Crazy Beautiful Love (21 page)

“You don’t
understand.” I frowned at him. “I need to go to her now. She is all that
matters.”

“No.” Vincent grabbed
ahold of my shoulders. “She isn’t all that matters. We are what matters right
now. We need to do this for us. This is our chance.”

“I need to go to
Maddie.” I pushed past him. “Give me the keys.”

“Logan, listen to
me. She will still be there.” Vincent raised his face and grabbed me, pushing
me against the wall. His blue eyes bore into mine seriously. “This is not the
time, you hear me? This is not the time.” I stared at him, unblinking. Jared
stared at us both with his mouth agape, his face reflecting the shock in my
mind. We had never seen Vincent be the dominant one in our relationship.

“I don’t want to
lose her,” I mumbled and pushed him off of me. “I really fucked up.”

“I’m sorry.” His
eyes looked sad for me. “But we have a dad in the living room who is a few
weeks from the point of no return. I have tuition due in a few weeks, and we
have rent. Right now, we have to do this for us. If it’s meant to be, it will
work out with Maddie.”

“What if she never
talks to me again?” My eyes blazed but my words were soft.

“She’ll talk to
you again.” Vincent nodded at me in assurance. “You’ll see.”

I stared at him
and at Jared and realized that no matter what I wanted to do, no matter how
badly I needed to speak to Maddie, I couldn’t just walk out now. I had a responsibility
to my brothers and to my family. I would never put myself before them.

“Let’s go.” I
nodded at Jared. “You have the details?”

“We’re going to go
to
Sawyerville
to get the rental car, a white Honda
Accord. Then we’ll go to Lowe’s and get the tools. Then tonight we’ll go eat at
an Olive Garden and talk about how we’re going to play pool. Instead of going
to play pool, we will drive to the address in this envelope. Vincent will get
out of the car and pretend to go to ring the doorbell. You will also slip out
of the car and go work on the garage door. If anyone is looking, they will see
Vincent at the front door and won’t be paying attention to the garage. After five
minutes, Vincent will go back to the car and we will pull away. We will stop
around the corner and park the car. By that time, you should have gotten into
the garage. Vincent and I will run back to the house, and Vincent will stand
watch at the garage door. You will break open the car door and work on getting
the ignition started. I will use the special paint we get from Lowe’s to spray
the car while you are working, and I’ll change the license plate as well. We
should be able to leave the garage within thirty minutes max. Once we are out,
Vincent will run back to the white Honda and drive it home. We will follow and
go home. We’ll call Joey, and he will call the buyer and set up the sale.”
Jared grinned. “Easy-peasy.”

“I just hope it
will all go according to plan.” I sighed. There were so many different things
that could go wrong. I didn’t want to voice any of them out loud. I knew we
were all worried about a million things, and now I was a loose cannon who was
even more frightened.

“It’ll be fine.
This time next week we’ll be millionaires.” Jared laughed and I gave him a weak
smile. It all sounded like it was going to be too easy. Nothing in life was
ever this easy, nothing. But what could I say? We had come this far, and on
paper, it seemed like nothing could go wrong. But I hadn’t foreseen last night
happening, either.

“We need to make a
contingency plan in case something goes wrong.” I thought for a moment. “If
anything happens, like if the cops come, or the family is home, or a neighbor
shows up, I want you both to run. I will stay in the garage and take the heat.”
I put my hands up and glared at them. “And there will be no debating this, I
will call this whole thing off if you don’t agree. You got it?”

“Logan, you can’t
go down by yourself.” Vincent shook his head. “That’s not right.”

“We’re not all
going down if it goes wrong.” I was emphatic and my voice was loud. “I know you
guys will roll your eyes and groan but I’m the eldest and I’m in charge. Mom
asked me to take care of you guys. I don’t even want you guys to be involved
with this, but I know I need your help. I will never forgive myself if anything
happens to either of you.”

