by J. S. Cooper
“You’re a fool, Maddie Wright,” he whispered, and I wondered how he had read my mind.
“You’re a fool too, Logan Martelli,” I whispered into his chest, but he was silent. We lay there for a few minutes, and I felt him shift beside me. He rolled me over onto my back again and lifted my arms above my head. His grip was tight on my arms as he straddled me. I tried to move, but I couldn’t. I looked up at him in confusion. He was no longer smiling and I stared up at him, with my heart thudding in fear. What was going on?
“Tell me why Joey sent you to track me down.” He looked down at me with hard eyes. “Tell me why he sent you to fuck me. What does he want from me? And what does he have on you, to turn you into some sort of slut?”
I stared up at him in wide eyes, unsure of what to say. I’d never seen anyone so calm and controlled with such murderous eyes before. I swallowed hard and as I gazed up at him. I had no idea what I was going to say. There was no way I could tell him the truth.
Chapter 5
Logan
I stared down at Maddie’s face furiously. Just when I had been willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, she had mentioned Joey. I felt murderous inside when she mentioned his name. Joey Kennedy was a snake, and as far as I was concerned, so was anyone who had dealings with him. I laughed bitterly as I stared down into Maddie’s wide eyes. To think, I had almost felt guilty that I was going to fuck her in her father’s bedroom as some sort of perverse revenge. For all I knew, she wanted this to happen. For all I knew, she had cameras taping the whole thing.
“Tell me what Joey wanted you to do,” I growled down at her, trying to ignore the feelings of lust that filled me as I stared down at her body. Her eyes looked up at me unsure, and their purple hues called out to me like the siren that she was. I should have known not to trust her. She was too confident and too vulnerable, all at the same time. She was evil, just like her father. She wanted something from me, and I needed to find out what. “What’s the game plan, Maddie?” I felt her try to move her arms and I laughed down at her. “You can’t move. Trust me on that.”
“I don’t understand what you want me to say, Logan.” She bit her lower lip, and I saw the worry in her eyes. And there was something else there, apprehension, and fear. There was a real fear in her eyes, and as I realized that I was the one who had put it there, I let go of her and moved away, jumping off the bed. I didn’t mess around with women, and I didn’t harm them. I had never harmed a woman, and I wouldn’t start now. I reached down and grabbed my boxer shorts and pulled them on quickly.
“What’s going on?” She sat up, confused. “Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving. I never should have come here.” I shook my head. “It was a mistake.”
“You’re really confusing me, Logan. Why did you come here?” She stood up and I stared at her breasts, forcing myself to keep my hands to myself.
“I don’t know.” I shook my head and looked away from her. If I couldn’t stop staring at her, I was going to bend her over the bed and fuck her again. But only after she begged me. I grinned to myself, there was something about hearing a woman beg me to fuck her that turned me on.
“You mentioned my dad.” She frowned. “Do you know my dad?” She looked at me carefully. “Are you mad at me because of my dad?” She licked her delicious, juicy lips, and I stood still. “You got mad after I mentioned my dad was the mayor. And you said you wanted to speak to him when you got here.” She paused. “And you wanted to sleep with me in this room.”
I stared at her, unspeaking. To be honest, I was surprised it had taken her this long to connect the dots.
“And you said, ‘What would your dad say if he saw us fucking on his bed?’”
“I don’t believe I ever used those exact words.” I smiled at her and she glared at me.
“What sort of sick fuck are you, Logan Martelli?” She shuddered and grabbed her shorts and top and pulled them on.
“You didn’t have any problems with me earlier.”
“I didn’t realize you were sick in the head.” She shook her head. “I just thought you were misunderstood.”
“Misunderstood?” I burst out laughing. “You thought I was misunderstood?”
“I thought that maybe you weren’t as bad as everyone said.” She frowned and shook her head violently. “I’m a fool.”
