33. Levi
Chapter 33
Levi
I should be passed out.
Should be face-first in the mattress that feels just a little too hard to get comfortable at this fancy-ass hotel after the brutal marathon that was Day One of the build-off.
Instead, I'm sitting on the edge of the bed, still in the day’s jeans, head in my hands, while the city buzzes and hums outside the window.
There's a sharp knock at my door. Not a polite one.
I already know who it is before I even stand. The screaming text I received a few hours ago alerted me to his intentions.
I drag myself up, cross the room, and open it.
Brody King storms past me without waiting for an invitation.
His service dog, Milo, at his heels, eyes darting between us like he already knows trouble's about to break loose.
Brody rounds on me, fists clenched at his sides, chest heaving.
"You wanna tell me what the fuck I just heard from your kid?" His voice is a low snarl.
I shut the door quickly. Because there’s no way this is ending quietly.
"It’s not what you think, King" I say, even though we both know it is.
He lets out a bitter laugh. "Really? 'Cause it sure sounds like you’ve been fucking my daughter behind my back."
I flinch.
Not because he’s wrong.
But because hearing it like that… raw and ugly. It makes it worse somehow. Cheapens what Sienna and I have formed.
Brody’s breathing hard. His knuckles white.
"You’re supposed to be my brother, Levi. You’re supposed to have my back. You were there when I bled for this country. When I lost everything and had to start over. You were the only family I had left."
I don't say anything. Because how do you defend betraying the one person who's never given up on you?
"And you didn’t think maybe— just maybe —you should’ve fucking asked me first before touching the one person I have left to share my blood?"
"Brody. You weren't her dad when she walked into the shop that night," I grit out. "You didn’t even know she existed."
"And you think that makes it better?" His voice cracks. "You knew. You fucking knew once we figured it out. And you still kept going on with it."
I clench my fists, trying like hell to stay calm. To remember this is Brody.
"You’ve been trying to push me to move on for years, King. 'Get laid, Levi. Find a good woman.' Remember that? That was you."
He stares at me like I’ve lost my mind.
"Yeah," he snaps. "But I didn’t mean with my goddamn daughter !"
Milo whines softly at Brody’s feet. Sensitive to the storm brewing above him.
Brody steps in close enough that I feel the heat coming off him.
"You think this is about you getting your dick wet?" he growls. "This is about Sienna. She just found out she has a family. She deserves a chance to have a life that’s hers without being dragged down by your fucking mess."
Every word hits like a body blow.
"And if you don’t back off," Brody says, voice low and vicious, "I'll make sure you lose everything you’re holding onto so tightly."
My stomach turns to stone.
"You wouldn’t do that," I say, because if I believe that, then maybe there's still a chance this isn’t the end of everything. “You’re just mad, Brody. And I get it. This sucks but you don’t understand–”
"You sure about that?" he fires back. "I still have pull in this town, Steele. You think your custody of Josie would survive an ugly enough fight? A few bad references?"
I go still.
Colder than I've ever felt.
"You're threatening my guardianship now?" I rasp.
"I’m protecting what’s mine ," he says, without a single ounce of hesitation. "Because you clearly can’t be trusted to do the right thing anymore."
Silence stretches, ugly and ragged between us.
"You’re just like me," I say finally, voice hollow. "Scared shitless of losing something you never thought you could have."
He sneers. "Fuck you, Levi."
And then he's gone.
Just like that.
Leaving me standing in the middle of a hotel room that feels somehow worse than the combat zones we crawled out of together.
An hour later, I knock on Sienna’s door.
She answers almost immediately, wearing an SKC hoodie and sleep-mussed hair, looking so beautiful it makes my chest ache.
"Hey," she says softly. "You okay?"
I force a smile that feels like it might crack my face in half.
"Can I come in?"
She steps aside, letting me in.
I pace for a second, gathering the guts to say what I know I have to say. Even if it kills me to do it.
"I’ve been thinking," I start, and already her smile falters. She feels it too. The shift.
“Levi… what’s going on?” She reaches for me, but I take a step back away from her touch. I can’t let her touch me. I can’t let her pull me in. This isn’t about me or about us anymore.
"I think... after the build-off, I’m gonna take a step back."
Her whole body stiffens.
"You’re leaving SKC?" she asks, voice small.
I nod once.
"You can stay. Your 30 day trial has reached it’s end. And I’ve decided… I want you to run the shop.”
“Levi… what the hell are you talking about?”
“You’re already more than capable,” I tell her, doing my best not to look into those eyes that will so easily take me under.
She wraps her arms around herself, retreating into the hoodie like she could hide from this.
"Why?" she asks. "Things are finally good. Where is this all coming from?”
I shake my head.
"I can’t lose Theo," I say, and this at least is true. "He’s already pulled away once before. If I don’t do something... if I don’t show him that he still matters first, I’m scared I’ll lose him for good, Sienna. And goddamnit… I’ve already lost so much."
Telling her this tastes like ash in my mouth. Maybe I should come clean about Brody. About his threats against my family. Maybe saying the truth, will free us both. Or maybe, it’ll just dig a deeper hole.
Maybe it’ll make her second guess ever coming to Breaker’s Isle to begin with and then I’ll never see her again. At least if she runs the shop… I’ll know where to find her.
And maybe that’s selfish, but I’m learning that love acts in erratic ways sometimes.
Sienna’s chin wobbles but she fights it down like the damn warrior she is.
"I understand," she says after a beat. "I don't like it. But I understand. You have to take care of your family first, Levi."
I step closer, reach out, then let my hand drop before I touch her.
If I touch her, I'll break.
"I’m sorry," I whisper.
She gives a watery smile.
"Me too."
Neither of us says what we really want to say.
That it’s not over. That it can’t be.
That this isn’t fair.
That maybe in another world...
But this isn’t another world.
This is ours.
And right now, it’s a broken, fucked up world.