“Fine,” Jared
sighed. “But only because nothing is going to go wrong. We got this, bro, and
once we arrive home tonight, you can call Maddie, and you guys can make up.”

“Yeah, like you
care.” I turned away from him with my face red. I was sure he was happy at how
this had turned out.

“Of course I
care.” Jared shook his head and stared at me for a moment. “Anyway, I need to
call Joey and let him know I got the package.”

“Okay.” I looked
down at my half-naked body. “I’m going to go shower. I’ll be back down in a
bit.”

“Try not to call
her too many times, bro.” Vincent patted me on the back and I ignored him as I
ran back up the stairs and tried calling Maddie again. I kept calling and
calling, hoping she would pick up the phone. I called one last time and left
another message. “Hey, Maddie, it’s Logan. I’m sorry. Please call me. I fucked
up. I know that. I’ve been a bit of a dick. I want to tell you everything.
Please call me. I miss you.” I hung up and went into the shower. My stomach was
in knots and my brain was cloudy with misery and regret. I had a bad, bad
feeling about everything, but out of all of my worries, I was most worried that
I might never see Maddie again.

***

“We did it!” Jared
high-fived me as we drove out of the driveway. I checked the rearview mirror
and made sure that the garage door was closed. I grinned at him, unable to
believe how smoothly everything had gone. Everything had gone according to
plan, and we had gotten into the Bugatti in record time. Vincent was already on
the way back home, and I was enjoying the smooth ride of the expensive sports
car.

“Joey was right,
the key was exactly where he said it would be.” Jared sounded surprised. I
didn’t want to ask him why he was surprised his friend had told the truth, if
he had trusted him so much.

“I’m glad Tolstoy
told us that we wouldn’t be able to hotwire this car.” I shook my head, not
believing that we had almost tried to steal a car that wouldn’t start without
the key, due to the chips used in the design. “Could you imagine what would
have happened?” I sighed. “Thank God, Joey’s connection had more detailed
information or we would have been screwed. And this is exactly why we don’t steal
super-expensive cars.”

“I nearly had a
heart attack you know.” Jared grinned at me. “Damn cat.”

“I know.” I
checked the rearview mirror to make sure no one was following us. “When you
screamed, I thought that was it.”

“I felt him on my
back, and thought for sure this was someone catching us in the act. Never
again.”

“I know.” I looked
at him with thoughtful eyes. “I used to get such a thrill from stealing cars.
It was such an adrenaline rush, but today I was just scared. I was nothing
other than scared about what would happen to us if we got caught.”

“Yeah.” Jared
nodded. “But we did it, bro. We’re home free.”

“We still have to
make it home, but it looks like we did it.” I grinned back at Jared, hardly
able to contain myself. Maybe everything in our lives was finally changing for
the better. I only hoped that the one person who mattered to me aside from my
brothers would be able to share it all with me.

“I’m going to call
Joey and let him know.” Jared whipped out his phone. “Oh, and when we get the
money, I figured out where we can send Dad and how we can get there.”

“Oh?”

“There’s an
alcohol rehab I found that I think will really help him.” Jared nodded and then
held his hand up as his call connected. “Joey, you there?” He laughed into the
phone. “We got it. Yup, everything was smooth. Let the buyer know. Oh, you’re
busy? On a date? What? With who?” Jared looked at me with a grin. “He’s getting
laid,” he mouthed to me with a grin and I shook my head in exasperation.
“Maddie? Maddie Wright?” Jared’s voice dropped and he turned away from me.
“You’re with her now? Did she say why?”

“What’s going on?”
I slowed down and looked over at Jared. “Maddie’s with Joey?”

 
Jared shook his head and kept his eyes averted
from mine. “Well, just call us tomorrow with the information for the drop. Tell
Maddie I said hi.”

“Maddie’s with
Joey?” I glared at him. “She’s fucking him already?”

