Anyone but her.
Declined.
Karma couldn't hide forever. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't take Sage up on the offer to crash at Jack's place. Her cat was at the penthouse. As was her job.
He hired a prop. How riveting.
Levi didn't need her, sure. But there was something more to that narrative. There was a reason Yelena showed up at her doorstep all of those weeks ago. Karma felt she was on the brink of uncovering a greater truth. And the answers were behind that penthouse door.
Karma steeled her nerves, deciding to take a conservative approach to her interrogation. Levi didn't know that she knew his company was bankrupt. So long as she played her cards right, she could figure out what was going on. She kept her face flat and turned the door knob.
"Finally." It was Yelena's voice. Her pencil frame was impatiently pacing the living space. Levi was on the sofa, the cat on his lap.
Karma froze. Finally?
Yelena's eyes raked Karma up and down, finger on her bluetooth headset. "We'll need a stylist too. A good one."
Karma looked to Levi for any clue as to what Yelena was going off about. But Levi's expression gave nothing away. He was mindlessly stroking Jean's fur, nodding along to Yelena's rambling. It wasn't like him to be so passive.
"—isn't a total lost cause."
"Wait. What are you talking about?" Karma said, eyes flickering between Levi and Yelena.
"Consider your caretaker job terminated." Yelena typed something into her phone, ignoring Karma's befuddled reaction.
"But the MSA starts next month! You promised to—"
"I intend to keep my promises, Miss Karma." Yelena slipped her phone into a hidden suit coat pocket. "If you agree to our proposition."
Anyone but her.
Levi's jaw was tight. Karma had an idea what was coming next, and she was angry. Angry that her feelings hadn't been considered. Angry that this was all happening without her getting a say. Angry that music school was—once again—being used as leverage.
Karma couldn't hold it in. She played her trump card. "Does this have to do with Ackerman Enterprises going bankrupt?"
Levi's cheek twitched. Yelena's whole body stiffened. It was like the air had been vacuumed through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Karma strained to appear nonchalant, but saying it outloud made her realize she might have been too presumptuous. Their reactions, however, assured her that she wasn't far off.
Yelena's composure returned like a velvet cloak. "Where on earth did you hear that rumor?"
"Levi's card declined. It won't stay secret much longer. Believe me."
"Shit." Yelena yanked her phone back out and sent a furious message. "Then we don't have five weeks."
"What's happening?" Karma said. "I thought the company was doing great?"
Yelena and Levi exchanged a silent conversation. Yelena clenched her jaw. Levi raised his eyebrows. Yelena huffed. They seemed to reach an agreement.
"Have a seat," she gestured to the sofa. Karma sat beside Levi, accidentally closer than she had intended. She remained still, pretending like his shoulder's proximity to hers didn't excite her nerves.
Yelena jumped into the exposition without toiling for a starting point. "Mr. Ackerman was never supposed to be seen leaving the penthouse for the good of the company. Ackerman Enterprises is under a lot of heat."
"Why though?" Karma said. She jumped when something brushed her knuckles, but it was just Jean flexing his tail.
"The shareholders want to expand overseas." Yelena pressed her pale lips. Before Karma had the chance to ask, Yelena was answering her next question. "Which has the potential to create a global Old and New Marley conundrum. So to keep the shareholders from pressing the issue, Mr. Ackerman has been out of commission."
Levi misread the shock on Karma's face as confusion. "So long as I was wheelchair bound with a caretaker, the company could be stifled without arousing suspicion. Any loss of revenue could be blamed on my condition." "Stifled" must mean "bankrupt."
But Karma was stuck on something that Yelena had said. Something that made her hair stand on end. "Ackerman Enterprises caused the rift between Old and New Marley?" Her shitty apartment? The cigarette butts thrown at her ankles? All of that was Levi's fault?
"Obviously there were a lot of factors. But this company made the rich richer and the poor poorer," Yelena said. Her eyes were cold as a crust of snow, no hint of empathy in Karma's or Old Marley's direction. "Over time, that rift grew to what we see today. And now that Mr. Ackerman's cover has been blown, the shareholders are restless. Either Ackerman Enterprises expands overseas—"
"Which will never happen," Levi said. "Titans have crossed the ocean once already."
"—or we find another way to satiate the shareholders."
Karma nodded, buying time for her brain to catch up. Slowly, she voiced her thoughts as they strung together. "So Levi was spotted at my recital and that's why the shareholders are acting up? That makes it sound like it's my fault."
"Someone's brighter than I gave her credit for," Yelena said.
"Shut it, beardface. It was my own fault," Levi said. "Wouldn't have felt the need to go if I hadn't been an ass."
