“I figured we could order a pizza and a salad or something and play some cards.” I looked at them both casually. “Do you think that’s okay?”
“Sounds fine.” Jared shrugged. “Get ham and pineapple on the pizza.”
“What are we going to do about Dad?” Vincent looked worried. “He’s going to want to know who she is. What if he comes out of the living room?” He chewed on his lower lip and I could tell he was nervous.
“I figured we could play upstairs in my room or something.” I took a breath. “I don’t want to involve Dad right now.”
“Yeah, no point getting him upset over nothing.” Jared made a face. “It may not even work out much longer.”
“What does that mean?” I glared at him.
“You know what it means. Do you really think little Ms. Perfect is going to date you forever and Daddy is going to accept you?” He rolled his eyes. “But whatever, I’m not trying to be a jerk. Bad things come to those who wait.”
“What the f**k does that mean?”
“Her and her dad will get what’s coming. Whether you do something about it or not.”
“You better leave her alone, Jared.” I moved closer to him and I could feel my blood boiling. “I swear to God, if you do anything to her, you will no longer be my brother.” The kitchen went silent and Vincent and Jared looked at me with shock in their eyes. I felt sad that I had said the words, but I wasn’t going to take them back. Maddie was very important to me, and I wasn’t going to let anyone say or do anything to her that could cause her hurt or pain. I didn’t care why they were doing it. It wasn’t going to happen on my watch. I hated her father with a passion, but I loved her more than I hated him. My vision seemed to go blurry as the realization hit me. I loved Maddie. This was about more than like or a summer fling or crush. This was about more than seeing where a relationship could go and getting to know each other. I already loved her. I knew without a doubt in my heart that she was the one I would dream of until I was old and gray. And I wasn’t scared or worried. I was just happy and excited. And all I wanted to do was to see her and kiss her and hold her tight. I wanted to stare into her beautiful violet eyes and kiss her sweet luscious lips as her soft fingers played and tugged in my hair. I could lie next to her and stare at her for a million years and never feel bored or tired. I had missed her something rotten that week, and I knew that I didn’t want to spend my lifetime without her.
“Wow, you’re so far gone,” Jared finally spoke. “I sure hope it doesn’t blow up in your face.”
“Let me worry about that.” I ran my hand through my hair and sighed. “I just need you to be here for me and give her a chance.”
“Okay.” Jared looked away. “But only because I love you, brother.”
“Thanks, dude.” I choked up and looked at Vincent, who was laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“You guys have both gone so soft.” He shook his head. “What has happened to the Martelli brothers?”
“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes and turned away. “I’m going to go sort out my room.” I walked out of the kitchen. However, my lightheartedness was filled with worry. What Vincent had said was a joke but in fact, the opposite was true of what was happening to us. We weren’t becoming softer; we were becoming harder. Pulling off the Bugatti theft was going to be the biggest, most dangerous thing any of us had ever attempted to do. Just today, Tolstoy had asked us what we would do if someone with a gun were to appear. I froze as I remembered him asking if we had bulletproof vests. This was serious business. And there were so many potential things that could go wrong. But I knew we were in too deep; this was our big chance to change our destinies. If we pulled this off, we could stay out of the crime life forever.
***
“This is delicious pizza.” Maddie grinned at me as she took a big bite and licked her lips.
“Isn’t it great?” Vincent grabbed another slice. “This is absolutely the best pizza in River Valley.” He smiled at Maddie, and I tried to ignore my jealousy as she beamed at him. I knew she was just happy that Vincent seemed to like her, but it annoyed me to see her looking so happy at someone else.
“Yeah.” She leaned towards him. “So Logan tells me you want to be a lawyer?”
“That’s the goal.” He laughed, slightly embarrassed. “But I’ve got a long way to go if I want to see that happen.”
“You can do it,” she grinned at him. “And kudos to you, I’m not sure I would be able to make it as a lawyer.”
“That’s not a surprise.” Jared mumbled under his breath and I gave him a death look.
“Sorry, what, Jared?” Maddie looked up at him questioningly and we all paused. “I hope you don’t think I’m out of line here, but I’m not sure what your problem with me is? When we were both at Joey’s, you seemed quite excited that I wanted to get to know Logan, but now you seem to have an attitude, and I’m not sure why.” She spoke slowly, directly, and without hesitation, and once again I was reminded why I loved her. I saw Jared’s face turning red and I could see that he was surprised at such a direct question as well.
“I don’t know what …” He glanced at me and faltered.
“I’m not trying to make this uncomfortable for you. I know you guys don’t like my dad, for whatever reason. Logan won’t tell me.” She gave me a quick face, before turning back to Jared. “But I don’t want you to make any judgments as to my character until you get to know me. Logan and I, well, we…” she stumbled a little bit and blushed. “I just don’t want you guys to hate me, before you get to know me.”
“I like you already, Maddison.” Vincent rubbed her shoulder. “You have put both of my brothers in their place, what’s not to love?”
“Thanks, Vincent. I really like you a lot as well.” She gave him such an appreciative look that I was grateful that she hadn’t met him first. We all waited for Jared to respond, and he gave me a look and then sighed.
“Okay, okay. Maybe I’ve been a bit rash in my assessment of you.” He gave her a weak smile. “If my brother likes you, you can’t be all that bad.”
I reached over and held Maddie’s hand and squeezed it, letting her know that she had my support. I knew it was important to Maddie that they liked her, but I wanted her to know that it didn’t matter to me how they felt. I was still going to be here for her, no matter what.
“Good, can I kick your asses at poker now?” She winked and we all burst out laughing. We hadn’t known what we were going to do with Maddie; none of us really had friends who were girls and we had all felt a bit awkward when she had arrived. But she had been effortless, cracking jokes and really trying to get to know them. She really cared about my brothers and I could see her becoming a real part of the family.