“No.” Jared shook
his head slowly, and I could tell he was thinking furiously. “She’s not fucking
him.”

“So what then?”

“I guess they’re
on a date?” He bit his lip and stared out the window. “Something must be up.”
He mumbled under his breath and he cursed. “Fuck it.” He took a deep breath.
“Hurry up and drive home.”

“What’s going on,
Jared?” I stared at him angrily. “Did you know Maddie was seeing Joey? Is that
why you didn’t want me to fall for her? Because you knew she was involved with
your friend?”

“It’s complicated,
Logan.” He looked at me with a frazzled expression. “I can’t get into this
right now, I need to sort some stuff out.”

“What stuff?” I
looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“I don’t know.”
His looked panicked. “Just drive home.”

“What the fuck is
going on?”

“I don’t know,
okay? I don’t fucking know.” He slammed his fist against the glove compartment.
“Let’s just say that you may have been right.”

“Right about
what?” I felt like I wanted to shout. “So she is dating Joey?”

Jared stared into
my eyes and I was scared. I had never seen such a look of fear in his eyes
before. He closed his eyes and sat back in the chair and rubbed his temples. I
concentrated on the road ahead and didn’t say anything else. I went as quickly
as I could without going over the speed limit, and I breathed a sigh of relief
as we made it back home and I saw the white Honda in the driveway. I drove the
car and parked it on the grass, and we jumped out silently and pulled the sheet
that we had left on the grass over the car, so that it wasn’t completely
visible from the road.

We walked into the
house and into the kitchen. Vincent was sitting at the table, and he stood up
to give us both a big hug. We were all relieved that part one had gone so well,
but I think we all realized that we were far from in the clear. Jared and I
exchanged a look, and I knew that there was something else going on, but I kept
my mouth shut. I didn’t want to frighten Vincent, but I was scared. But I
wasn’t scared about what might or might not happen with the Bugatti. I was
scared that I had lost Maddie forever, and I knew that if I had, my life would
never be the same again.

Chapter 12

Logan

I tried calling
Maddie about ten more times that night, but I didn’t leave any more messages. I
was too scared I would say something that would make her not talk to me ever
again, though that was already a real possibility. She hadn’t answered any of
my calls or returned any of my text messages. I was full of worry and stress,
and I knew that Jared and Vincent were avoiding me because they were scared I
would go off on one of them. They were right to avoid me because I was just
looking for an argument. They were still riding high from the thrill of
stealing the Bugatti, and while I was happy that we had been successful, I was
gutted that Maddie wouldn’t speak to me. I tried calling one more time before I
jumped out of bed and pulled on my shoes.

I ran down the
stairs and into the kitchen, where Jared and Vincent were playing cards. “Hey,
where are the keys to the Mustang?” I held my hand out. “And don’t even say no
or I will take the Bugatti, and I don’t think either of you want that to
happen.”

“Let it go for the
night.” Jared grimaced at me. “Just let it go.”

“Let what fucking
go?” I turned towards him with a hiss.

“Let Maddie have
some time to think about things,” he continued in a steely tone.

“You’re happy
about this, aren’t you? You don’t want me to be happy with Maddie. Did you tell
Joey? Was he waiting to poach her away from me?”

“You sound crazy,
Logan.” Jared shook his head. “Trust me, I’m not happy about this.”

I turned away from
him and back to Vincent. “Are you giving me your keys?”

“Logan,” he began
and I glared at him. He closed his mouth, sighed, and handed me the keys from
his pocket. “Be careful with her.”

“I always am.” I
grabbed the keys away from him. “I’ve never gotten a single scratch on her.”

“I mean with
Maddie.”

