Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Spinelli caught up with Ava outside his building. "Little One, wait up."

"Would you stop calling me that and speak English for once, or is that only reserved for Mom?"

Spinelli ignored her comment. "Please sit down for a moment," he said ushering her over to a bench.

"What?" she asked irritably. She wanted to go buy something new for tonight and her geek of a father was keeping her from her shopping.

"The Jackal wishes you would reconsider going out with Jake tonight."

"Mom talked you into this. I told you I'm not leaving."

"That's fine, you can stay with me as long as you want, just don't go out with Jake."

"Why?" she asked. Ava was curious as to why Spinelli would have anything against the guy who he seemed to be pretty close to.

"He's going to be nineteen next month." Spinelli knew this was a rotten excuse, but he hoped she'd accept it.

"So, I'm going to be seventeen soon." Ava pulled out her compact and freshened up her lipstick.

God, could she be anymore like her mother. Spinelli yanked her compact out of her hand. "Ava, this is important. I don't want you seeing him, period," he stated firmly.

"Oh, so know you want to act like my father. Well I've got news for you buddy, I will see whoever I want and do whatever I want." Ava pulled her compact away from him before she left him sitting on the bench.

"Damn it," he said a loud as he stood to go back upstairs. What was he going to do now? He had to get Maxie and Ava out of town as soon as possible, before the shit hit the fan.

Spinelli walked in to find Maxie sitting on the couch with his laptop in her lap. "What are you doing?"

"Checking my email," she replied not looking at him.

"How did you get into my system?" he asked as he sat down beside her.

"Easy. You know Spinelli, you really need to change your password, not that I'm complaining of course, but anyone could figure it out. I have to say that Maximista was one nickname that I absolutely adored," she said smiling at him.

Spinelli could feel his face heating up with embarrassment and anger. He pulled his computer out of her hands.

"Hey, I was doing something," she exclaimed looking at him with confusion.

"Not anymore. Why didn't you use Ava's laptop?" he asked closing out her email. He was about ready to sign off; when he remembered that he was expecting some information on Evil Al. He left the computer open and placed it on the coffee table.

"Because, I can't hack into hers, you know she gets that from you right? So, did you have any luck stopping her from going out with Jake?" she asked smirking a little.

"Of course not, but you already knew that I wouldn't be able to. You could've warned me."

"And have you miss out on the 'I can do whatever I want and see whoever I want,' speech, wouldn't dream of it. Why do you have such a problem with her seeing Jake anyway? He seems like a good kid."

Spinelli knew he had to tell her the truth, maybe with her as an ally; they could convince Ava to stay away from Jake. "He is a good kid. Listen, the Jackal has to tell you something, but you have to promise not to tell a sole, which should be relatively easy for you."

"Alright, I promise." Maxie scooted closer to him, giving him her full attention.

"Jake isn't really Lucky's son."

"Good lord, Spinelli, I thought you were going to tell me something new."

"You know? How long?" he asked in shock.

"I've known for years. Jake is Jason's right?"

"Yes, but how could you have know? Did the Goddess tell you?" Spinelli knew that Sam and Maxie were close before she left town, maybe they had traded secrets as well.

"No, I figured it out. I mean, it wasn't hard with all these looks Jason and Saintly Elizabeth gave each other. I knew something was going on and I figured it up, because I was sleeping with Lucky about the same time she had her fling with Jason," she said casually.

"Oh, how could the Jackal forget one of your many conquest," he said sarcastically as he walked over to the pool table. He hated the fact that he was still jealous of her relationship with Lucky and Logan. Sure he wasn't in town for her Lucky escapade, but he was very connected with the consequences her actions brought on those he was close to.

"What is that supposed to mean? Are you calling me a slut?" she asked angrily as she walked over to lean against one of his arcade games.

"No, let's stop talking about this." Spinelli finished racking the balls to play a game.

Maxie turned away from him and noticed a picture hanging on the opposite wall. She walked over to it, to get a better look. It was a picture of Spinelli holding a baby with one arm wrapped around Lulu. Maxie couldn't help but feel betrayed as she felt the slow burn of tears settling in her eyes. "Well isn't this a happy family," she commented with her back to him. She hastily wiped the tears from her eyes as she turned to face him.

"What are you talking about now?" he asked as he turned to face her.

"This," she said pointing at the picture.

"What about it? That picture was taken on Coop's first birthday. Lulu was staying here at the time while the Simian One was out of town."

"Well, what can I expect, she didn't exactly bother to wait till I was gone before she moved in on you, now did she."

"What are you talking about?" he asked as he began playing again.

Maxie walked over and picked the cue ball up off the table. "Damn it Maxie. Can't you just go to the other room and leave me in peace, wait better yet, go back to Manhattan."

"You let her come between us," Maxie stated as she walked around the table to confront him after seventeen long years.

"We were never an, us, so how could Fair Lulu come between us."

"You met her the night you were supposed to meet me," she accused.

"So, she called saying she needed to talk to me, so I met her at Jake's. How did you know I met with her that night?"

"I heard Coleman in the back ground when I called and I thought I'd head on over to Jake's instead of waiting at Jason's like you asked. I needed to talk to you Spinelli and you told me you were doing work for Jason. Which I thought it was odd for you to do work for Jason at a bar."

"So you decided to check up on me huh? Let me guess, you saw me comforting Fair Lulu and you got pissed and ran. It all makes sense now, you were jealous."

"No, I was hurt, you bastard. You deliberately lied to me. I was going to tell you about Ava and you had to throw all that away for Lulu of all people," she screamed in his face.

"How could I throw something away that I knew nothing about? Don't put this on me, you chose to run, you chose not to tell me, and you chose to lie to our daughter and tell her I was dead. I was being a friend to Lulu nothing more. I can be friends with someone of the opposite sex without sex being involved, unlike some people I know."

Maxie felt all the rage boil over that she had suppressed since that night. She had had enough of his shit. Without thinking, she pulled her hand back to slap him only to have him catch her wrist right before she made contact. Maxie was in shock as he pulled her to him twisting her arm painfully behind her back.

"The Secretive Blonde Bitch needs to realize that I'm not the same love sick boy I was before you left. You can't manipulate me, do you understand. I'm only going to say this once, Lulu and I are only friends nothing more, so get off of your high horse or get out." Spinelli hadn't wanted to scare her, but it seemed like that was the only way he could get her to see him as a man instead of the boy she once knew. He couldn't understand why she brought out this side of him that he had kept under control in the most dangerous situations. Then he realized where this anger was coming from, when he felt her ragged breath against his neck and her full soft breast pressing against his chest. He was angry at her and himself for still wanting her. Hell, she had denied him a family for seventeen years, but she wasn't going to deny him the release he needed. He was about to pull her in for a passionate kiss, when he heard a very familiar angry voice.

"What the hell is going on?"

TBC