Page 17 of Pretty Little Lies

If you didn’t know of our interaction the other day and the things that Levi saw, you’d think everything was fine.

But I have a feeling all hell is going to rain down on me when we’re alone.

Descending into the garage off the two steps, I softly close the door behind me while Levi leans up against the fender of Dad’s Nova and I almost trip on the last stair with Levi’s next words.

“We’re dating.”

The fuck?

I gape at him and search for signs of his being drunk or high as a kite but find a perfectly sober Levi Wallace standing in front of me.

“Say what, now?”

“You. Me. We’re dating. We’vebeendating. We kept ourselves on the low for obvious reasons, since I’m the King of South Shore, but you’re mine. Which means your little rendezvouses with Torin Wildes and Cairo Black aredone.”

He looks so damn serious when he says it, and I’m still catching up to the dating part of the conversation before he speaks again.

“In about two weeks, we’re breaking up. Publicly. This is the best position I’ve ever been in to take down Emilio Wildes, and you’ve put me in a situation where, in order to protect you, I have to offer you up to my worst enemy.”

I’m speechless.

My brain’s running a million miles a minute because Levi is the cautious one when it comes to me. He’s the one who makes sure I have the easiest and safest route when I’m running weed, even though I don’t take them.

So, him saying that he’s going to allow me to continue this Emilio Wildes’s bullshit of being his daughter is puzzling, and…wait, is he trying to get rid of me?

“Are you trying to get rid of me?”

One of Levi’s brows rises to the ceiling. “Are you serious?”

“Dead.”

“That’s what I’m trying tonothave happen.”

“You’re tellin’ me that you’re going to let me waltz right into Emilio’s house unprotected?”

“You did it before.”

It’s the truth, but it still feels like a slap to the face.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying?—”

“Torin will try his shit with you again. He’llstilltry his shit with you when I put it out there that you’re my girl.” He glowers at me. “The kid has no boundaries, no one tells him no, and we need an in. He’s going to be it.”

I raise a hand to slow him down because I’mstillon the dating part. “Hold on, Lev. You’re talking nonsense right now. What are you trying to gain?”

“Safe passage into Emilio’s life while trying to keep you alive.”

“He won’t kill me.”

“He will,” Levi reassures me. “Because your relationship with him can’t be any more rushed without it looking suspicious. He’s going to want it to be, but Emilio won’t be able to get out of his own way. If you magically loved him, Emilio wouldn’t believe it. And, if you act as you do now, he’s going to get impatient.”

I shrug. “Sounds like it’s a lost cause then.”

“Sounds like you got us both into this mess because, if you pull out, he’s going to amp his game up.”

“I…” I clench my fingers into tight balls. “Levi, I’m sorry.”

“You said that already.” He pushes off Dad’s car and pulls out his box of Malboros. “You’re going to have to develop a relationship with Torin. Cairo is too smart, so he’s out.”

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