“Did you think you were the good girl who was going to fix the misunderstood bad boy?” I took her in and realized I was right. “So what did Joey have to do with it?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” she screamed at me, and I stepped back in surprise. “Do you think everyone is after you? You’re the big, bad wolf and everyone is tracking you down, is that it? My dad, Joey, me, fuck, everyone in River Valley is obsessed with you?”
“I never said your dad was after me.” I walked over to her, and she pulled away from me, her eyes shooting darts at me.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Really?” I cocked my head and moved closer to her but stopped before our bodies were touching.
“Really.” Her body trembled as she stared at me defiantly. “You’re a fucking psycho.”
“I’m the psycho?” I laughed at her. “Is that a joke?”
“I thought you were leaving.” She lifted her chin up at me.
“I changed my mind.”
“Don’t stay on my behalf.”
“I feel like seconds.” I dropped my eyes to her breasts and back up to her eyes slowly. “Only this time I want you on top.”
“You wish.” Her voice trembled as she spoke.
“I think you wish.” I stepped closer and pulled her towards me hungrily as I lowered my lips to hers softly, kissing her tenderly. Her lips were unmoving at first, but then I felt her hands in my hair, and I groaned and ran my hands up and down her back. I was mesmerized by this girl, this girl I wanted to hate. But she had flipped the switch on me, and I had been so scared that she was going to tell me to leave and never come back. I made to push her back on the bed and she shook her head.
“Not in here.” She stared into my eyes, and I nodded. She held my hand and guided me back to her bedroom. I felt my pocket vibrating and I reached in and grabbed my phone. Vincent’s name was flashing up at me and I felt a pang of guilt.
“I have to go.” I stopped at her doorway. “I have to get my brother’s car back.”
“Your brother’s car?” She raised an eyebrow and looked at me in disbelief. “The Toyota is your brother’s car now?”
“No, smartass.” I smiled at her, trying not to laugh while loving how she made me feel light. “My brother Vincent has a Mustang, that he bought.” I added in and she grinned back at me. “And I think he’s pissed that I have it.”
“You’re telling me that a Martelli brother is pissed that his car has been borrowed?”
“Sshhhh.” I laughed. “Ironic, I know.”
“Will I see you again?” Her voice was unsure. I sighed. She looked so lovely standing there in front of me. I took in her long, dark hair, slightly swollen lips, and the curve of her breasts, and I felt a stirring of something that wasn’t lust fill me.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Because you hate my father?” She looked up at me unhappily.
“Yeah.” I stared at her. “I do hate your father. And let’s be real, he’s not going to be delighted to find out you’re dating me.”
“Why do you hate him?” Her voice was soft. “He’s a good man.”
“Let’s just agree to disagree about that.” I shook my head and looked around me. I looked up and saw that she was staring at the scar on my body, and I could see the question in her eyes. “You can thank your father for this scar.”
“My father did this to you?” She gasped in shock and her hand flew to her mouth.
“You could say that.” I stared past her into the room and remembered the night my father had stabbed me. I had been sixteen and I was still heartbroken from my mother’s death. I was also anno
yed at our monthly trips to Manor Road. I had questioned my father as we had sat outside, staring at the mayor’s house and he had grabbed his knife and lunged at me. I might have died if Vincent and Jared hadn’t pulled him off of me. I could still remember the fear and the darting pain as the knife slid down my abdomen, slicing my skin. The pain was excruciating, and as the blood gushed out and my dad realized what he had done, he started crying. And we all sat there in silence, watching the mayor’s house for another hour before my dad took me to the hospital. He had sat in the car, while Vincent and Jared walked into the emergency room with me. We said I had tripped while holding a knife. The doctors knew it was a lie, but they didn’t ask me what the real story was. I suppose they didn’t care. We had never spoken about that night again, and I never told my father that I didn’t want to go to the mayor’s house again.
