“Logan doesn’t know anything, does he?” I whispered, scared to hear the answer. My heart raced as I thought of him. How I loved him. How I wished I could replace every worry and fear and hatred in his heart with love, joy, and happiness. I wished I could kiss away all the hurt he had gone through in his life. It killed me to know that someone I loved could have done this to him.
“Of course not.” He shook his head. “You know that.”
“He’ll be worried.” I bit my lower lip.
“Yes, he will.” Jared sighed. “I really wish you wouldn’t have spoken to him last night.”
“I didn’t want him to think that I wasn’t willing to give him a second chance. I love him and he loves me.” I sighed. “I know we agreed that I shouldn’t talk to him until everything was done, but he begged me, Jared. I saw the fear in his eyes, and the love, and I just couldn’t turn him away. I was so angry after the party. I hated him with everything in me. But I understand why he did it. And he finally opened up to me. I just couldn’t send him away. I needed to see him and be with him. I know now that was a mistake. I should have waited a bit.”
“I know.” Jared shook his head, and rolled his eyes. “What a mess.”
“Love isn’t a mess, though.” I smiled briefly. “At least he knows I love him, no matter what happens. And I know he loves me.”
“This is all a hot mess.” Jared jumped up and started pacing again. “I just hope it works. I want this all to work out for everyone, but for you and Logan especially. I want this to work out for him. He’s always been there for me and Vincent. I’m glad he has someone like you, who loves him as much as you do.”
“It’ll work out.” I jumped up as well and walked over to him slowly. “You need to hurt me.” I stared into his eyes thoughtfully, trying to think of how we could escalate the situation.
“What?” He looked at me in shock.
“You need to punch me or scratch me. Then send a photo to my dad so he knows you mean business.”
“I’m not doing that.” Jared stepped away from me and shook his head vehemently. “I’m not going to hit you.”
“It’s not a request, Jared.” I stared at him wildly. “He needs to know you mean business. We can’t let anything happen to Logan.”
“What do you think he’s planning to do?” Jared looked at me, and for the first time, I really saw just how scared he was.
“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.” I looked down. “If you had told me a few months ago that this was who my father was, I would have laughed. I never would have believed any of this, but now, well, now, a whole lot of things are making sense.”
“He better not hurt him.” Jared gripped the gun in his hand I saw his fingers on the trigger. “If anything happens to Logan, I don’t know what I will do.”
“You need to be careful with that. Is the safety on?” I touched his shoulder gently.
“I don’t know.” His finger moved away from the trigger quickly. “How can I tell?”
“Give it to me.” I took my father’s gun from his hand and checked it. “Let’s just put it down for now. I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
“I don’t know why you brought the gun.” He trembled as he looked at it.
“I’d rather we have it than him.” I shrugged. “I couldn’t have let Logan go to that meeting this morning if I had known Dad had the gun available.”
“You really love Logan, don’t you?” Jared looked at me in amazement. “I’ve never met anyone, asides from Logan, who thinks about others as much as you do. You’re a real gem, Maddie.”
“Yes. You know that I would do anything for Logan.” This time I couldn’t prevent the tears from falling. “It’s like he’s my other half. He just gets me and I just get him. It’s like we were fated for each other. I know that sounds kooky, but I feel like he was made for me, and I was made for him.”
“Yeah,” he laughed. “I mean, I knew you were sprung on him when we first met at Joey’s, but when you came over to play cards that night, well, that’s when I knew you loved him and he loved you.” He shook his head. “Only God knows why he put you two together. It couldn’t have been a worse match. The two children of two men who hate each other.”
“Come on now.” I tried to laugh. “We were made for each other. And really my dad has no reason to hate your dad, and your dad has every reason.” I sighed. “I just wish that none of this had ever happened.”
“I am glad he has you.” He nodded weakly and gave me a quick hug. “I’m sorry for everything in the beginning.”
“It’s okay, I know why you hated me.” I smiled up at him, genuinely at that point. “My dad is and was an ass.”
“I just can’t believe he was in charge of the whole car theft business all this time.” Jared’s eyes were wide.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I guess my grandfather started the ‘family business.’ My dad had been trying to recruit your dad all through high school, but your dad just never showed interest.”
“I wonder why my dad never mentions that.” Jared looked confused. “All these years, he’s told us about everything, but it’s like he didn’t even know.”
“I don’t know.” I took a deep breath. “My mom didn’t really know everything that went on between them. Though she said there was a lot of competition between them. And it all blew up when your mom decided to date your dad. My dad was gutted. My mom knew, you know. She knew what happened. But she had been in love with my dad for years and so she never said anything. She was just so happy to be with him, even though he never loved her.” I felt sad as I thought about what my mom had let happen with her silence. “I almost feel like she is just as bad, she was so weak. But she said she used to think that the best thing that happened in her life was your dad stealing your mom away.”
“He never told us he stole her from your dad, either.”
“I guess he didn’t want to look like a bad guy?” I shrugged. “But really it’s my dad who is the bad guy. People steal girlfriends all the time. You don’t ruin someone’s life because of it. My mom thinks that he has just always been plain evil. And now she realizes that a lot of it was her fault for letting it happen without saying a word. That’s why she is helping with the plan now.”
“When did you realize your dad may be involved?”
