Crazy Beautiful Love (26 page)

“Maddie,” he
whispered up at me with a smile, and I grinned back at him.

“Hey, you.” I
gazed into his loving green eyes, and felt my stomach flip-flop with
butterflies.

“What happened?”
He tried to sit up, but winced in pain and stopped.

“You were shot.” I
held onto his hand. “My dad shot you.”

“Jared kidnapped
you.” Pain flashed in his eyes. “I’m sorry, I’ve been nothing but trouble to
you and your life.”

“Logan
Martelli
, are you joking?” I cried out. “It’s me, it’s me
and my family. All this time, you’ve been so worried that you haven’t been good
enough for me, but it is me who hasn’t been good enough for you. All I’ve done
is bring drama and trouble to your life. My mom told me everything. She knew,
you know. What my dad had done. The poison he put into your lives. I feel like
I’ve made your life even worse. I have been the deadliest poison ever.”

“No,” he shook his
head. “Never say that.”

“Logan, you’re in
a hospital bed because of me.” I looked away from him. “What if you had died? I
never would have forgiven myself.”

“Maddie, I didn’t
die.” He smiled. “Unless I’m in heaven right now.” He laughed. “Then thank you
to God, because as long as I have you by my side, I don’t care where I am.”

“Logan,” I
groaned, though I was delighted at his words. “You were right about my dad and
about everything.”

“I’m sorry,
Maddie.” He sighed. “I know it must hurt to know your father is this person.”

“I don’t want to
talk about him.” I shook my head. “I just want to talk about us.”

“Oh, yes?” He sat
up slightly. “Do you want to tell me how much you love me?”

“Yes.” I leaned
forward and kissed him lightly. “I love you with all my heart, Logan
Martelli
.”

“I love you, too,
Maddie.” His eyes sparkled at me and he reached over and ran his fingers down
my cheek. I held his fingers in mine and kissed him again, and he groaned.

“Oh, no, did I
hurt you?” I pulled away from him in concern.

“Not at all.” He
winked. “I was just wondering if you were trying to seduce me in this hospital
bed.”

“Logan
Martelli
.” I giggled at him. “You’re too much.”

“That’s why you love
me.”

“I love you for
many reasons, silly.”

“You can tell me
all of them.”

“Well, I love you
because you’re you. You’re the man of my dreams, the man of my heart, the light
in my life, and I’ve known this all from the start.”

“Are you trying to
dazzle me with your purple eyes, my darling?”

“What?” I looked
at him in confusion.

“When I look at
you, Maddie, I feel as if I’m being transported to another world. A world of
good, a world of wonder,
a
world that makes me believe
in good and right. A world that makes me believe in love.”

“When I look at
you, Logan, I feel as if I am finally home. Never leave me, Logan. I never want
to be apart from you.”

“I will never
leave you if I can help it.” He yawned, and my heart melted.

“You’re tired.” I
broke away from him. “I don’t want to tire you, let me go and get Jared and
Vincent. They are waiting for you.”

“About Jared—” His
eyes looked pained and I held up a hand.

“It was my idea,
Logan. I told Jared to pretend he had kidnapped me. It was all my idea. I did
it because I found out my dad was trying to set you guys up. I’m sorry. I—”

“
Shhh
.” He shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry
about. Never.”

“I love you, Logan
Martelli
.”

“I love you, too,
my very own bad girl.” He laughed and we stared at each other for a few
moments, allowing the love to flow between us, before I went to go and get his
brothers.

Epilogue

Logan

I like to clear my
head at night, so I usually go for a long walk down by the pier. There’s
something about being in a mass of people that makes you feel like you’re a
part of something, even if you’re not noticed. Even the most solitary person
needs to be reminded that there are other people in the world. That’s just the
way life goes. That’s what it means to be a human being. I stared out at the
water with a tinge of sadness. I would miss coming to this pier, listening to
the people talk about their mundane lives, and watching them go back and forth,
never seeing but always seeing. I watched the waves as they crossed into the
rocks, and it seemed to me that waves were like life, they seemed to be so
calm, and then out of nowhere, they would come crashing down, bringing
destruction in their wake.