My father was consumed by his hatred of Mayor Wright, and it somehow made him feel better when he took us there and told us the stories about his past. Stories that I hadn’t heard in a few years. My father didn’t bother coming out to Manor Road anymore; the alcohol controlled every part of his body and he didn’t care about anything else now. He was never really lucid enough to think about anything other than his next beer.
“Will you tell me why, Logan?” Maddie’s voice interrupted my thoughts and I looked up at her, trying not to let her see the pain in my eyes.
“It’s not your problem.” I stepped back. “I really do have to go now.”
“Do you like me, Logan?”
“I don’t know you.”
“From what you know about me, do you like me?”
I stood there for a moment, not sure why she was asking me if I liked her. Was this some sort of trap? “I honestly don’t know.” Which was a bit of a lie. I did know. I did like her. I was drawn to her, I felt alive around her. I felt like someone other than Logan Martelli: criminal, brother, son around her.
“Will you be friends with me?” she asked hopefully. I looked at her in confusion.
“Did you just ask me to be your friend?”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “I know you don’t know me and you don’t trust me, but maybe we can change that.”
“I don’t need any more friends.”
“You have more than one?”
“Funny.” I stared at her with my heart beating rapidly. This was a bad idea to be entertaining, but I didn’t want to just walk away. “Do you mean friends with benefits?”
“No.” She shook her head.
“What if I want friends with benefits?”
“I don’t sleep with someone who doesn’t trust me.”
“What?” I gaped at her. “You’ve already slept with me on two occasions.”
“I didn’t know you didn’t trust me then.” She shrugged. “Now I do.”
“I thought we were fated for each other?” I murmured. “I thought you wanted to feel me inside of you.”
“I did, and now I have. And maybe both feelings have changed.”
“Both feelings have changed already?” My voice rose. “Fickle, aren’t we?”
“You know us rich girls.” She winked at me, and I attempted a smile at her joke. I ignored the surge of anger that welled in me at her words. How could she go from hot to cold so quickly?
“No, not really.” I felt like punching the wall. “So you want to be friends?”
“That seems like it would be best, right?” She looked away quickly. “You don’t do relationships, and I don’t sleep with guys who can’t stand me or my family and won’t tell me why.”
“So you’ll just find another guy to fuck, huh?” I glared at her, jealousy seeping into my voice. “I thought you weren’t easy?”
“Give it a rest, Logan.” She sighed. “You can’t have it both ways.”
“Whatever.” I didn’t need this shit. “I’m going.”
“See ya.” She walked into her room. “Close the front door on your way out,” she called out to me.
“Fine.” I glared at no one and ran down the stairs, pissed. I slammed the door as I left the house. The sun was rising and I ran to the car as annoyed as I had been when I had arrived a few hours earlier. What the fuck was Maddie playing at? Was this some sort of sick joke? I didn’t understand girls and had never cared before. They were good for a night or two, but I had bigger worries than their feelings. And a girl had never gotten under my skin like Maddie had. I turned the ignition and pulled out of Manor Road as quickly as possible.
“I’m coming!” I yelled into the phone as Vincent called me again.
“Dude, I gotta go to take my exam soon.” Vincent sounded annoyed.
“I forgot. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.” I threw my phone on the passenger seat, and raced down the streets, not caring if a cop was waiting to pull me over for speeding. I sped home as if I was at the Indy 500, and when I pulled into the driveway, I was more upset than when I had left.
I ran up the stairs and to Vincent’s room and pushed his door open. “Here are your keys.” I threw them at him as he lay there in bed. He just stared at me with a worried expression. “Good luck with the test.”
“Thanks.” He nodded, and I left his room wordlessly. I ran into the bathroom and locked the door before turning on the shower. “Fuck you, Maddie Wright,” I cursed her under my breath. “Friends.” I rubbed the shampoo into my hair and closed my eyes. I needed to feel like I was in control or I was going to lose it. I stood there for a few minutes, letting the hot water beat down on me, and then stepped out of the shower calmly. I had bigger problems than Maddie Wright. I needed to come up with rent money in a little over a week or I knew we were going to get evicted. I walked to my room and sat on my bed, waiting for an answer to come to me. Praying that somehow I could figure it out. I’d always been able to figure it out before.
