell is Alec?” she snarled, pushing down the fear that showed through her eyes.

Micah didn’t say anything. When he wasn’t his usual bubbly self, he somewhat scared me. I was used to this kind of treatmentfrom Elliot, Nico, and Levi, but seeing Micah look as stoic as ever, I was petrified.

“The boy. He’s... been relocated,” he said, but I had a weird feeling as he glared at Beverly, not exactly thrilled to see her.

“Bullshit. I know you all did something to him,” she seethed.

Micah looked over at me for a moment before he looked back at her.

“Well,he did something to Teegan.”He shrugged.

Beverly scoffed as she walked to the steps. “Regardless, I’m going to figure out what the fuck you guys did to him and bring him back home. Don’t be surprised when the police come to tear this place apart.”

She pushed past him angrily, and I listened as she ascended the steps.

Micah looked over at me and approached me slowly.

“What are you doing down here, Teegan?” he asked seriously, and I gulped softly.

“Beverly thought we’d find something, I guess… She said something could have happened to Alec.”

He hummed, and I played with my hands as I looked up at him.

“D-did something else happen to him?” I asked, and he remained silent before he nodded to the steps.

“Let’s go upstairs. You shouldn’t be down here.”

Deciding not to defy him or worry about his blatant disregard toward my question, I nodded slowly as I followed him to the steps… but I felt myself stop.

Hearing something move behind the steel door, I looked up at Micah, and he seemed conflicted. However, his eyes looked at me in a pleading way as if he was begging me not to be curious.

All of a sudden, we heard a tumbling sound from the steps, and my hand flew to my mouth as Beverly ended up at the bottom, unconscious. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing, butI could already see bruises forming on her. I quickly grabbed Micah by the arm as tears came to my eyes, and he ran his hand over his face.

“You fucking idiot,”he said in Italian as someone descended the steps, and Elliot came into view slowly. However, once he saw me, his face looked void of any color. I’d never seen him look so shocked.

“Why the hell is she down here?”hegrowled, and I felt a tear fall as I choked back a sob, looking at Beverly unconscious on the floor.

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