Tnx to those who reviewed
*****
Maxie looked up as Spinelli entered Kelly's, speaking to her as he approached the table "Maxie, the Jackal is surprised you returned one of his many calls, after ignoring so many of the others"
She rolled her eyes at the annoyance in his tone "You're one to judge on ignoring calls"
Spinelli sat down across from her and swiftly changed the topic "So I take it you have seen things the Jackals way and decided that he is indeed correct and you should come under the safety and into the humble abode of Stone Cold and the Jackals?" he assumed, and Maxie rolled her eyes at his smugness "Shall you be moving in tonight then?"
"Nope" she shook her head and smiled wryly "I called to tell you I have a date-"
Spinelli could feel his face get hot, as a wave of jealousy settled into the pit of his stomach "You...so the decietful one called the Jackal over here to inform him she has a date" he stated, trying to keep his tone even, but as he continued his tone became more aggitated and irritable "While the Jackal is glad that you returned his call, he does not see the need that you have to inform him of a date, the mere morsal you have chosen to date is not of any interest to the Jackal, and-"
"Would you relax?" Maxie interrupted him mid rant. Ranting was usually her thing, and while she was interested, and amused to witness Spinelli ranting and flustered about her having a date, she had a point to starting this conversation "You know, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were jealous" she remarked as she tore a piece of her muffin and ate it
"That is absurd and if it was your attempt to make the Jackal jealous, I must inform you that you have failed miserably" he retorted, frowning angrily at her "Now if we're done, shall I leave or shall we talk about living arrangements?"
Ignoring the question, she continued "The dates with Johnny tonight"
He stared at her wide-eyed, his mouth ajar for a moment "Has the blonde one lost her mind!?" he exclaimed loudly, getting the attention of the people sitting around, Spinelli and Maxie glanced around and forced small tight smiles at the people, before leaning in closer and lowering their voices "After the dire warnings that Stone Cold and my-"
"Please before you start a whole new rant after the last whole ranting session you just had let me get this out, because I don't have all day to sit here listening to your rants" Maxie informed him "Anyway I think its a good idea for me I can so help with this Johnny thing, I can get inside info, and if you and Jason are right about him I'm your best chance of finding out" she remarked as she sat back in her seat again
Spinelli shook his head with a deep disapproving frown "This is much to dangerous for the blonde one, the Jackal does not approve"
"Firstly, I don't care if you approve and secondly, its also dangerous for you, and with your lack of stealth and non-existant ability to do any martial arts or to shoot further than your own foot, I think I am actually better qualified for this under cover mission" she told him, and ignored his offended expression, not caring if what she was saying was mocking or not. "Mac did after all teach Georgie and me how to use a gun, and I do a mean karate chop" he snorted and gave her a look and it was Maxie's turn to feel offended "I do!"
"While the Jackal may not have all the qualities that you apparently find neccessary in a man, he is more capable of protecting himself as he is still stronger than the blonde one" he insisted bitterly, and they looked at each other for a moment. Maxie knew that the underlying meaning behind his comment was her former attraction to Johnny but she was tired of arguing with him about how he felt about his lack of manly prowess, something she never thought he was lacking "H-how...HOW..." Spinelli rubbed his eyes "How did the blonde one even reach such an arrangement with the deranged mob prince?"
"Well, earlier after you so rudely and wrongly insulted me and I left the penthouse, I was walking along the docks-" she began, and Spinelli opened his mouth to argue about the fact she was directly disobeying all instructions of walking along the docks alone, but before he could get anything out, she continued "Just having a peaceful stroll. Minding my own business...."
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3 HRS EARLIER...
"That damn idiot!" She muttered irritably as she walked along the docks. She had hung up on him 5 times so far and was feeling quite proud of herself, but, talk about role reversal! It wasn't too long ago, she'd have given up her soul for him to call her and now he was non-stop.
Her phone rang again, and Maxie groaned impatiently, as she pulled it out of her bag and saw the ID 'Spinelli', this time deciding to answer "You know when a person hangs up on you eight times without answering you take that as a hint they're ignoring you!"
"It has in fact only been five..." he corrected, and she stomped her foot in frustration
"That's not the point Spinelli!"