“Hey, Logan.” Jared knocked on the door and walked in. “Sorry about last night.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I wanted to give you this.” He dropped five hundred-dollar bills on the bed next to me. “I thought it could help.”
“Where did you get this kind of money?” I looked up at him and frowned. “Please tell me you haven’t been dealing with Joey?”
“Joey didn’t make me do anything.” Jared’s eyes flared at me. “I don’t know what you have against him, but he doesn’t control me.”
“Joey is bad news, Jared.” I shook my head as I held the cash in my hands. “I don’t want to get into it, but he’s not to be trusted.”
“You know the only people I trust are you and Vincent.” Jared sighed. “Joey is my friend. He does my bidding, trust me, bro.”
“What are you doing to get this kind of money?”
“We bet on the horses.”
“The horses? How old are you? Sixty?”
“Joey’s old man does it. He knows a few guys that are trainers. We get some tips, who’s looking good, who’s not. What jockeys are excited, that sort of thing.”
“I don’t know about this, Jared, gambling’s not a good thing to get into.”
“And stealing cars is?” Jared’s eyes bore into mine. “I love you, bro, but you can’t do this much longer. Things are getting worse.”
“It’ll be fine. Vincent will get his degree and you will get your degree and we’ll be fine.” My voice held conviction; it had to be fine.
“And what about Dad?” Jared’s voice was hoarse. “I want to leave, Logan. I don’t want to deal with this shit anymore. He’s a fucking drunk. He’s not going to change and I’m not going to put up with his bullshit anymore. I’ve had enough.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Until he hits you again or, God forbid, gets a gun.”
“He’s our dad, Jared.”
“He needs to go to a facility or something. He needs to get help.”
“I know.” I sighed and stood up. “Don’t you think I know that?”
“Where did you go this morning?” His eyes held a question, and
as I stared at him, I knew I couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“I went on a drive.”
“To?”
“Manor Road.” The words slipped out of my mouth bitterly.
“Why?”
“I wanted to see the house.”
“It’s been a while, eh?” Jared sat down on the bed and I sat on the chair in the corner. “Do you think Dad even thinks about it anymore?”
“I’m sure.” We stared at each other for a while and we both thought back to our childhoods and our weekly drives out to Manor Road.
“Why did you go?”
“I met a girl.” I sighed. “And I mean just met, so don’t go getting any ideas. We kinda hit it off, I thought she was cool. Hot, but a bit kooky, you know how some girls can be.”
“Trust me, I know.” Jared laughed and I joined him. Jared was a player, but a charismatic one. Girls loved him on sight, and they never seemed to stop calling him, or wanting to be with him. I stared at my brother and his too-long wavy black hair and I shook my head.
“You need to get a haircut.”
“Don’t change the subject, tell me about the girl.”
“I took her for a ride, we had some fun, but turns out she’s a rich kid.”
“Oh.” Jared made a face.
“Yeah, exactly. And to make matters worse. It turns out she’s Maddison Wright.”
“The mayor’s daughter?” Jared gave me a shocked look. I sighed inside. He was going to play the game with me.
“Yeah, she goes by Maddie, though.”
“Maddie, as in mad in the head?”
“Yeah.” I laughed and thought about Maddie and her forward nature. “I wouldn’t be surprised if her name has rubbed off on her.”
“So, you like her?” Jared cocked his head at me and leaned forward.
“Did you not hear me? Her name is Maddison Wright.”
“Yeah? So?”
“Do you think I would date the mayor’s daughter?” I rolled my eyes. “Granted, she’s pretty and dynamite in bed.” I laughed. “Do not repeat that.”
“Maybe you should date her.” Jared sat back. “Maybe this is the way.”
“The way for what?” I squinted at him.