“Oh, there is no way you’re going to beat me.” Jared pulled some notes out of his wallet. “Let’s play with large blinds, I feel like making some money tonight.”
“You wish, Martelli.” She smiled at him, and I started shuffling the cards with a content and happy feeling in my heart.
Chapter 10
Maddie
"I'm so excited for you to come and meet my friends and family." I couldn't keep the excitement out of my voice as I whispered into the phone.
"Yeah, yeah," Logan mumbled sleepily and I knew that he wasn't as excited as I was. But I didn't mind; I had finally convinced him that this was a good thing. I was still pretty giddy inside at how much he had done to make me comfortable in his home, and I was still pretty shocked at how far he had gone to show me that he liked me and that he was trying to open up to me as much as possible. I truly loved both of his brothers and I felt like I had been welcomed with open arms by both Vincent and Jared, even though I knew Jared didn't particularly care for me.
"Aren't you excited?" I pressed on with the conversation. "And didn't you just love the invitations?"
“The invitations?" Logan's voice sounded even drowsier, and I wished that I was in bed with him at that moment, caressing his sleepy face and tousled hair, while snuggled into his warm body.
"Yes, my mom helped me choose them. We love to get fancy invitations for my end-of-summer party." I yawned involuntarily and stretched out, closing my eyes as I lay there. My heart felt light with happiness and I snuggled into my pillow pretending it was Logan's chest. I hadn't seen him since the night I was at his house and we played cards, but we had spoken on the phone every night before bed.
"Sounds good."
"Are you even paying attention to me?"
"Sorry, Maddie. I'm just so tired."
"What have you been doing?" I had been trying to keep my hurt feelings to myself, as Logan hadn't told me what had kept him so busy all week.
"Vincent and I have been learning some new skills."
"What skills?"
"Don't worry about it."
"Did you ask Vincent if he can make it to the party? I know Jared said no, but Vincent said he would check. Did he let you know if he can come?"
"I think one Martelli at the party is fine, Maddie."
"So he's not coming?" I was disappointed. I had hoped to spend more time with Vincent. I had hoped that he could come to look at me as a sister. We had really seemed to connect on poker night, but I had to keep reminding myself that nothing was going to happen overnight.
"I'm sorry, Maddie, but I don't think this is the right time. I mean, I think your family is already in for enough, what with me being introduced as your boyfriend. I can't imagine that's going to go down super well."
"Well." I bit my lip, not sure of what to say. "Just read the invite properly, okay? Maybe Vincent will want to come then.”
“Unlikely." Logan laughed lightly. "I miss you, Maddie."
"When will I get to see you?" I pouted into the phone. "Before the party I hope."
"Once again, unlikely."
“No fair." I took a deep breath and pulled the covers up over my head. "I wanted to talk about us."
"What about us?" Logan's voice sounded weary.
"What we're going to do when I go back to school." I waited for him to say something. "What we're going to tell my parents."
"I don't know what we should tell your parents. That's up to you." His voice trailed off and silence filled the air as I waited for him to acknowledge and answer the first part of my question.
"So you're not going to say anything?"
"I just said you can decide."
"I mean about us."
"Maddie, can we take it one day at a time please?" Logan sighed. "My head is really full right now. Let's get past the next two weeks and then we can see where we stand."
"Fine." I bit my tongue. I didn't want to push the issue, but I was worried. What if he wanted to break up at the end of the summer? It wasn't like we had been dating for a long time, and Logan was so new to relationships. Yes, it was a feat that he and I were even in this space, but I needed more. I wanted to know that this was going somewhere. But I knew how crazy I would sound if I pushed the issue. Logan didn't want to hear about my silly dreams and hopes for the future. I knew he still didn't even think he was good enough for me. I knew that he would never move forward with me unless he felt that he could provide for me. I'd been shocked to see how meager his house had been. I'd expected it to be a lot different. More opulent, and full of cool gadgets. But it had been pretty barebones, and I hadn't seen anything of real value. The Martellis didn't have any money, of that I was sure. I wished I understood why they were the crime family of the town when they didn't really seem to be criminals.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow, yeah, Maddie?"
"Yes, Logan."
"Sweet dreams, beautiful."
"Sweet dreams, handsome," I whispered into the phone.
"Of course, they'll be of you." And with that we hung up. I stared at the phone for a few minutes, upset that I still didn't know what was going on with Logan and how he was spending his days. I thought about pushing the issue like I had meeting his family, but I didn't want to do that again so soon. It had been a very long week ignoring him, and I'd been so scared that I was going to lose him. When he had called and invited me to dinner with him and his brothers, I had started crying in relief. I didn't want to put either of us through the hell of that week again. And I knew he was trying, and I knew that he liked me a lot. He had said as much the night that I stayed over. He had made love to me so sweetly and tenderly that I had almost wondered if it was the same guy who slammed me against the wall in Victoria’s Secret. Just thinking about that day was enough to turn me on. I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep. I didn’t want to push anything. I was just happy that he was coming to my party and would finally be able to meet my parents. My mom was so excited to meet him; I had been so surprised at how supportive she had been when I had told her I was dating him. Not that I would have stopped dating him if she hadn’t been, but it made it that much easier. Logan Martelli was my boyfriend and it was all I could do to stop from pinching myself. I couldn’t believe it. But still, I wanted more. I needed to know more. I could still sense his slight hesitation and worry, and I was scared that he was going to talk himself out of dating me. He was so worried that he wasn’t good enough for me and that he was going to bring trouble or drama into my life. I didn’t know how to tell him that none of that mattered to me. I just wanted to be with him. I was planning to have a conversation with him on the night of the party. I figured we could get everything out in the open and I could see exactly where this relationship was going.