Page 29 of Breaking the Habit

“Are you sure this building isn’t also part-FBI?” Levi cracked.

“Our security is probablybetterthan that,” Marcus said with a small laugh, gesturing toward a door that said “M. Greer.”The office behind the door was something out of a movie set. Square, brown leather couches faced each other around a coffee table. In the corner, a foosball table. Some exotic plant grew in a huge ceramic pot, its wide, waxy leaves glinting in the sunlight filtering in though the wood slats over the window.

“Foosball?” was all Levi could ask.

“Helps me take the edge off,” Marcus said, inviting Levi to take a seat in front of the huge wooden desk.

“You should come to the gym sometime.” Levi sank into the leather arm chair, a sigh involuntarily escaping him. “How much did this chair cost?”

Marcus laughed a little, something like embarrassment flashing across him. “Why?”

“I’ll need to know how much to negotiate so I can buy one of these myself.”

A toothy grin appeared. “Well, we’re definitely open to negotiations. But before we go any further…” Marcus opened a drawer at his desk and pulled out some papers. “Non-disclosure agreement. You’ll need to sign before we discuss anything else.”

Levi scanned the documents. It looked like pretty standard “keep your damn mouth shut” stuff, so he scribbled his name at the bottom and pushed it back toward Marcus.

“Great. So, how did you like the meme?”

This time, Levi’s grin matched Marcus’s. “Holy shit. That blew up fast.”

“Now you see the type of work we do.” Marcus leaned back in his chair, looking pleased with himself. “That’s low-level stuff. That’s why I offered it to you. A freebie. But a potent one.”

“I’m pretty sure someone recognized me out on Santa Monica Boulevard today.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Marcus clicked the top of a pen as he assessed Levi, as if he could already see his future. “And that’s just the beginning.”

“What do you guys want me to do, anyway?”

Marcus pulled some folders out of a neatly organized stack on his desk as Levi’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out.

GAGE:Orange soda!!!

LEVI: Stop.

GAGE: Come on!!!!!!

Marcus opened the folder, and Levi caught a picture of his face paper clipped to the inside.

“What is this, my rap sheet?” he asked.

“Something like that.” On the other half of the folder, Marcus had paperclipped the picture of some pretty girl. Illegible notes were posted on either side of the folder. “Though I did see your actual rap sheet. It’s pretty impressive. You got a lot of drunk and disorderly charges in Chicago.”

Levi shrugged, fiddling with the black hair tie around his wrist. “Yeah.”

“It’s okay—that actually helps your cause here, I promise.” Marcus steepled his fingers, running the tips of his index fingers back and forth across his bottom lip. “See, we’ve been looking for a bad boy. We have a client who is very…pure, let’s say. At least, that’s her brand. She’s a model trying to break into acting. She’shugein Europe, where she’s from. But we need to position her in a very certain way so that the movie studios see her potential as the innocent girl next door. It’s pretty straightforward stuff.”

“So…what would I do?”

“Break her heart, of course.” Marcus laughed. “It’ll be a scandal, when all is said and done. You won’t be required to actually be with her. But you will need to create the illusion. Of course, if something does develop between you two, I wouldn’t be surprised. She’s a gorgeous girl. Little too young for my taste, but…”

Levi frowned, thinking immediately of Riley. Which was absurd. Because she was nothing to him, and she made sure that he knew it. He had no reason to be thinking of her, when she probably thought even less of him.

“How long would I need to be doing this?”

“Maximum? Three months. Enough time to get appearances in.”

“Okay. And for how much?”

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