Thanks to everyone who reviewed, Im glad a few people are interested in this fic :)
Having not listened to her protests, Johnny had sent a limo for Maxie to her apartment, luckily Lulu was out, most likely at the Haunted Star, so Maxie didn't have to try explain why there was a limo waiting for her. When the limo stopped, she took a deep nervous breath, and smoothed down her black skirt. A moment later her door was opened for her by the driver, and she climbed out, and was immediately greeted by Johnny, who was dressed as usual in black suit, and a black button up shirt "You look gorgeous" he said, placing a kiss on her hand
"Thanks" Maxie smiled, feeling awkward "You look pretty good yourself"
He offered her his arm, but stopped before opening the large door, leading into the mansion "I'm just gonna pre-apologize for anything that you may witness tonight" he turned back to face her "Not everyone here is completely rational" he warned, and Maxie looked a little worried, noticing this, he quickly assured her "Don't worry, they won't get violent"
Maxie waved off the warning, trying to act calm "Oh please don't even start with the whole irrational people thing, I work in fashion, I'm surrounded by irrational people daily" she said and he grinned, before once again offering his arm
"Shall we?"
Maxie linked her arm through his, as he rang the doorbell, and the door was opened
********
Spinelli had tried to remain calm, but knowing that Maxie could be in danger was not helping the situation, and as Jason stopped his SUV in front of the mansion Spinelli turned to his mentor, voicing his panic "Stone Cold Maxie is most likely inside now with the psychotic mob prince, putting herself in harms way, no doubt in an attempt to just spite the Jackal, and-"
"Stay cool Spinelli, I know you're worried, but I'm gonna need you to keep an eye out for Maxie tonight, and not to over react and cause a scene where she's concerned, keep a level head, can you do that?" Jason interrupted
"Yes" Spinelli took a deep breath, and straightened his black tie nervously "I assure you Stone Cold, you can rely on the Jackal"
"Ok, good" Jason replied as he opened the door, hoping Spinelli would keep a low profile. As much trouble as Maxie may be getting herself into, right now wasn't the time to panic and blow whatever progress had been made
**********
"So, what do you think?"
Maxie glanced around at the people inside. She knew he was referring to the mansion, which although was elegant, wasn't exactly decorated to her tastes, but being as fashion crazy as she was, her eyes were drawn to what people were wearing, and although smartly dressed they were all wearing completely black, which of course wasn't shocking. "It's very...black"
Johnny smiled, and started to respond, but a female voice interrupted him "John good you decided to come" Claudia shot Maxie a look of complete disgust "And you brought Maxie along"
Maxie rolled her eyes at the dark haired woman "Nice to see you too Claudia"
Claudia grabbed her brothers arm "I need to borrow my brother for a moment"
"Claudia-" Johnny began to argue
"It's important John"
Johnny looked at Maxie, who shrugged "Sure, no problem" she glanced around "I'll just occupy myself"
"I'll be right back" he promised, before allowing Claudia to drag him away. She didn't let go of him until they were in the corner of the room, where no one could overhear
"What now Claudia?" Johnny asked tiredly
Spinelli who happened to be in wandering by just then and heard the voices of the two mob siblings, ducked behind the wall before he could be spotted, hoping to hear more
"I'm having issues with Ric" Claudia told him
"Maybe I should tell you what I always tell you, leave town, get away from Sonny" Johnny told her irritably
"I'm not leaving Port Charles John, I'm pregnant with Sonny's child, he won't kill me" Claudia argued, and Johnny scoffed. He wouldn't put anything past Sonny
"He might make an exception if he finds out-"
"Shh!" Claudia interrupted through gritted teeth, as she glanced around wide-eyed. She lent in closely to Johnny. Her voice low and full of warning "Maybe you should though, you're getting yourself in deep" she suggested
Johnny crossed his arms over his chest, with a dark look at his sister "I can take care of myself Claudia"
"Not with the stuff you keep messing with" she disagreed "If anyone of us is going to get killed it'll be you. Jason Morgan is keeping a close eye on you, and Spinelli may seem harmless, but his computer hacking is definetely not"
As Johnny opened his mouth to reply, Sonny joined them "I'm not interrupting anything am I?" he asked with a suspicious look between his wife and her brother
"No" Claudia forced a tight smile "of course not"
Realising he wouldn't be hearing any secrets from the mob siblings, Spinelli sighed softly, before beginning to search for the elusive Maxie
Spinelli had spent about ten minutes searching the mansion for Maxie, when he came across some open french doors leading onto a patio, he began to walk through them but was immediately stopped when he spotted Maxie standing, facing away from him, she was illuminated by the moon. Her shoulder length blonde hair pinned up elegantly showing off her most delectable neck, she wearing a well fitting skirt black skirt that hugged her hips and reached above her knees and a green and black print strapless fitted top, with a thick black belt. She was stunning.
