Crazy Beautiful Love (24 page)

“You won’t do
that,” I called his bluff. “You have no leg to stand on. I haven’t assaulted
anyone, and you set up the theft. I’ll have you go down as a co-conspirator. I
will tell them that you knew what Marty has been up to.”

“I don’t think you
get it,
Martelli
.” The mayor looked at me pompously.
“Marty isn’t up to anything. He works for me. I run this town. How do you think
you were able to steal so many cars without the police coming after you?”

“Marty has
connections?” I frowned and looked at Marty, who stood there looking small and
insignificant. Why hadn’t it struck me before? It was unlikely that Marty was
in charge of the whole endeavor. I had never questioned what my dad had said
about Marty having the police connections. “You have no connections, do you?” I
felt my shoulders slump as I looked at him. “You’ve been working for the mayor
from the beginning.” I shook my head as it all started coming together. My dad
had started stealing cars because he had no other options and Marty had
approached him. But if Marty had been working for the mayor this whole time, it
meant that it was the mayor who had told Marty to contact me dad. “So you set
my dad up on purpose?” I frowned as I realized the truth about the situation. I
stared at the mayor as I spoke to him. “You set this whole thing up from the
beginning, didn’t you? From when you were kids? That was your whole plan.”

“I’ll tell you
this, you’re a lot smarter than your dad.” The mayor laughed heartily while he
stared at me with cold eyes. “My father was in this business for years. He told
me I needed to recruit someone to help with the business. I was friends with
your dad. He was poor. I figured I had the perfect guy. I didn’t anticipate him
becoming a loser, though. How is your drunk of a father, by the way?”

“Don’t you ever—” I
moved forward to go and hit him, but Vincent grabbed my arm and stopped me.

“It wasn’t easy.”
The mayor looked at us with a baffled expression. “I thought he would have
jumped at the chance to make some extra money, what with him having none. But
he wasn’t interested in hearing about any of my schemes. He just wanted to go
to college, get a degree, and find a good job.

“So why did you
have to take that away from him?” The words fell out-of-my mouth. What sort of
evil person would deliberately do that to someone else?

“He stole the
woman I loved.” His expression changed. “From the moment, I laid eyes on your
mother, I knew. She was the one for me. She was
my everything
.
And then your dad stole her, and I begged her to take me back. I told her I’m
rich, I have the money, I can take care of you. And she said to me she didn’t
care. Money meant nothing to her. She loved your dad and wanted to see where it
went with him. Well, I took care of that.” He laughed bitterly. “She never had
to worry about having too much money or that she was with him for anything but
love.”

“How could you do
that? You had Maddie’s mother.”

“Ha, I never loved
her.” He shook his head. “She gave me Maddie, who is the light of my life. But
I’ve never loved her or felt the same passion as I did for your mom.”

“You’re an evil
man.” I stepped towards him unseeing but ready to hurt. My heart sagged with
pain and the thirst for revenge and I wanted to make him cry out. I wanted to
hear him scream for my forgiveness. I wanted to make him pay. Vincent must have
seen the look in my eyes because he reached forward and grabbed my shoulders. I
tried to push him off of me, and he tightened his grip. “Let me go,” I growled
at him and his eyes pleaded with me to stop.

 
The mayor looked at us both in disgust and was
about to step forward when his phone rang. He frowned and pulled it out and
answered it.

“Hello, dear, what
is it? I’m busy.” His face paled and I saw him look at me quickly. “They took
Maddie? What? How much? Don’t call the police yet.” He hung up and faced me,
his face as white as a sheet. “What have you done with Maddie?”

“What are you
talking about?” I felt faint as I stared at him. All my worst fears were coming
true and I was scared to hear what he was going to say. All of my anger and
hatred faded as worry seeped into my heart. I was scared that he was going to
tell me that something bad had happened to Maddie.

“Maddie has been
kidnapped.” His voice cracked. “They want me to deliver a million dollars for
her safe recovery. They called my wife.” He looked away from me. “They said
they would kill her if I didn’t give them the money.”

“Who took her?” I
heard the words but they didn’t seem like they were coming out of my mouth. I
had a bad feeling that I knew who had taken her. Everything around me seemed
like it was spinning out of control, and all I could think was, what had I
done?

“I was hoping you
would tell me that.” His eyes narrowed as he looked at me and Vincent. “Where’s
the third brother?”

