Page 32 of Punked By the Playmaker
Shooting to my feet, I screeched, “What?!”
Levi stood slowly, moving toward me cautiously, as if I were a spooked animal. “Arizona, you’re right about Hilda. She’s going to put in overtime to poke holes in the story we are trying to sell—”
“You,” I corrected. “The storyyouare trying to sell.”
He scrunched his nose up. “I mean, if you want to get technical, we’re in this together now.”
I flushed hot from head to toe, and my rage finally bubbled over. “And whose fault is that?”
Despite my outrage, Levi didn’t back down. “We both want to keep our kids. And the only way to do that now is by taking what started out as a lie and turning it into the truth.”
I covered my eyes with my hand. “Why did you have to say a week? Why couldn’t you have said a year? Engaged is far less permanent and more easily broken thanmarried.”
“You’re right. But is the court more likely to believe a couple who claims to be engaged to secure custody of a child, or one who is legally bound together? The sooner we make it official, the less chance there is of our ruse being discovered.”
Fuck. I hated to admit it, but he had a good point. You could fake an engagement, but a marriage would be real—at least in the eyes of the law.
My chest heaved with the force of my heavy sigh. “So we just file for divorce and go our separate ways after you secure custody?”
“We’ll probably have to stay together for a little bit longer, just so it’s believable. Maybe a year?”
Ayear?
Did I have what it took to stay married to this infuriating man who, for some reason, I was ridiculously attracted to for an entire year?
Probably not, but it didn’t matter. Because there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for Austin.
And I had a strong feeling Levi shared a similar sentiment when it came to Maisie, or else we wouldn’t be in this predicament.
Though I would probably regret every minute of the next three hundred and sixty-five days, I said, “Okay.”
Levi’s brown eyes lit up. “Really?”
“You’ve made it so that I don’t have much of a choice.”
He ducked his head. “I know I put you in a bad situation, and I want to make it up to you. As a thank you, I’m willing to forgo a prenup, so when we part ways, half of everything I have goes with you.”
My jaw hit the floor.
Half of his assets would be more money than I could spend in a single lifetime. And while my pride demanded that I tell him to keep every cent, it took a backseat to my top priority of providing for Austin and Mom. Levi was offering financial freedom, and I was just desperate enough to take it.
“Deal,” I agreed. “But there need to be some ground rules.”
The man standing opposite me nodded. “Yep, whatever you want.”
Pointing a finger in his direction, I issued my first stipulation. “There can be absolutely no funny business between you and me.”
He stuck his lower lip out in a pout. “Aw, you’re no fun.”
“I mean it, Levi. Sex will only complicate this situation, so it’s off the table.”
“Fine,” he huffed like a sullen teenager.
Suddenly, I had a flashback to when he mentioned that exclusivity was not something he gave women he was with, so I added, “And while we’re on the topic, you can’t be screwing around with other women either.”
Levi reared back, giving the impression of being offended. “Did you miss the part in the kitchen earlier when I said I hadn’t been with anyone else since we met?”
Honestly, I’d figured it was a line. If the man couldn’t be bothered to keep it in his pants when he was dating a woman, how was I supposed to believe he gave two shits about remaining faithful to his fake wife?
