“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.”