“I’ll see you guys
later.” I turned away from them and ran to the front door, ignoring the shouts
of my dad from the living room. I jumped into the Mustang and drove as quickly
as possible. I needed to apologize to Maddie in person, I needed to look into
her eyes and tell her that I fucked up and wanted to make it up to her. I
needed her to see the sincerity in my eyes, and I needed her to know why I
hated her dad. It was time for Maddie to find out the full story behind my
hatred of her father. I needed her to understand that I while I hated him, I
could never hate her. I only hoped that it would be enough to warrant her to
give me another chance. Because if it wasn’t, I didn’t think I would ever feel
whole again.

I parked in my
usual spot and pulled out my phone and sent her a text message. “Maddie, I’m
outside your house. I will be slamming the door down in ten minutes if you do
not call me back or come out. I’m not leaving until you come out or the police
escort me away.” I hit send and waited. I stared at the house I had sworn I
would never visit again and prayed that I would see her walking out the door to
come and see me. Just as I was about to text her again, a car pulled up in
front of the house. I peered over my steering wheel and watched in shock as
Joey jumped out and walked around to open the passenger door for Maddie. She
got out slowly, and I saw her laughing about something. My heart constricted as
I watched her smiling at Joey. She looked beautiful and happy. She was wearing
a white summery dress, and her long dark locks were flowing in the breeze of
the night. My fingers gripped my cellphone so tightly, I thought I was close to
breaking it as I watched them standing there, talking. I thought I was going to
murder someone when I saw Joey lean down and give her a kiss on the lips. It
wasn’t long, but those few seconds were like the cruelest torture. I felt as if
the world was ending, and I was getting to see my worst nightmare play out in
slow motion. I let out a huge breath as I saw Maddie pushing him to go in the
car, and I grinned to myself.
That’s my
girl
, I thought. I wasn’t sure what I would have done if she had let him go
into the house that night. I might have committed murder, and then he’d never have
been able to orchestrate the sale of the Bugatti. Jared and Vincent would be
stuck with a stolen Bugatti in the front yard and a brother in jail. And I
still wouldn’t have Maddie.

I jumped out of
the car as soon as Joey passed me in his vehicle, and I ran up to Maddie as
quickly as possible so I could intercept her before she went inside. “Maddie,”
I called out as she was opening the door. She looked at me with a frown and
paused.

“What are you
doing here?” she hissed, and all I wanted to do was swoop her into my arms.

“I need to talk to
you.” I smiled hopefully. “I’ve missed you.”

“I don’t want to
talk to you.” She shook her head and made to open the door again. “Just leave
me alone.”

“Listen to me,
please, Maddie. Give me five minutes, please?” I pleaded with her.

“No.” She shook
her head and she avoided eye contact with me. I walked closer to her, and
stopped right in front of her.

“Look at me,
please, Maddie.”

“No.” She shook
her head and looked over my shoulder.

“Look at me,
please.” I sighed and I reached my hand over to her face and lifted her chin up,
so her eyes would look directly into mine. “Maddie.” I said her name slowly, as
she finally made eye contact with me. I froze as I stared into her hurt, wide
eyes. My heart felt as if I had just run a marathon and emotions ran through me
as I took in her appearance hungrily. She was the most beautiful woman in the
world. “Maddie.” I said her name again. “I’ve missed you.”

“You don’t get to
say that.” She bit her lip and turned away from me. “You don’t get to come here
and pretend everything’s okay.”

“I came to
apologize.” I took a deep breath. “And I came to explain.”

“I don’t care. I
don’t want to know.” She shook her head, and looked away from me again. “I
don’t trust you anymore.”

“I love you,
Maddie.” The words tripped out of my mouth and I saw her jaw drop as she looked
at me uncertainly. “I love you.” I said the words again and laughed. “I didn’t
think I’d ever say those words.”

“I don’t care.”
She shook her head, but I could see her lips were trembling.

“Please, Maddie.”
I reached down for her hands. “Can we just speak?”

“No,” her voice
broke. “I can’t do this anymore, Logan.” She shook her head vehemently. “I knew
it was going to be hard, getting to know you and trying to break through. But I
can’t deal with this anymore. I can’t deal with you. You don’t trust me and you
never will.”