Hearing a noise behind her, Maxie jumped startled, and spun around "God Spinelli!" she said placing a hand over her heart, trying to still its frantic beating. She took a moment, surprised by how good he looked in a suit and tie, with his hair brushed off his face, before her eyes narrowed in annoyance at him following her "Stalking me again are you?" she asked irritably.
Spinelli shook himself out of his daze. Right then wasn't the time to be gawking at Maxie's beauty "The Jackal was checking to see that perhaps you have quenched your thirst for danger, and are now ready to leave here, and leave Stone Cold and myself to do the job we are more capable of handling" he said, as he walked closer to her
"Spinelli I already said I was going to help investigate Johnny" Maxie argued, crossing her arms defensively "This does seemingly involve me after all, and I think I'm more capable than you at handling this"
"Blonde one-"
"What are you even doing here?" she interrupted his argument "I mean you're not exactly part of the mob, you're more technical support guy"
Spinelli furrowed his brow, but hid his annoyance at her comment "As the Jackal has mentioned before, he is helping investigate the maniac mob prince, and now the as the stubborn blonde one has refused to stay out of this, the jackal's job is made harder as he must now protect her while trying to focus on Johnny Zacharrah"
Maxie rolled her eyes "Don't even act like I'm causing problems, I am the one person who can get close enough to Johnny to find out anything"
"The Jackal is aware that the blonde one has no patience, and will most likely in a moment of stupidity, aggrivate the mob prince causing him to-"
Her voice rose "Stupidity?!" she asked feeling offended, and Spinelli immediately grabbed her arm and pulled her further into the shadows, hoping no one had heard her outburst
"The Jackal did not mean to imply that I think the blonde one is stupid" he corrected her, still holding onto her arm, keeping her close "I don't want you to get hurt Maxie"
Maxie felt the usual warm sensation that Spinelli's touch and closeness always seemed to have on her, and her anger faded immediately "Well I don't want you to get hurt either"
"So you should go" they both decided similtaneously, and looked at each other wide eyed "Me?!" they asked similtaneously in shock, before both pulling away from eachother, their earlier calmness replaced by complete offense that either would suggest such a thing "No way"
Maxie reached forward and placed her hand over Spinelli's mouth briefly, to stop him from talking at the same time as her "I can handle myself Spinelli" she informed him sternly and Spinelli pushed her hand away, before responding
"The Jackal is working for Stone Cold and helping him, he has the ability to hack and is most assuredly more careful than the blonde one who is careless and not of any use..."
Maxie shoved Spinelli backwards, before he could finish his sentence "You jerk" she muttered, before walking indoors and leaving Spinelli behind. Spinelli watched as Maxie walked inside, and toward Johnny who was talking to some random mob member and linked her arm through his.
He felt his jealousy prickle, as he watched them, and when his confusion dimmed as to why Maxie had shoved him and called him a jerk he realised that Maxie cutting him off, had made his sentence sound alot worse than it would have if she'd allowed him to finish...
"Oh no, the blonde one most definetely isn't impatient" he remarked to himself sarcastically.
*********
A few hours later that night, Maxie lay on her bed staring up into the darkness. She hadn't managed to find out anything that Johnny was doing to show that he was behind killing innocent people. Although that bugged her, what bugged her more was her encounter with Spinelli. She couldn't believe how pissed off she was with Spinelli. Well actually she could! He was most definetely the most aggrivating person ever, and had the ability to really get under her skin. "Careless, and not of any use?!" she muttered to herself in disblief. After everything she'd done in the past all the help she had been! She hated him. In fact she was going to stay clear away from him from now on, unless she was absolutely forced to see him...
Her bedroom door suddenly opened, and she turned over towards her door, as the light flickered on. "Spinelli?" she asked in surprise as the young man shut the door behind himself, she pushed herself up to sit on the edge of her bed as her surprise turned into annoyance "What are you doing here?"
