Maxie and Spinelli left Robin's house and she headed towards his car. She planned on having Spinelli drive her back later to pick her car up but as soon as he saw her veering towards his car he stopped. "Maximista, the Jackal came today because it sounded like you needed me. But the crisis with Baby Emma has been averted and now I must resume staying away from his fair Maximista. It's not safe for me to be with you."
"Spinelli, that's just silly. You were with me yesterday when we went to help Johnny and Lulu. Nothing has to change."
"It does. Do you not sense the change in the atmosphere here in Port Charles? War is in the air and whether Maximista chooses to acknowledge it or not the Jackal is in the midst of it. It is his computer savvy that leads Stone Cold into the lair of the beastly Russians. I cannot have you around me putting your life at risk." He started walking towards the car but stopped when he heard her choke out, "Spinelli, please don't leave me." He turned back and looked at her, tears welling up in her eyes and fear just behind them. "Maximista, the Jackal doesn't ever wish to make you cry. I never want to make you hurt or scared. But right now being with me can cause the most unbearable of things to come true. Life without you forever. The Jackal thinks of himself as fairly astute and I've noticed that in the recent months you've become more familiar and more comfortable with the Stone Cold way of life. You've accepted it because it's the world that I live in. But the Jackal never meant to take Maximista's respect for the law abiding ones away. When you see a crime now you report it to Stone Cold instead of your father and that worries me. For right now the Jackal is entrenched in this lawless world that he's been made privy to but when the war is over I will be looking for a way to escape with my morals intact. It's not something that I can do now though and I cannot have you by my side for this, the final chapter, of my life with Stone Cold."
"Spinelli, Jason is your family. I know that. And I would never ask you to walk away from your family in a time of crisis. But you have to understand something. I have Mac and Robin and Baby Emma and they are my family. But so are you. You've become my family Spinelli and I can't walk away from you. Please don't ask me to." There were tears streaming down her face and he reached out and brushed them away. When she felt his hand on her face there was a jolt of electricity and she reached up and put her hand on his. "Spinelli, please?"
"Maximista, we both know that my world now is not safe for you. I never wish to leave you but it is for your own good."
"It's not. It's not for my own good. Being with you is for my own good." It was then that she realized that she was practically begging for him to allow her into his life and she refused to be that girl. She was no mob moll and she was not going to beg to be one. "Fine, if you don't want me in your life then I won't be in your life."
"It's only temporary Maximista. Why do you suddenly sound so irate? Stone Cold will end this mob war and then we can resume our friendship without the danger."
"Oh no. You don't get to put me down and pick me up whenever your boss allows. I'm not Carly or Kate or Elizabeth or any other woman so desperate to be with the mob gods of PC that I'm going to play second fiddle to the gunplay and violence."
"Maximista makes it sound like we're dating or something. Many friends spend short amounts of time apart."
"Spinelli, you don't really think that we're just friends do you? We spend every minute together. I heard you tell me that you love me. And when you went after the men that attacked me in the park and I thought that you could be hurt I realized the feeling was mutual. That I love you too. But I'm not going to be some mob hanger on. You were right. I've become so accustomed to your mob lifestyle that I look at the world differently now and it's going to stop. I will never go to Jason with details about a crime instead of my father. And I will never stand by knowing that Jason is going to commit a crime without telling my father again. So I don't know how I'm going to fit into your world." She smiled sadly at the realization that as long as Spinelli was working for Jason things would never be right between them. She couldn't be a mob princess and that's what Spinelli would need in order to work for Jason. A woman that could handle people breaking the law with no regard to the consequences. "The Jackal told you that as soon as this mob war is over I will be working towards ending my working relationship with Stone Cold. He has done a lot for me and I could never abandon him in this his hour of need. But when Maximista lay unconscious on those steps everything became very clear for me. Stone Cold's world can never be mine. I will never be danger dude. I am at home behind a computer screen and finally the Jackal is at ease with that realization. More than at ease because I also realized what you've been trying to tell me for months now. That holding a gun doesn't make one a man."
"Spinelli, it's true. You are more of a man to me than Jason could ever be. And the fact that you couldn't pull the trigger when you went after the men who attacked me was what I love about you. You've got a good heart and you could never take another human life. You are the best man I know because of your loyalty, determination, your gentle soul and all of the other things you thought made you less of a man. They are all the things that I thought made you truly exceptional."
"As soon as this mob war is over the Jackal is getting out. I've continued my Jackal PI training on line and have even applied for a business license. I'm going to be looking for my own place and running my business from there. And perhaps at that time the Jackal can be free to be friends with Maximista."
"Friends? Is that what we're talking about being?"
"Is Maximista asking for more than just friendship from the Jackal? I am more than willing as I have been harboring my secret love for Maximista for quite some time now but I don't want it just because you feel like you have to love me back to preserve our friendship. I have been alone in love before."
"You're not alone in it this time. My feelings for you are real and I'm just realizing how long I've been having them. What we've had has been beyond friendship for a long time now and I wish that I hadn't been so blind that I couldn't see it until now."
"Everything has it's season Maximista. You recognized your feelings when you were supposed to recognize your feelings. Unfortunately it does signal a brief parting of ways for us as the Jackal could never expose his love to the dangers of a mob war. I think Maximista has come to understand that."
"I thought I had but I don't think that now I'm able to walk away from you. I refuse to beg for a spot in your life but I also refuse to walk out of your life without a fight as well. So here's the deal. And it's not optional. I'm going to stay by your side through all of this but I promise to be safe. When you need to talk mob with Jason I'll leave the room because I don't want to have to hide anything from Mac. And when you leave Jason's penthouse I'll leave Mac's. We'll get a place together. Roommates first and then maybe down the road more than that. But from here on in you and I, we're a package deal. Because I can't imagine my life without you in it, not even for a day." Spinelli smiled and for the first time he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. The kiss started off gently and then intensified. When they pulled apart she smiled and offered him her hand. He took it and they walked to his car where she joined him just like she had planned. He wasn't going anywhere without her.