“I didn’t see your
invitation until the day after the party,” I interrupted her. “I didn’t know,
Maddie. I thought you were just—”

“It doesn’t
matter.” She pulled away from me and shouted. “It doesn’t matter when you saw
the invitation. You should have had faith in me. You should have trusted me.
You should have known me better than to think I was ashamed of you. You broke
my heart, Logan. Not because you fucked me and set me up so my father, my own
father, would hear and see. But because you did it because you didn’t trust
me.”

“I wasn’t
thinking, Maddie. Please.” I looked at her with distraught eyes. “You have to
understand, I was just so hurt, I couldn’t think straight. I messed up, I know.
But I do trust you. I love you. I will never doubt you again.”

“I can’t just
forgive you, Logan.” She shook her head and there were tears rolling down her
face as she looked at me. “You betrayed me and my feelings.”

“Don’t you love
me, Maddie?” I grabbed ahold of her and pulled her towards me. “Don’t you love
me?” I crushed my lips down on hers and tried to kiss her. She pushed against
me, but I continued, trying desperately for her to remember the connection we
had. Our chemistry was unbeatable and I hoped that the feel and taste of me
would awaken her from her numb state.

“Stop it.” She
pushed me and broke her face away from me. “You can’t just kiss me. It’s over,
Logan. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“You told me once
that I was the man you were going to marry.”

“I got it wrong.”

“You told me that
our story was like that of a movie.”

“So?”

“So the guy always
gets the girl in movies.” I stared at her. “That much I know.”

“Well, maybe it’s
a different guy who gets the girl.”

“No.” I shook my
head. “When two people are fated for each other, no one can break them apart.”

“We aren’t fated
for each other.” She shook her head. “It’s over, Logan.”

“You don’t mean
that.” I ran my hands through my hair. “You can’t possibly mean that.”

“I’m just a silly,
spoiled schoolgirl, Logan.” She sighed. “You knew that when you first met me.
You were right. I’m fickle, I’m capricious. I don’t want you. I don’t need you.
I don’t love you. I’m over you.”

“Liar.” I shook my
head, refusing to believe it.

“I’m over you,
Logan.” She shrugged carelessly. “I don’t care if you believe me. You need to
go. This is not a good place for you to be.”

“I love you.” The
words came out bitterly, and I laughed. “Ironic that now that I’ve met the love
of my life, she doesn’t want me. Seems to be the story of my life. Once a
loser, always a loser.”

“Get over
yourself, Logan
Martelli
.” She grabbed my hand and
pulled me away from the front door. “You need to leave, and I need to go in, or
my parents will wonder what’s going on.”

“Come talk with me
in the car.”

“I have nothing to
say.” She made to go in the door, and I grabbed her arms and held them up so
she couldn’t move.

“I won’t let go
until you come to talk with me in the car.”

“Let go of me, or
I’ll scream.” Her eyes bore into mine.

“Scream then.”

“The police will
come.”

“I don’t care.”

“You’ll get
arrested.”

“I don’t care.”

“Fine.” She
squirmed away from me. “Just let go of me. I’ll give you five minutes.” We
walked to my car quickly, both of us breathing rapidly. My head was a flurry of
emotions and I felt as if I was going to break down and shout. I had to get her
to give me another chance or there was a real possibility that I was going to
do something stupid. We got into the car in silence, and I turned to face her
with a weak smile.

“You look
beautiful tonight.”

“Thank you.” She
nodded without smiling.

“You’re dating
Joey now?”

“No.” She shook
her head and looked away. “Kind of.”

“I see. That was
fast.” I couldn’t keep the hurt out of my voice.

“He asked me to
dinner, and I said yes.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve known him all of my
life, our dads are best friends, they always hoped we’d date. I figured it
couldn’t hurt. I needed to figure out some stuff.”