"Maxie-" he began, but was interrupted by her
"Spinelli, I don't need your help, and you know, I think you're making this crap all up to like, uh...get even with me, I thought being around you helped me be a better person but clearly you've become a sick sick individual while I've been gone, I bet I'm not in trouble at all" she knew she was just rambling, and didn't make much sense and even as the words flowed out she knew they weren't true, but rambling and words not making sense, was something Spinelli managed to effectively cause her to do. She almost wanted to smirk as she imagined the confused look that would be on Spinelli's face "now if you will excuse me I need to get back to the fashion world, there's an article I have to write, or I will be in trouble" she hung up before he could answer. She felt proud of herself. Sure she missed him like hell but she'd gotten used to him not being around. And this whole Johnny thing was working on her nerves, and she was beginning to suspect it was just pure crap. There was no way Johnny would do any of the things Jason and Spinelli were claiming.
She stopped and immediately ducked behind a crate, when she spotted three men standing a few feet away, one of them was Johnny, who was wearing his usual 'tribe colors'. Black. Beside him stood two men also wearing complete black. It seriously made her wonder about the level of intellect in the mob. Did they think that them all walking around together wearing black would somehow diguise the fact that they were in some sort of 'gang'? I mean in movies what dodgy organisation doesn't wear black? Clearly the mob could actually benefit from taking advice from a fashion magazine or two.
She strained to hear them, but not even her well developed hearing from years of evesdropping could help her. So she started crawling forward behind the crates, to get closer to the three men. Trying not to think that she was so ruining her designer jeans right now.
"Deal with it then" Johnny's voice said, and Maxie stopped and stayed crouched behind a crate near where Johnny and the two men stood.
"How are we supposed to deal with it?" the one man in black questioned "Corinthos has Morgan hot on our trail, they're watching our every move"
"Fine, I'll deal with it myself" Johnny exclaimed impatiently, and Maxie shifted forward slightly, and something went crunch under her knee, getting the mens attention. Before her thoughts could go beyond her most likely death, Johnny was standing over her with an angry look on his face "Maxie. What are you doing here?"
Maxie looked up at him, and having managed to slip off her ring, she held it up "Found it" she smiled in relief, but could feel the nervousness begin to build "Thank god. I'm always dropping these things"
"You really shouldn't be wandering around the docks alone" he said as he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her roughly to her feet "It's not safe you never know what dangerous people could be lurking. Anything could happen"
Maxie shook under his dark gaze, and stepping back once he released her, she rubbed her arm where he'd grabbed her "I-I'll remember that...in the future"
Johnny stared intensely at her for a moment before speaking "Leave us" he ordered, without looking at the men. They didn't hesitate, but simply walked off stopping a few feet away from them
"Well um the fashion world awaits, and I'm running so late, and I've gotta talk Sara out of printing an article about beads, I mean beads are so three years ago" she laughed nervously, and took a step away "So uh, bye"
Johnny grabbed her arm, once again stopping her departure "Work can wait"
"Ok" Maxie answered quickly. Really not wanting to test Johnny by arguing. She glanced at the two men who stood a few feet away watching them "Um so those men over there...don't you find them a little creepy?"
"They're around for my safety" he replied "I'm not exactly Sonny's favorite person, especially now that I'm not working directly for him anymore, you can never be too careful"
"So you're um, not working for Sonny, you must be back fixing cars?" she guessed, although she knew it wasn't true. But immediately after a string of nervous ramblings poured out "You know I always thought that suited you well, you should just fix cars, girls love that kind of thing, a guy who can use his hands, and I think its an excellent career choice, you should stick at it, fixing, stuff...cars"
"No I'm not exactly fixing cars" he told her simply. Not offering to go into anymore detail of what he was doing. Maxie tried to appear calm, but her nerves were still getting the better of her "There's a function tonight, I want you there as my date"
"Oh tonight, I've got all this stuff-"
"I insist" he interrupted firmly, as he took a step closer to her "You'll have fun I promise"
"Ok well, sure..." she laughed nervously "I can never say no to fun" This could actually be a good idea. If Johnny was up to anything she'd be able to find out if she was getting closer to him
"Great. I'll pick you up at 8"
"Um...actually" she wrung her hands. Not wanting Lulu to be involved in the middle of this, or to really ever hear about this "How about I meet you there?"
He looked at her for a moment before nodding reluctantly and giving in "I'll text you the address, don't stand me up" he smiled, but his tone was almost a warning to her to be there. "I'll make tonight enjoyable for both of us" he promised, before walking off away with his two 'bodyguards'. And leaving her on the dock alone
Oh great Maxie Jones, just great!
