Page 27 of Savage Lover

“Ten bucks a tab,” Levi says.

There’s no way they cost him that much. But he’s obviously determined to extort me.

“Fine,” I growl. “I’ll get you the money.”

“Yeah? What about the dealer?”

I hesitate. I don’t want to cave into this guy. I don’t want to see him at all, after today.

But there’s somebody who’s not going to let me go home and hide my head under the pillow. Officer Schultz expects me to get information. He’s going to expect a lot more than the news that Vic “quit.”

“I’ll do it,” I say.

“You?” Levi sneers.

I yank my arm out of his grip. “Yeah,” I say. “I know a hell of a lot more people than Victor does. People come in and out of my shop all day long. I can probably double Vic’s sales.”

“I thought you were a good girl,” Levi says, suspiciously. “I heard you don’t even suck dick with the lights on.”

“Lights on or off doesn’t matter to me,” I say to Levi. “Either way, I wouldn’t touch yours for any fucking price.”

Levi snorts. “You’re not my type either, you Justin Bieber-dressin’ bitch.”

I want to tell Levi he looks like a cool mom, but I keep it to myself. The only way I’m going to get dirt on this guy is by working for him. And if that’s what I have to do to get Schultz off my back, well . . . I don’t have any other choice.

“That’s the best I can do,” I tell him. “ ‘My brother’s going to college. He’s not sticking around here like the rest of us.”

Levi scoffs.

“I went to college. There’s more drugs on campus than the whole rest of the city.”

“Yeah, well, there’s also diplomas.”

Levi looks me over one last time.

“Fine,” he says. “Come by the house tomorrow.”

“Perfect. I will.”

I turn away from him, trying not to hyperventilate.

Great. I’m a drug dealer now.

I don’t exactly feel like celebrating, but at least I’ll have something to tell Schultz next time he calls. Unless he gets hit by a bus in the meantime.

6

NERO

Iwasn’t planning on going down to Wacker Drive. Racing is stupid, I know that. But it draws me back again and again. It’s that scent of high octane fuel, and the way the engines snarl like a beast under the hood. A car wants to race just like a horse does.

And I want to be the one behind the wheel.

Time slows down. You can live an entire year in the space of fourteen seconds. I can see everything—every pebble on the pavement, every drop of moisture on the windshield. I can feel the whole operation of the engine through the vibration of the gearshift under my palm.

I crashed my Bel Air here. That was a bad night. I was in a fucking fury. In one of those states where I feel like I want to see the whole city burn down around me. I don’t know why I get like that. There’s something wrong with me.

If I feel something painful, I want more pain, more rage, more violence.

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