Crazy Beautiful Love (The Martelli Brothers #1)(43)
Author: J.S. Cooper

“What?” My heart started pounding. “Why?”

“He told him to get some beer. There is no beer, and we have no money.”

“Fuck, is he okay?”

“He’s fine. He didn’t even hit Dad back.” Jared’s face looked violent. “If he ever tries that shit with me, I’ll punch him the f**k out. I don’t give a shit.”

“Where’s Vinny?” I sighed, worried.

“In the kitchen. We’ve been talking about you.” He looked down. “We’re kinda hungry.” His voice was low and his heated animation was gone.

“Why didn’t you buy any food?” I frowned as we walked to the kitchen.

“I gave you all my money.”

“What?” I bit my lip.

“I gave you all the money I won on the races, and Vinny threw in his last hundred as well. We knew you didn’t have the rent money.”

“How did you know?” I was mad at myself for not having hid it better.

“We just knew.” Jared looked at me with concern in his eyes. “We’re worried about you, bro.”

“Why … oh, shit.” I walked into the kitchen and saw Vincent’s black eye. “You okay?” I stopped short of running up to him and checking it.

“I’m fine. He can still sock a man hard.” Vincent made a joke, and I half-smiled back at him. My blood was boiling as I stared at my brother, and all I wanted to do was go into the living room and shout at my father.

“We need to talk, guys.” Jared’s voice was loud, and I turned to look at him. He looked like a man. I realized that his boyish charm was gone and he was now a hardened man. I felt disappointment seep through my body. I had failed my mother. Everything was shit. I had done nothing to improve our situation.

“What’s up?” I frowned at him. I wasn’t happy that he was now trying to take control of family situations.

“I want everyone to know that I can’t live like this anymore.” Jared looked at Vinny and me with a hard look in his eyes. “This is shit. Dad is a f**king drunk who thinks he can say and do what he wants, and we never have enough money for anything. We can’t get jobs in this godforsaken town and Logan won’t even make the man responsible for it pay. This is a joke.” He shook his head and looked at me. “I love you, man, and I know you’re trying, and I know you made a promise to Mom to look after us, but you need some help.”

I stared at him silently, not sure what to say. I was upset that I hadn’t been able to fulfill my mom’s last wishes. She had trusted and believed in me and I was failing her. I looked over at Vincent to see what he had to say. He looked at me sadly and nodded slightly before speaking.

“We need to do something big.” He stared down at the textbook in front of him. “And I don’t mean calculus big, either.”

“What are you guys thinking?” I asked pointedly. I knew better than to just assume they were just thinking about this for the first time. They had probably been plotting for a long time.

“Jared has an idea.” Vincent nodded towards his brother, and I looked over to Jared, who was staring at me with a defensive look.

“Don’t shoot me down right away.” His eyes bore into mine. “Listen before you say no.”

“Why do I feel like I already want to say no?” I groaned.

“I was hanging out with Joey, and he …”

“NO.” My face turned red as I shouted. “Hell NO.”

“Logan,” Jared sighed. “Just listen.”

“Joey is bad news.”

“Let him talk, Logan,” Vincent spoke up. “I don’t particularly care for Joey either, but this sounds like a pretty good idea.”

I glared at Vincent for being a traitor and then looked back at Jared. “Go on, then.”

“There’s some guy in town who has a Bugatti,” Jared talked quickly. “A two-million-dollar Bugatti, and he’s going out of town in a few weeks.”

“So?” I shook my head annoyed. “You know we don’t steal big money cars, we have no way to sell them.”

“Here’s the deal.” Jared leaned forward excitedly. “Joey has a buyer, he knows someone who is interested in buying it. A million dollars in cash.”

“But it’s worth two million.” I stared at my brother, starting to feel slightly excited.

“It’s all cash and a done deal.” He grinned at me. “This is the answer to our problems! One million dollars in cash. Can you even count that high, smarty-pants?”

“There’s only one problem.” Vincent ran his hands through his hair. “The car is in a garage and a keylock won’t work.”

“I can get in any car.” I shrugged, thinking how I would break into a Bugatti. “But if it’s in a garage, it’s a no-go.”

“All we have to do is break in to the garage as well.” Jared looked annoyed. “I’m sure it can’t be that hard.”

“We don’t break into houses.” My voice was firm. “You know that, guys.”

“It’s not a house, it’s the garage.”

“The garage is part of the house.” I shook my head and my voice was resolute.

“Maybe we have to start playing by some different rules.” Jared turned away from me and looked at Vincent. “Who’s ever heard of thieves with an honor code? And who only takes Japanese imports? Give me a f**king break, it’s not doing anything to help us.”

“Jared, this isn’t the road we want to go down.” My voice was soft as I walked up to him. “I don’t want you guys involved in this shit. Let me think of something,” I pleaded with him, hoping he would realize what a big deal it would be for us to break into a garage. Theft was a slippery slope, and I was scared that if we did this, they would think that it was okay to break into houses or even into stores. And that was when people started getting hurt. That was when knives and guns came out. I was scared and panicked. I didn’t want anything to escalate. And I knew I was running out of time.

“Logan, listen to me.” Jared turned around and looked at me with wild, passionate eyes. “I get it, I really do. I know you have always looked out for me and Vinny. I know that you don’t want us involved in this life. And I understand. Bro, we both understand, but you gotta admit, it’s not going so well for us. This is one deal. We steal this one car, and we’re set. We don’t have to steal anymore. Not one single car unless we want to. And we can move. We will finally have enough money to send Dad to rehab, pay for college for all three of us, and we can get the shit out of River Valley.” He grabbed my shoulder and stared at me for a few seconds. “This town is toxic to us, bro. It’s time we finally packed up and left.”