“Home.” I
swallowed hard, not wanting to believe Jared had anything to do with it. He was
my brother. I knew he hated Maddie, but he also knew that I loved her. I didn’t
want to believe that he could do this to me or to her, but as I thought back to
the last few conversations we had had, I started to think that maybe he thought
this was the only way. The mayor’s phone rang again and he answered it quickly.
“Hello.” He spoke quickly and then he put it on speakerphone so we could all
hear it.

“I have your
daughter. I want a million dollars by eight p.m. tonight or I will kill her.”
The voice sounded calm, and Vincent and I exchanged a worried look.

“Where is my
daughter?” The mayor shouted into the phone. “I will have you arrested.”

“You can’t do
anything to make my life any worse than it is. But I can make yours a lot
worse. Trust me.” There was a sudden noise and then a high-pitched scream. “I
will call you back in a few hours. Do not call the police or get anyone else
involved, or you will not see Maddie alive again.” And then the phone went
dead. We all stood there in shock and fright and I stared at Vincent
wordlessly. I didn’t know what to say or do. I had to find Maddie and save her.
There was no way I could live with myself if anything happened to her, but I
was also scared about what would happen to her kidnapper. I knew I would do
anything to get her back safely, but I also knew that it could cost me
everything. Because I knew the voice on the phone. I knew who had kidnapped
Maddie. It was Jared.

Chapter 13

Maddie

I shivered in the
cold room and tried to keep my eyes open, though it was really hard because I
hadn’t been to sleep as yet. I pinched myself in an attempt to stay awake and
tried not to scream when I saw something scurry across the room. I took a deep
breath and tried to calm my nerves. I saw Jared pacing up and down in the
corner with a gun in his hands and I looked away quickly. I was scared and
frazzled, and I knew I was out of it. I really needed to sleep for a few hours
to refresh my brain, but I hadn’t been able to.

Jared had called
me twice last night. The first two times I hadn’t picked up the phone as I had
been busy with Joey and then with Logan. But when I saw his second missed call,
I knew something was up. And then he called a third time, about five minutes
after Logan had left, and he had asked me to come down to meet him outside, and
now here I was. I looked around the sparse room and thought that it was
straight out of a movie scene. I almost smiled to myself at just how surreal
everything felt. I felt like I was an actress playing a role, though I’d never
practiced being kidnapped before. All my senses were working in overdrive, and
I buried my face in my lap for a moment, while I tried to gather my thoughts.

“Do you have any
water?” I asked him quietly. My throat was dry and I really needed something to
drink.

“No.” he shook his
head. He stared down at the gun, and I shivered at the sight of the metallic
weapon. “Sorry, I didn’t think about that.”

“It’s okay.” I
looked away from him quickly, as I felt my eyes welling up with tears and I
didn’t want him to see how upset I was. I couldn’t believe that it had all come
to this. Everything I thought I knew about the
Martellis
was wrong. They weren’t the men I thought they were, and my heart broke at my
complete and utter naiveté. My life would never be the same again, and I wasn’t
sure how I would ever get past this, and that was if everything went well. I
felt like this summer I had grown from a girl to a woman. I’d been so naïve
when I had gone to meet Logan at the pier, my only hope had been to impress him
and get to know him. I’d been thrilled and excited to finally meet him, and I
hadn’t been scared of anything. It had been like one super-duper rollercoaster
ride, and now I was starting to worry I was going to fall out and go crashing
to the ground. It had been a mistake for me to pursue Logan like some psycho. I
had convinced myself that all was fair in love and war, and that he liked me
too, but now that everything had happened, I realized that I had messed up. All
I had done was ruin people’s lives. And I had gotten hurt in the process as
well. Every fiber of my person was crying inside at this moment. For everything
I thought I knew that was wrong. For all the love and joy inside of me that had
been captured and tied up. I felt tears welling in my eyes, but I wasn’t going
to allow myself to cry. I couldn’t allow myself to cry.

“Your father
better love you as much as you say he does.” Jared’s voice was harsh. “I sure
hope you really are the apple of his eye and he loves you so much, he will do
anything for you.”

“He does.” My
words were short and simple. That was one thing I was sure of, my dad would do
anything for me. “He’ll pay.”

“He better pay.”
Jared sat down and I could see the strain in his face. He looked up at me with
tired eyes, and I thought of Logan as he stared at me. “He better pay or there
will be hell to pay.” He looked worried and tense. “And it won’t be just me who
goes down, it will be Logan, and Vincent as well.”

“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.”