Page 46 of Levi
“Let me start off by saying that I’m the world’s biggest asshole, and I’ll never forgive myself for putting you or our daughter through that.I can only hope you’ll forgive me and let me make up for the lost time I’ve created between us.”He leans down and places his forehead on the tops of where his hands are attached to my legs, then turns and looks me straight in the eyes.“I am truly sorry for that day at the restaurant.At the time, I thought I was doing the right thing by you and our child.I was warned not to go down that road, but didn’t listen.During the lunch, I immediately knew what a horrible decision I had made, but couldn’t find you to make things right after you had left.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“A few weeks before the restaurant…”
Levi goes on to tell me how the baby and I were being threatened.He has Mitch and Dean show me the letters and photos that were sent to Thorne Law Firm, and I can’t believe that someone could do something so horrendous.The fact that this person was able to get this close and go undetected sends a shiver down my spine.Then they show me the files on the car bomb; they were able to cross match that it was the same person who sent the threatening letters along with also sabotaging the car.
“Did you find out who did this?”I ask.
He nods, “It took us a while but we finally found out who it was, and he won’t ever be a problem for our family again.”
I blow out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
“Who?Who would do something like this to us?”
Levi looks over to Mitch, and Mitch gives him a firm nod.
“Kevin Jenkins.He was a Senior Associate at the firm while we were dating.He was fired but Linc thought he went away quietly.We were horribly wrong.”
“But why?”
“We think that it had to do with firing him after catching him falsifying some documents on a case he was working on.What I didn’t tell you is that it got physical and I stepped in with a beat down.The more we looked into him, the more disturbing things we found on him.He also had a big dislike for the Thornes, so that might have pushed him even further over the edge.”Mitch speaks, up but doesn’t elaborate any more than that.
“So, he’s in prison?”I ask, wanting to make sure no harm can come to Halo.
“Kevin Jenkins is dead.When the police finally closed in on his location and had him surrounded, he blew himself up before they could get in there and retrieve him.The medical examiner did a thorough job and did the test twice to confirm it was his body,” Mitch explains the details to me.
We sit there quietly for a while, just taking everything in.I definitely wasn’t expecting to hear all of this when I came over here.It put things in a different perspective, but I still need to keep my walls up.Levi has the ability to crush me and all my resolve, with a simple look or touch, and I need to be strong.I’ve lasted being away from him for over two years, and I don’t want to look back.
“Why Levi?Why didn’t you tell me about the threat?We could’ve avoided all this… heartache if you’d just let me in.Look at this mess you created.”
He drops his head and looks at the floor towards his bare feet.If it were possible, he’d curl up into a ball.
“I was scared,” he whispers.I must’ve heard him wrong.
“Scared?Of what?”The Levi Thorne I knew was never scared of anything or anyone for that matter.He was always on the quiet side of things, but that didn’t mean he was a pushover and would let someone steamroll him.
“My whole life I’ve only had to take care of myself.Me.If I messed up, I always had Linc to rely on to help me fix things when I was hurt or in trouble.Then I met you, and you turned my entire world upside down.You became everything to me.Every breath I took was in some way to make sure you were taken care of.I lived, ate, slept and breathed for you,” he pauses.“I realized that I was walking in everyone else’s shadow and doing what they thought I should be doing.It was like waking up for the first time in my life.You gave me a purpose, and I promised myself that I’d do whatever it took to be the man you deserved and the best version of myself for you.”He turns and finally looks at me.“When I first received those letters and then the photos, my mind went to a dark place.A place I hadn’t been to since I was a child.The thought of losing you and then our child turned me into another person.You didn’t know this but I had six guys watching you at one time.Four of them while you were in the apartment.Every photo had my nightmares coming back and I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time of our fight in the restaurant.”
The sound of his voice tears open my heart hearing his struggle.I try to put myself in his shoes and it breaks me apart.
“When I got the letter demanding I leave you, I made a rash decision.My thought was that we’d have a public argument, and that would give us some time for the team to catch the guy, or guys, behind all this.Never did I think that the next time I saw you would be two and a half years later.I know now that it was truly wrong, but at the time the thought of someone taking you away from me, because of one of my cases turning someone into an enemy, had me going into overdrive.You are the most precious thing in my world, and if something were to ever happen to you because of me, I’d die.And then to add Halo in the mix, it sent me over the edge.Dr.Blake and I have been working on what I can and can’t control, and I think I’ve made some real strides.”
“You could’ve just told me and I would’ve played along, Levi.We were supposed to be partners.We made vows to be one,” I sharply say.“I get that everyone has catered to you since you were a kid but when we got married, we became team.When you hurt, I hurt, that’s how a marriage works.”
His sad eyes make me ease up on my anger, but I’m still mad that he shouldered this alone and brought us to this point.
“I know that now, and after you left the restaurant, I knew I’d blown it and made the biggest mistake of my life.I thought you’d come back home after a few hours, and then we’d discuss it and I’d tell you everything and then we’d make up and come up with a plan.I had no idea the downhill snowball that started after it.”
“Well, you should’ve known you can’t make decisions for others Levi.It’s like playing Russian Roulette,” I snap.“Everything would be different and now look what you’ve caused.Your daughter doesn’t even know you but what few pictures she’s seen at Grandma’s house,” I fume.“I haven’t seen my best friend in years and she doesn’t know my daughter!”
“I know, don’t you think I know that?”His voice is shaky and he pulls at his hair.“Every day that went by, I wanted to go back to that horrible moment and choose to do things differently.I drank myself stupid for weeks on end to pass out, just so I didn’t have to replay everything and live with the consequences.Your father made sure to rub it in, don’t worry.”
“My father?”What did dad have to do with this?
“Saylor, your father has hated me from the moment I met him and is a constant thorn in my side,” he sneers.
“That is not true Levi, and I think you need to watch what you say about him or I’ll walk out that door and we won’t speak again.You’ve never even met him,” I demand, pushing his hands off my knees and get up from the sofa.