“I’m glad you
decided to date someone in your league,” I spat out bitterly.

“We’re not dating,
and I don’t know what you’re talking about when you say ‘league.’” She sighed,
and I watched as she played with her fingers.

“I don’t trust
him.” I leaned towards her. “I don’t want you to date him.”

“Are you joking?”
She laughed. “You don’t get to tell me who I can and can’t date. And trust me,
I know who I can and can’t trust.” She rolled her eyes and said something under
her breath.

“Maddie, I love
you. I made a mistake. A big mistake, and I hurt you. Please give me another
chance.” I leaned forward to kiss her again, and for a moment I felt I had
gotten through to her. Her lips melted against mine, and she kissed me back. My
tongue slid between her lips eagerly, anxious and happy to taste her again. I
felt like I was inhaling manna from heaven, and I moved closer to her, so I
could run my hands through her hair. I felt her fingers in my hair, tugging on
the strands as she kissed me back. I slid my hand to her breast to caress it,
and then she jumped back and broke the kiss. Her eyes looked at me feverishly
and my heart dropped as she shook her head and grabbed my hands.

“Listen to me,
Logan.” She spoke slowly and steadily, and I sat there staring at her,
wondering how I had could have ever doubted her. “You are a special, wonderful,
brilliant man. You’re not less than anyone. You are handsome, and kind, and
funny, and you are loving and sweet. And my heart will always have a place for
you, but I’m not the one for you.” She shook her head slowly. “I love you, but
I can’t do this.”

“Give me another
chance,” I begged her, my head caught up in the wonder of her words. “I fucked
up. I know. I will do anything to prove myself to you.”

“I can’t do this,
Logan!” she shouted at me, and the tears ran down her face more quickly this
time, smearing her mascara. “I just can’t do this. Please. You hurt me. You are
so quick to think the worst of me. I will do anything for you. But I just can’t
do this. What you did to me the other night, it hurt me more than I’ve ever
been hurt in my life. You crushed me. Do you understand that? You
crushed
me!”

“Your dad used to
be best friends with my dad.” The words coming out of my mouth sounded robotic.
“Your dad was upset because my dad was smarter and got my mom. Your dad set my
dad up with the police. My dad’s life was never the same.” I knew I was
mumbling and not making sense, but I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted her so
badly to understand. “I grew up hating your dad because my dad hated him for
ruining his life. We came to this house every week for years and just sat
outside, and my dad would tell us about his dreams and his goals before your
dad screwed him over. And then we would go home to our squalor, and we’d lay in
bed hungry and cold, and we hated the family that lived on Manor Road.” I
paused to see if she was listening, and I saw the dismayed shock on her face as
she stared at me. I continued and lifted up my shirt, “You see this scar? My
dad stabbed me one day when I asked him to take us home. I was fed up of
hearing the story about what your dad had done. It consumed his life. He was a
drunk. He is a drunk.” I paused and banged my fist against the steering wheel,
unable to look at her as I spoke. “I hate him so much, I hate who he is. He’s a
sorry drunk who hit his wife and his kids, and I hate your dad for making him
that person. I’m a jumble of emotions and I don’t even know what to say.” I
turned to look at her to see how she was reacting, and she ran her hands down
my chest and over my scar. She looked up at me with more tears welling in her
eyes and I continued, this time, grabbing her hands and talking. “My whole life
has consisted of hating your dad, stealing cars, and trying to make a better
life for my brothers. I never wanted to meet a girl and fall in love, and I
certainly never wanted to meet you.” I rubbed the tears away from her face as
she cried. “When I saw you that night, I wondered who you were, this calm, cool
and beautiful car thief, and I took you to the field because we had instant
chemistry and I just liked how I felt when I was around you. And then you were
so spunky and confident, and I was intrigued by you. When we made love, I felt
like my body was on fire. But then you told me who you were, and I hated you. I
hated myself for being with you.”