Karma felt blush prickle her cheeks.
Levi continued. "Being an ass has been my specialty for a number of years. Yelena is suggesting we change that. If my public image improves, stocks should improve too. With their pockets padded, the shareholders won't see the need for overseas expansion."
Karma scoffed. "That's not how greed works."
"I know. If it comes to it, Ackerman Enterprises might need to be dismantled. For now, this is the best plan we've got." Levi swept his gaze back down to Jean. Karma watched him pet the cat from ears to tail.
"I know you wouldn't be telling me all of this if I wasn't involved in some way. Since you terminated the caretaker position, I assume you have another job offer?" Karma folded her clammy hands. She didn't need to ask. She already knew what Yelena would say next.
Anyone but her.
"An important part of a good public image is being…desirable. Mr. Ackerman needs to be seen in a romantic light. You will play the part of his mistress."
She was right. Her instinct was to deflect. "You sure you want him courting Old Marley trash?"
"Hence the stylist. We can't change your unfortunate origins, but we can distract from them." Yelena sniffed. "Bottom line, we need a believable story. A caretaker turned lover who helps Mr. Ackerman get back on his feet—literally—and into the public eye will be chum for the media sharks. Being from Old Marley makes you an underdog. The public will lap it up."
Levi seemed to pick up on Karma's uneasiness. "It won't be more than six months. We can have a public breakup, you'll sign an NDA, and then you'll never have to see me again. You'll be free to pursue your music program and marry Wicked Moron."
Karma nodded, but she felt hollow. Six months. This was the exact type of media stunt Sage would kill for. But not Karma. Didn't they ever stop to think that maybe she didn't want to be somebody's fake mistress? Wickham Moriano aside, Karma couldn't deny her budding feelings for Levi. She wanted him, but not like this.
Before she could get a word out, Levi surprised her. "Please, Karma."
Anyone but her.
Karma watched her knees stick and unstick together. "Sure you wouldn't prefer anyone else? You could break your other leg to get out of this."
Beside her, Levi sighed. "Should've known you were eavesdropping. Explains why Jean was acting up."
"Guess I'm too nosey for my own good."
"You can go now, Yelena. We'll talk tomorrow."
Yelena gathered her papers. "You say that as if we have time to talk. We start tomorrow. Be ready."
With one grand sweep of the front door, the air returned to the room. Levi and Karma listened for the elevator ding. Once certain that they were alone, Levi turned back to her with softened eyes. "Whatever you might have overheard, I didn't mean you. I was referring to someone else."
Karma laced her fingers. "How? I'm the only woman in your life. Besides Yelena and the cleaning lady."
"Regrettably, that's not true." Levi sighed again. Karma was surprised to feel a pang of jealousy in her chest at the idea of another woman in his life. "Originally, Yelena wanted a military reunion romance between me and Annie Leonhart. I said no. Took some convincing, but she agreed to the caretaker-turned-lover idea." Annie Leonhart. The name was like a distant bell in the archives of her memory. She'd probably heard it in passing, but she couldn't pin a face to it.
"Why did you say no to Annie?"
"That's a story for another day."
"Right." Karma noticed with a jolt that their hands were close to touching. If she stretched her fingers the tips of her nails would graze the back of his hand. "So I'm not 'her,' I'm the 'anyone but.'"
"Poor phrasing on my part. It doesn't convey my disdain for all the other candidates."
Karma, I like you.
Blushing, she looked down at their feet on the rug, also inches apart from touching. She found it funny that he wore a cast on one foot and a polished loafer on the other. What need did he have for shoes when he didn't even walk? At least, not yet. And she'd lived in the penthouse long enough to know that a waistcoat and cravat was his casual attire. Why dress to the nines if the only people who saw him were Karma and the cat?
"What are you smiling about?" he said, almost smiling with her. Shouldn't she be angry at him? He was partially to blame for the shithole that was Old Marley, and yet she found herself at peace with the thought. Sure his company might have inadvertently skewed the economy, but at its head was one of humanity's saviors. A savior who takes three sugars in his tea.
"You're just…not what I expected." Karma studied the crisscrossing wing cufflinks he always wore. She felt tempted to reach out and stroke the cool metal grooves of blue and white, trimmed in gold. "I mean, I get that you were in the military but you aren't in it any more. You could wear sweatpants and Crocs if you really wanted to."
"I dress exactly how I want to dress. Though I'm afraid the stylist may interfere with that."
Karma didn't want to talk about the stylist and fake romance. There would be plenty of time to hash that out. In this moment, she wanted to talk about Levi. The real one—not the one in the tabloids of past and future. The one sitting beside. "What makes you want to dress so formally?"