“I don’t want to
go to Applebee’s,” I heard Bella whining to Roger as they walked past me, and I
smiled. I could remember the last time that I had seen them. It was the night
that changed my life. The night I met Maddie. I turned away from them and
turned back to the waves in sadness. That seemed like such a long time ago now;
so many things had changed, and I was scared. I was scared that I didn’t know
who I was anymore, or where I was going. I was still Logan
Martelli
,
but I wasn’t
the
Logan
Martelli
. And while that was great, it felt as if a part of
my identity had been stolen away from me. People still looked at me in awe and
whispered about me, but it was different now. It was different because they
weren’t whispering about me being a bad boy, they were whispering about my
entire life.

Sometimes, I just
wanted to grab my leather jacket and go and steal a car, just for the fun of
it. I wanted to give people something to talk about. I wanted to stand out. I
want to be the invisible-visible man. But that was only sometimes, when things
started feeling overwhelming. I listened to the sounds of the seagulls and
breathed in the salty air, and I felt sad. This was it. My life as I knew it
was over and I wasn’t sure how to feel. I started to walk down to the beach,
when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I turned around slowly,
and I was immediately struck by her purple-blue eyes, such unusual and
beautiful eyes, and my heart stopped. She grinned at me and ran towards me, and
my heart once again ran a marathon as she jumped into my arms and kissed me.

“Hey,” she
whispered, her eyes sparkling. “I missed you.”

“Hey, I missed you
as well.” I kissed her back, enjoying the sweet taste of her lips. “You smell
good.” I buried my face in her neck. “I’ve missed your smell.”

“It’s only been a
few hours.” She laughed happily. “How are you feeling?”

“Good.” I nodded
at her and took her hand. “Let’s go for a walk.”

“You feel crappy,
huh?” She gave me a teasing smile.

“You can always
read my thoughts.” I gave her a smile. It was true; Maddie always knew how I
really felt inside, no matter what I said. It was one of the things I loved
most about her. I wasn’t sure how to tell her how much I appreciated her paying
attention to the small things. I’d never had someone care about me that much
before.

“I know you love
the pier.” She cuddled into my side. “We can always come back and visit.”

“No.” I shook my
head. “We need a clean break. I don’t want us to relive this.”

“But it’s also
where we met.” She squeezed my hand. “It’s special.”

“We’re special.” I
led her down to the beach. “What we have is special, the place doesn’t matter.
We could be anywhere, and it would be magnificent.”

“Right.” She
laughed. “That’s true.”

“I wanted to give
you something.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the necklace. “This was
my mom’s.” I handed her the silver necklace with the small pearl and the M, and
she held it in her hands carefully.

“I love it. Thank
you.” She grinned at me, and kissed me. “Thank you, I love it.”

“Do you want to
put it on?” She nodded and I clasped it behind her neck. “Beautiful.”

“And it even has
the M for Maddie.” She smiled at me, touching the letter gingerly.

“Or
Martelli
,” I said softly, staring into her eyes. “I’d love
for the M to stand for Maddie
Martelli
, if you’d like
that.” I heard her gasp, as her eyes widened in shock, and she squeaked out a
reply. “What’s that?” I laughed.

“Yes, yes, one
hundred times yes.”

“I’m sorry I don’t
have a ring.” I brushed her hair away from her face. “I thought we could make a
ring from the pearl if you wanted.”

“That would be
wonderful.” She smiled at me. “That way we can always have your mom in our
lives.”

“You’re so
wonderful, Maddie.” Tears sprang to my eyes, and I her brought her towards me
and held her tight. I was overwhelmed with emotion and I felt as if I was the
happiest man in the world, yet I still couldn’t quite believe it. Maddie pulled
away from me and she smiled at me shyly. “I have something for you as well.”

“No,” I groaned.
“You don’t have to give me anything.”

“No, you need to
have this.” She smiled up at me through tears. “It’s a necklace as well.” She
reached into her handbag and pulled out a chain. There was a heart with a key
and I choked up at the words. The heart read: “He who holds the key can open my
heart.” And then on the key, it read: “Logan.”

“I love you, Logan
Martelli
, from the tips of my toes to the hair on the
top of my head. I love you with every fiber of my being. You are everything to
me. You will always hold the key to my heart.”

 
“Thank you for trusting me, Maddie. Thank you
for trusting me from the very first moment we met.”

“Thank you for
what you did for my dad.” She took a deep breath. “I know how hard it was for
you to decide to not go forward with the gunshot charges. That would have been
the ultimate revenge.”

