Pretty Little Lies

6. Bay

SIX

bay

TRAVIS: He’s gone.

I haven’t stopped crying since Travis sent me that text message over an hour after Levi and I spoke over the phone last night. I sauntered off to bed, pretending that I was tired when I left Juice in the kitchen, but I haven’t slept.

And I’ve been a wreck of guilt for not saving him.

Fuck, I’m going to miss that smile.

With my eyes closed, I can still see Reeve’s dark, sandy blonde hair and those pretty hazel eyes. That bottom lip that he’d catch with his teeth when he was flirting with me and how much I pretended not to like it.

His boys are going to search high and low for him without any luck. And I know I’m going to hear from Pretty Boy about it. If I’ve heard anything or if Levi had anything to do with it.

I’d have to tell him no and put another nail in Reeve’s coffin.

When I hear Ellie and Mae wake up, I start breakfast. I try to get lost in something else that doesn’t require thinking about what happened last night but it’s futile.

It’s absolutely worthless.

Because, deep down, I know that Reeve would’ve found a way to save me. I just know it. He would’ve fought Levi and the boys until he got to me.

And I let him down. I kept hidden under the pretense that I wasn’t aware of a thing when I ran into Juice and I’m as much to blame as Levi for sending him off.

I serve up breakfast to the girls and Dad, then begin cleaning up the kitchen. I’m about to bleach the damn fridge to give me something to do, when Levi’s deep octave sends a warning shrill up my spine.

“We need to talk.”

From my haunches, I glimpse over my shoulder to find Levi standing over me in a white tee and black ripped jeans. His pierced eyebrow is prominent through clenched brows and warning me not to fuck around today with him and find out.

I rise to my feet and toss the dry dishcloth in my hand to the counter when Levi jerks his head.

“Garage.”

I blow a heavy exhale between my lips before Levi pivots and makes his way through the living room. I hear him say hello to the girls and Dad, putting a black Connect Four chip in one of the slots before Ellie smacks his hand away and calls him a cheater.

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’ve been dating. 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 are done .”

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 to not have 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’ll still try 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’m still on 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.”

My blood runs cold, because I notice how he didn’t mention Reeve, and I’m too scared to bring it up.

“What did Emilio offer you?” Levi solicits. “Anything?”

“The Titan seat,” I mutter, dropping my chin and looking down at one of the large oil stains on the cement.

“That’s a load of bullshit,” Levi replies flatly before I hear the distant flick of his lighter. “Also comes with a lot of strings, I’m sure.”

“Family time.”

He scoffs. “Right. Well, this all ends one way, you know that, right?” I glance up at him when he allows my curiosity to get the best of me. “I’m killing him. Your father.”

I steel my spine against that atrocity of a fact. “Roger is my father. South Shore is home.”

“And what was your plan, Bay? You thought your presence with Emilio was going to solve things?”

“I did it so he’d leave my family alone.”

“And what if he didn’t? What if he left everything alone for a few weeks and then started back on his bullshit? Do you know he could’ve kidnapped you and just done whatever he wanted to?”

“And what would that have gained?” I snap. “This man is trying to build a relationship with me. He’d be a fuckin’ idiot to try something like that.”

“This isn’t going to be good, Bay.”

“And I wasn’t sitting with many options,” I counter back. “I was afraid of what he might do if I didn’t carry on with building a relationship with him. I don’t know what that looks like. Especially when he’s already gotten inside South Shore without a trace.”

Levi’s nostrils flare because his reality is that The Nameless aren’t foolproof.

It’s just not possible to watch every inch of South Shore all the time. Just like Levi has ways of getting inside The Landings when we’re running dope, Emilio can slip through the cracks.

Like Reeve.

Levi takes a long drag of his cigarette and keeps his lucid green eyes on me. When he pulls back, he allows the smoke to leave his lips and says, “You done?”

I sigh, alluding that I am because, apparently, we’re just getting started with this plan.

“The easy part would be to take out Emilio and his pitbull, Ramsey, at the same time, but I’ve already done that. They’re always standing six feet apart. They are always in separate vehicles. Because if a shot goes off, then only one has time to react and duck down. Same as if a bomb goes off. They’re not stupid and they aren’t new. And they’ve always left Torin by himself which proves to me that Emilio has nothing planned for him. He’s disposable. The Forsaken Crew was always going to be a means to an end or an ally. However, Lorenzo and Cairo Black decided to play it. I’ve known about The Void before Emilio and Ramsey signed on their first gang member. Henry isn’t the only one I have planted in Emilio’s midst, but he’s not as high up either to gain me any intel that may help. Though, I do have more insight into them than even Torin does. And that boy is either going to die or he’s going to team up. And I don’t see him leaving behind Black anytime soon.” There he goes again not mentioning Reeve. “And if we’re going to make it look as though you’re serious about this Titan seat…you and I are going to need to separate.”

“No.”

“If Emilio was going to give you the Titan seat—and that’s a big if . That means he’s going for the fifth seat. The head seat. He’ll never fully give it to you with me around. And I need him to see you without protection.”

I rock my head back and forth. The thought of Levi and I not being in a unified pact gives me severe amounts of abandonment and hopelessness. “I don’t want?—”

“I need you. The Nameless need you. You’re in. And I can’t pull you out.”

“I need you , Lev.” My heart violently slams into my chest, hating the vulnerability that just crept through my veins but it’s there. “I can’t do this without you.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He drops his fag and steps on it before walking passed me to get back inside the house. “Although, you’re lucky.”

“Where’s Reeve?” The question comes out of my mouth through equal parts petty and worry. I shouldn’t have said it, because it means I know he was here. That Levi didn’t pull a fast one on me nor do I believe him to do nothing to one of the higher up of the Forsaken Crew.

“I think it’s best you don’t know, don’t you?” Levi taunts, stepping closer to challenge me into pushing the subject. I can feel his height tower over me, casting a shadow of regret over me that I didn’t stop him. That Reeve is floating out there somewhere awaiting his fate. “Look at you. You’re already being the perfect girlfriend.”

I tense at his mocking tone as I hear the heel of his boot hit the bottom stair as he ascends them.

I love Levi, I do.

But, right now, I hate him.