Levi looked to Jean again. The cat was grooming his paws. "'When you don't dress like everyone else, you don't think like everyone else.' That's what Erwin used to say. The opposite is true too. You dress like a Scout, you think like a Scout."
"Oh." Karma paused. "Erwin was…?"
"My Commander."
Levi never spoke of his time in the military. This was territory Karma knew to be sacred. She'd have to tread carefully, like peeling open a dry flower bud. One quick movement and the whole thing could crumple. Karma let her curiosity travel to her finger tips. Her hand floated across the small space between them. Levi stiffened as though her approaching touch was some sort of impact. Then her gentle finger landed on his cufflink.
"You always wear these too. Are the wings special?" She kept her voice low. She could feel the heat of his wrist against hers. Her eyes traveled lower and she noticed the pale scars dancing between his knuckles. Again, she felt compelled to reach further. One layer at a time, she reminded herself.
"They're The Wings of Freedom. Scout regiment's symbol." Levi's voice was as delicate as her own. Like he didn't want his words to travel beyond her ears. A secret for the two of them to share.
"May I?" Her hand slid to the edge of his shirt cuff.
"What?" Levi said, but it wasn't sharp. In fact, it was the most gentle she had ever heard his voice.
Instead of explaining, Karma took his hand between both of her own. With her thumbs, she traced the white lines that ran parallel to his veins and the scars that mimicked the lines of her palm. She was surprised how smooth his skin was. But most surprising of all was that Levi was perfectly still, not pulling away or deflecting her advances with snide remarks.
She'd managed to peel another layer.
"So many scars…" Her eyes traveled up to the iconic scar that discolored his iris. This time, Levi shifted his shoulders back an inch, realizing that she might try to touch his face next.
The flower bud crumpled.
"Karma." It wasn't harsh, but she froze in place. He looked down at his hand, entwined in hers. "Save it for the press." Slowly, delicately, he pulled his hand free.
"I'm sorry, I should have run it by you first," Karma said, securing a tiny backing on the diamond earrings. The dress Yelena and the stylist picked for Karma's public debut as Levi Ackerman's "mistress" was form fitting and spilled all the way to her heels in shimmering gold sequins. Her curves were lacking so the dress did all of the heavy lifting, making Karma feel like a poorly wrapped birthday present.
"Yelena has our night planned to the minute. She's gonna be pissed," Levi said. Karma was still not used to his hair slicked back, nothing obstructing those beautiful facial features. A step up from his typical cravat and waistcoat, he wore a dark gray tuxedo, complete with a bow tie and pocket square. He looked just like the chiseled fashion models in those magazines Sage would dog-ear and toss on the sofa.
"I know…but I haven't been on a date in years. I just need some buffers." Karma frowned in the mirror. She didn't look like herself at all, which was the point, Yelena had said. Her eyelashes were too fluffy. Her cheekbones too bronze. She even had to use whitening strips on her teeth and pluck the "undesirable" hairs from her eyebrows, making them sharp instead of wispy.
Dress like a New Marleyan, think like a New Marleyan.
"It'll be fine, so long as the attention stays on you and I." Karma liked the way he said "you and I," like they were some exclusive item. "You promise Sage isn't as insufferable as you've made her out to be?"
"No, she's definitely worse, but Jack mellows her out. Plus if there are cameras around, she'll be on her best behavior."
"Then let's go."
Smile. Smile. Smile.
Karma's cheeks felt like rubber and she blinked madly between camera flashes. Yelena had tipped off the paparazzi that Levi Ackerman and his new mistress would be attending the cinema, but Karma never imagined that this many people would show up.
"Levi—!"
"—her name?"
"—you exclusive?"
"Scout reunion—?"
"—new mistress!"
The shouts sloshed around Karma like a torrent as she pushed Levi's wheelchair down Marble Street. Marley Town Square was barely in view over the heads of the crowd. She could see two silhouettes waiting by the entrance. Sage and Jack.
"Hang on, Levi," Karma said, shoving past a photographer with a camera the size of a Christmas ham.
The rolling lights of the marquee were a beacon. Black letters read, "This week only! The Rose and the Thorn" beneath that, "Live music!"
"Hey! Sage!" Karma called out as they reached the overhang strung with thousands of lightbulbs, the paparazzi hot on their heels.
Sage turned, tugging Jack's arm. He turned with her and Karma could tell the exact moment that everything fell apart. Those sunglasses couldn't conceal the horrified expression that washed over his features. Like Death himself had come for him.
Levi stiffened, sneering. The wheelchair ground to a halt.
"Long time no see, Connie."