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"Maxie?"
Maxie blinked as she came out of her thoughts "Huh?"
"You said you were walking along minding your own business" Spinelli reminded. Although he did not buy that for one second. Maxie Jones and minding her own business did not go hand in hand.
"Oh right, yes....and I um...I bumped into Johnny and he invited me out" she finished off quickly. Deciding not to mention that the minding her own business actually meant, hiding behind a crate to eavesdrop on three mobsters. "So there's a function tonight, and he insisted I go"
"The blonde one is referring to the mob summit meeting no doubt" Spinelli guessed with a frown
"I guess" she shrugged nonchallantly "so I wanted you to know that don't worry, I'll find out what he's up to and this can all be finished with when you find out he's perfectly harmless....well as harmless as a mobster can be" she mused this for a moment, before standing up casually "Well I better go get ready" she said as she slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out, leaving Spinelli staring in wide-eyed disbelief watching her leave. It didn't take long before he snapped into action and ran out of Kelly's after her
"The Jackal will not allow.." he paused when she stopped in her tracks a few feet from Kelly's entrance and turned to face him, and he looked at her with sudden determination "He insists...no the Jackal forbids the blonde one to go"
"I'm sorry..." Maxie started to smile slightly and arched a brow "Did I just hear you say you forbid me to go?"
Spinelli crossed his arms over his chest trying to look as commanding as possible "Yes"
Maxie stared at him for a few seconds, before starting to laugh "Oh that's funny Spinelli"
"It is not meant in the spirit of humor" Spinelli informed her dryly
"I know" she replied still laughing, she patted his shoulder "Which is why its so funny" she stepped past him and began to walk away once again
"No I cannot allow it" Spinelli ran after her and grasped her shoulder, steering her back against a wall. Maxie gasped in surprise as her back hit the wall, but her shock wore off quickly, as she became aware that Spinelli's body was just inches from hers, his arms were on either side of her trapping her between the wall and his body. His urgency to keep Maxie from leaving was forgotten, the moment their eyes met. They stayed frozen in place, just staring at eachother for a moment, before she felt Spinelli's hand run slowly up her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps along her skin. It was insane that all it took was him being close and a simple touch to get her body buzzing. She could see the familiar look of desire in his eyes, the same look that was there the two times they'd had sex, and her heart pounded as his face slowly neared hers, but as their lips were about to touch, he suddenly pulled back and sprung away as though he'd touched live wire. They both stared at eachother for a moment, flustered by their former closeness and the near moment. Spinelli's face was hot and he broke eye contact as a wave of embarrassment washed over him "T-the Jackal apologizes"
"Yeah I..." Maxie still felt breathless, her heart was still beating fast, and she tried to regain her composure, she pushed away from the wall and brushed herself off, givin him an irritated look "Jeez grabby much Spinelli?!"
With the space between them and the moment past, the hostility returned "The Jackal had good reason to attempt to stop the blonde one"
Maxie sighed in exasperation "Yeah yeah, Because you think this is too dangerous I know"
"That and also the jackal fears you've gone insane"
"Well my sanity is still intact...you know the only person who ever does drive me to the verge of insanity is you"
Spinelli smirked "Perhaps its because the jackal speaks sense into your otherwise nonsensical mind"
"My minds nonsensical?" she asked in disbelief, her eyes widening in anger, when he nodded in confirmation "This coming from the person who refers to himself in third person"
"My way of talking has-" he broke off and shook his head. Well aware the blonde one was attempting her skill at derailing the conversation "The Jackal refuses to have this argument and to allow the blonde one to go to the mob summit" he decided
Maxie waved her hands in the air aggitated as she replied "Oh and I guess his three other personalities agree!"
Ignoring her insult he continued "Drop this insane idea o-or...." he stuttered slightly, and Maxie crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow, waiting to see what he'd come up with "Or...t-the Jackal shall b-be forced to go to extreme measures to stop the craziness"
Maxie rolled her eyes and smirked at him "Not a chance!"
Spinelli pulled at his hair and let out a noise of frustration as he watched Maxie walk away. How is it that he was in love with such a stubborn, crazed woman?!
tbc?
next: Spinelli, Maxie and a summit meeting, and a temporary understanding between Spixie...