Crazy Beautiful Love (The Martelli Brothers #1)(30)
Author: J.S. Cooper

“Not really.” I shook my head in wonder. “I honestly have never been this way before,” I continued on, as I pondered his comment to myself. I’d never been the rebellious type. I’d never been the one who snuck out of the dorms to meet up with boys. I’d never given my parents any headaches. I wasn’t really even a wild one. I’d only slept with two guys before, and both of them had been guys I’d been in relationships with. And we’d never had sex out in the open before. I almost didn’t recognize the girl I was becoming, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

“You’re more fearless than me.”

“No way,” I scoffed. “You’re Logan Martelli, you steal cars for a living, you are way more fearless than me.”

“Not really.” He shook his head and we walked towards the main road. “This is the life I was born into. I do what I know and what my father did.”

“Do you regret that this is the life you were born into?” I wasn’t sure if my words were too prying, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking.

“No, I don’t have any regrets about anything. Life is too short for regrets.”

“That’s a great attitude to have.”

“My mom always used to say that.” His voice sounded sad. “She used to say that not everyone was born into a family with a silver spoon but everyone could change their circumstances. There just had to be one brave person in the family willing to ignite the change.”

As Logan talked about his mom, I hesitated. I wasn’t sure how much he knew about our shared history, and I wasn’t sure if he would be mad if I told him. “Your mom was a wise woman.”

“Yes, yes, she was.” He turned wistful eyes upon me. “Every day, I try to be the man she would have wanted me to be.”

“Who did she want you to be?”

“She wanted me to be kind and compassionate; she wanted better for me and my brothers. She really wanted us to have a better life. Better than my father was able to give us. She even tried to leave my dad once.” He sounded as if he were remembering something. “But then she found out she had cancer, and she knew she couldn’t take us boys and deal with the diagnosis at the same time.”

“I’m sorry.” My heart broke listening to Logan talk.

“She knew she was going to die.” His voice was hoarse. “She hoped her death would get my father to change, but he just drank more and more, and he got worse and worse. And I had to help him more and more, and then there came a point where I realized this was my life, this was who I was. But, it didn’t have to be Vincent’s life and it didn’t have to be Jared’s life. Her death wouldn’t be in vain if I made sure they took different paths.”

“They don’t steal cars?” I bit my lip nervously as I questioned him. I had always heard that it was a family business and that all the Martelli brothers were involved. In fact, when I had met Jared with Joey, I was fairly sure they were up to no good.

“No, sometimes they come to be a lookout, but I try and keep them away from this life as much as I can.” He looked at me with a weak smile. “Vincent’s in college. Well, two-year college, but we are hoping he will transfer to State in a couple of years and then go to law school. And Jared is trying to get into school as well.”

“Wow, that’s awesome.”

“I know it’s not some fancy Ivy League school like you go to, but we’re trying.”

“Ivies are overrated.”

“That’s easy for you to say.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” I sighed at his harsh words. But I knew he was just being honest. How many opportunities had I been afforded because I had been born into a well-to-do family? I had never had to want for anything, and yet I knew I didn’t feel as if my life were complete. I had still never had love, and to me love was everything. I stared at Logan in his faded blue jeans and black T-shirt and he looked even better in person than he had ever looked in photographs. It was weird, this connection I had with Logan, the closeness I felt to him.

“But yeah, my goal is that my brothers don’t have to go down this road as well.”

“So you would give it up if you could?”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “But what else would I do?”

“What else would you want to do?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Logan cleared his throat. “This is my fate or curse. My life was dictated by another. It seems only fitting that I do the same.” He clenched his fist and his eyes avoided mine. “I see a Lincoln Navigator over there. Wanna go check it out?”

“To steal?” I had a weird feeling in my stomach. Something didn’t feel quite right and I wasn’t sure what it was.

“No.” He turned to me and winked. “To borrow for an hour.” He grabbed my hands and pulled me close to him, and I felt his lips against my hair before he pulled back and looked into my eyes.

“An hour, huh?” I winked back at him. “I guess I’m a lucky girl.”

“Hurry.” He walked quickly. “We have to make sure no one sees us.”

“What if the owners come back while we’re in the car?”

“They won’t.” He laughed and grabbed my hand and started running. He let go of it as soon as we got to the car. I saw him pull something out of his pocket and he started fiddling with the lock.

“What are you doing?”

“Shhh.” He put a finger to his lips. “Don’t alert the world.”

“What should I do?” I asked excitedly, and he smiled at me.

“You’re such an eager beaver. Just stand there and be cool.” He pulled me towards him and kissed me passionately, and my body melted at his embrace. I felt his hand squeezing my ass and I moaned into his lips.

“Not yet, Maddie.” He grinned at me and pulled away. He started working on the car door again and I watched him work with admiration in my eyes. His biceps flexed as he tried to get the door open, and I took the time to admire his muscular body as he worked.

“Is everything okay here?” a deep voice asked behind us, and we both froze. I turned around slowly and saw a police officer behind us, and I thought I was going to faint.

“Good day, officer, I was just helping this young lady get into her car. She left her keys in the ignition.” Logan’s voice was cheerful, and the officer looked at him with narrow eyes before turning to me.