“I realized that
revenge on him wouldn’t have been worth it if it hurt you in any way. Plus he’s
going to be in jail for a long time anyways, with his fraud charges and his
theft ring.” I took a deep breath. “I know he’s your dad, but I finally felt
like justice was being served when he got imprisoned for twenty-five years
without a chance of parole.”

“I hate him, you
know,” she sighed. “But I love him as well. He’s my dad, and he was always
there for me, and I can’t just stop loving him, but I’ll never forgive him for
what he did to you and your family. I’m glad he was imprisoned for what he did
to your dad. I wish I could go back in time and change everything. Make it so
none of this happened. I wish he hadn’t ruined your dad’s life, and your mom’s.
I wish that you and Jared and Vincent had been able to grow up without those
harsh conditions. I wish that—”

“Maddie, stop.
It’s not your fault. I’m sorry that all of that happened as well, but it has
nothing to do with you.” I rubbed her back. “I know how hard it must be for
you.”

“It’s okay.” She
smiled weakly. “And it’s easier now, I have you and my mom and Jared and
Vincent.”

“I love your mom,
she’s great.” I smiled at her. “I know that she knew what was going on, but I
understand how love can be blinding. I forgive her for her role, and she is so
supportive of me and my brothers. She has really taken on a mother role and
gotten them sorted out with their applications to college and scholarships. She
even got Vincent a math tutor.” I laughed. “Now I just need to concentrate on
my own studies. And I can’t believe she is helping to finance our car shop. We
will finally be able to make our own money, the legal way. Jared and I will
work there fulltime and go to school part-time, and Vincent will work
part-time, as he is closest to getting his degree. I just love her so much for
all she is doing for us.”

“She loves you,
too. How is your dad doing in rehab, by the way?”

“They say he’s
doing better. He’s been there for two weeks now and hasn’t had a drink. He is
still angry, but with therapy and counseling, he should make some sort of
recovery. Please tell your mom thank you for paying for his rehab. We’re going
to go and visit him in two weeks, that’s when they say we can take our first
visit. I would love for you to come with me. I’ve spoken to him on the phone,
and he would like to meet you.” I smiled at her, with overwhelming emotion. “He
told me that he knew I had found love, even though he was too hazy to
appreciate it. He wants to thank you. I truly think he may get better.” I
squeezed her hand, wanting to convey through my touch as well just how much I
loved her.

“Logan, of course
I will come with you. And you know it’s my mom’s pleasure. She still wants you
to take the million dollars, though.”

“No,” I shook my
head. “I’ve taken enough in my life. I’m not going to take any more. I’m going
to prove to myself and to you that I can make it on my own. Without breaking
the law. I’m going to do this. Don’t get me wrong, I am so-o-o thankful for her
help and support. I wouldn’t have known what to do next if she hadn’t offered
to get us all into college and allow us to start this business.”

“I know she is
only doing what she thinks is right. My family owes you a whole lot more.” She
smiled. “I still can’t believe we’re moving in together. We’ll be living in
sin. I’m so excited that I just can’t contain how happy I am.”

“We’ll be living
in fiancé sin.” I grinned. “And Jared and Vincent will be in the house as well,
so it won’t be a picnic, trust me.”

“It’ll be great.
I’ve always wanted brothers.” She clapped her hands excitedly. “This is going
to be a real adventure. I’m so excited to shop for furniture, and cook, and do regular
couple things.”

“You mean no more
stealing cars?” I winked at her. “You’ve never done that with a previous
boyfriend before?”

“I’ve never had
sex in a changing room before either.” She snuggled into me. “Or at the pier.”

“You naughty
girl,” I laughed. “I can make one of those things happen now if you want.” I
whispered into her ear.

“I want.” She
winked at me and then hugged me. “Thank you for being you, Logan
Martelli
. I can’t wait for us all to live together.”

“It’s going to be
crazy.” I laughed.

“No, it’s going to
be beautiful.” She poked me.

“Okay, it’s going
to be crazy beautiful.”

“That’s love,” she
leaned in to kiss me again. “It’s going to be a house filled with crazy
beautiful love.”

Thank you for
reading
Crazy Beautiful Love (The
Martelli
Brothers)
. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave
a review if you liked the book. There will be two more books in the series, one
about Vincent and one about Jared.

Join my
mailing list
so you are
notified about my new releases.

Like my
Facebook page
so that you
can see new teasers, covers, and giveaways.

And you can find
all
my other books
here!