“When I went with Logan to sell the Toyota. The guy who came to buy it was someone I’d seen my dad with. My dad had said he was a business associate. And when I heard Marty was involved, I knew he did a lot of work for my dad.” I bit my lip and turned away. “It all just seemed to click into place. When I was over at Lucy’s, I heard you and Joey talking about stealing the Bugatti one night, and I was confused as to why Joey was involved. That’s why I pulled you to the side and told you I thought something may be up.”
“I can’t believe I ever trusted that motherfucker.” Jared’s fist curled into a ball. “But thank you for reaching out to me.”
“Yeah, so when Joey invited me to go out on the night of the robbery, I was suspicious. Especially because when he picked me up, my dad said something like, ‘Make sure you stay out for a long amount of time.’ It just struck me as weird. And that he wouldn’t take me home until he spoke to you on the phone, and I realized he was trying to use me as an alibi.” I tried not to cry again. “I just can’t believe my dad had him use me as an alibi. I just don’t know who he is.”
“I’m glad you called me that night. I knew something was up when I called him and he said he was with you. I knew there was no way you would be out with him, unless something was wrong.” Jared spoke slowly. “Logan always said Joey was trouble, and I always kind of knew. But I didn’t want to believe it.”
“I called you because I just knew that somehow my dad had to be involved. And I was certain when Joey dropped me off and he told my dad that it was all done and winked at him.” I played with my fingers as I remembered the smug and satisfied expression on my father’s face. I could still remember how my heart had dropped as I realized that my father was not the man that I thought he was. “I wanted to accuse him right then and there,” I sighed. “But then I figured I should tell you first and we could figure out what to do.”
“Yeah, I’m so glad you called me. That wasn’t the right time. We really needed more info. I’m glad I convinced you to go out with Joey again.”
“It was awful, but I knew that I needed to find out what the plan was for the Bugatti. I had a bad feeling, and I was right.”
“I was calling you all night,” he sighed. “And then stupid Logan had to go and see you. I thought he was going to ruin everything.”
“He knows you called me.”
“Shit, what did you say?”
“I said you were most probably looking for him.”
“Ha.” Jared rolled his eyes. “He didn’t buy that, I’m sure.”
“I wanted to tell him.” I looked at Jared with a sad expression. “But I wanted to tell you first.”
“I’m glad I came over so we could decide what to do.” He laughed. “Only you could come up with such a perfect plan.”
“It’s the only solution I could think of.” I shivered. “After Joey told me that I should forget Logan because he was likely going to jail for a long time, I knew my dad had something shady planned. And so I went to talk to my mom. And she cried. She cried and cried and asked me to forgive her. She knows how much I love Logan, and she didn’t want me to suffer because of my dad and his hatred of the Martellis. So we came up with the plan together.”
“It was ingenious.”
“You can’t give me all the credit. I got the idea from a movie on Lifetime, and it still hasn’t worked yet.” My teeth chattered in the cold. “But I figured the only thing that would get my father to relent was if something were to happen to me or somehow threaten my life. This was the perfect scenario, me being kidnapped. And my mom called my dad to tell him, so now he thinks it is really legitimate. And Logan doesn’t know that we’re friends now, so he would be believable in his behavior.” I bit my lower lip. “I hope he’s okay. I’m sure he is pissed and worried.”
“I’m sure he wants to kill me right about now. I’m sure he is thinking about how he can take me and your dad down.” Jared joked but I could see the worry in his eyes. “I just hope he forgives me.”
“We had to do this. It was the only way to ensure that my dad didn’t get Logan sent to jail, and that you guys would get the money. Kidnapping me was the only solution. At least, it was the best solution my mom and I could think of.”
“I don’t even want the money from the Bugatti.” Jared shook his head. “It feels dirty. I know Logan won’t want it, either.”
“Don’t think of it as money from the Bugatti. Think of it as money for everything my father has done to your family. He owes you.” I froze as the phone rang. I watched it as Jared answered it on speakerphone.
“Hello.” His voice sounded a lot more confident than he looked.
“Where is my daughter?” I heard my father’s booming voice and swallowed hard. I still wasn’t sure how my father could be this person. He was the man who had loved me and protected me my whole life. But he was the worst person I had ever met.
“She’s here.”
“Let me talk to her.” Jared looked at me questioningly and I bit my lip, unsure of what to do. “Let me talk to her or the deal is off.”
“Hold on.” He passed me the phone, and I held it for a second before talking.
“Daddy,” I whimpered.
“Maddie, oh my God, Maddie, is that you?”
“Yes, Daddy,” I cried. “Please come and get me.”
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know!” I cried out again. “Do whatever they ask, Daddy. He has a gun.”
“He has a gun.” My father’s voice was loud and I heard someone in the background saying something.
“Wait, what are you doing?” My dad’s voice sounded angry.
“Maddie, Maddie, are you there?” Logan’s voice sounded hoarse and worried.
“Logan,” I said his name softly. “What are you doing?”
“I know Jared kidnapped you, Maddie. I’m so sorry. I know he hates you, but I never thought he would do this.”
“Logan, please—” I bit my lip and looked at Jared’s anguished expression. This was not going according to plan at all. “Please just give my father the phone.”
“Tell Jared I told him to release you now. Tell him I said if he loves me, he will let you go now.”
“He can’t do that, Logan,” I cried, hoping he would realize that there was something else going on.
“I love you, Maddie. Please, please tell him that. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
“Logan, I—”
“Give me back the phone, you piece of scum.” I heard my father’s voice in the background. “Maddie, it’s me again. Where are you?”
“I don’t know, Daddy,” my voice was louder this time. “Please just do as he asks.”