"The Jackal wants to apologize for his behavior earlier" he spoke as he approached the bed "The blonde one was right"
"I know" she replied simply, as he moved closer, and placed his hands on her knees as he knelt down in front of her, she sat completely still, as his hand lifted toward her face, but her eyes followed his hands movement, as he gently pushed some of her hair off her face, before resting his hand to stroke her cheek. Maxie's heart raced, she felt her skin get warm, but maintained eyecontact "W-what are you doing?" she asked breathlessly. Spinelli didn't reply, but smirked, before moving forward and pressing his lips against hers, for a moment she didn't respond, but when his tongue ran against her lips, she couldn't hold back any longer, her arms moved around his neck as the kiss grew heated, She shifted further back on the bed, and Spinelli followed, easing her down to the matress. He eventually pulled back, as his hands worked at unbuttoning her shirt and Maxie moaned, as his lips trailed hot kisses along her collarbone, before tracing a pathdown between her breasts...
A cold hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder, it felt out of place from the former heated skin against hers, and pulled her out of her fantastic dream, on impulse Maxie shot upright in her bed in the darkness panicked, and she automatically shot her fist out in the direction of the dark object, hitting it squarely in what she assumed was its face. A thud was followed by a groan, as the object hit the floor, and Maxie jumped out of bed, and running across toward her door she flicked on the lightswitch. She gasped when she recognised the person lying on the floor, groaning. "Oh my god, Spinelli I'm so sorry" she apologized, trying to keep her voice low, a dazed Spinelli pushed himself into a sitting position, while clutching onto his cheek, and for a moment Maxie felt bad, and made a move toward him to help him, before realising that this was actually her room and that he had broken in, she stopped and her concern was replaced by annoyance. "Wait no, I'm not sorry, what the hell are you doing in my room?" she demanded
"I apologize for startling you Maxie" Spinelli winced, as he rubbed his jaw "It was not my intention"
Maxie shook her head and sighed, before walking over to him, and bending down to help him up and guiding him to sit on her bed "How did you even get in here?"
Spinelli grinned proudly "The Jackal picked the lock" Maxie glared down at him and crossed her arms over her chest, clearly not impressed and Spinelli's grin disappeared "It furthers my former suspicions about your safety here as the Jackal, who is not exactly equipped at the task of breaking and entering was able to do such with no real skill or trouble" his expression grew serious "Do you think that the deranged mob prince will have any problems aquiring entry to the premises?"
"I'm perfectly fine here" she scoffed, and shook her head as the ridiculousness of this whole situation hit her "my god, you're insane, you can't just go breaking into girls apartments Spinelli" she told him "You know, ever since you and Jason told me about Johnny, the only person who's been freaking me out and doing illegal things is you" he opened his mouth to protest but she interrupted him, and began counting on her fingers "You've stalked me, you've broken into my house and almost given me a heart attack" she arched a brow and smirked, deciding to have a little fun "Are these your weird Jackal like attempts at seduction or something?"
Spinelli's eyes widened and his jaw dropped "S-seduction?!" he stuttered, horrified, his face flushed, and eyes wide "O-of course not! How could you even think that I would go to such lengths?"
Maxie bit back a laugh, at the expression on his face "Well you're the one in a girls room sitting on her bed in the middle of the night" she pointed out, and Spinelli sat for a moment in silence, realising perhaps it had come across not the way he intended it to, he could feel his face getting warm and rushed to explain
"The jackal took what means he felt were neccessary so as not to be spotted, I apologize for startling you" he tapped the palm of his hands against his knees and looked down "I came to apologize" he mumbled, clearly not enjoying admitting he was in the wrong. He turned to her when she sat down next to him "The blonde one was correct earlier"
Maxie looked at him for a moment. This was oddly following the direction of her dream "I-I was?" she asked dumbly "I mean..uh, yes...I was" she tried to sound sure of herself, but was still trying to get past the fact that Spinelli was on her bed and saying very similar thing to her dream. She wondered if this might go the same direction. Don't even go there Maxie! She silently berated herself, and they stared at each other for a moment, before Spinelli swallowed hard and pushed himself to his feet, and began pacing up and down in front of her
"The Jackal, should not rush judgement on the blonde one, it is not his place to-" he spoke as he continued to walk back and forth, leaving the blonde one to watch him pacing in front of her "So I apologize, furthermore I apologize if you, had the idea the Jackal was insulting you, by saying you were careless and of no use...its..j- uh.." he stopped pacing, and paused. He hated the fact that his social behavior was not exactly brilliant, leaving him searching for words and stuttering like a fool. It didn't help that she was sitting on her bed, wearing her skimpy shorts and top and staring at him with that expectant look. He tore his gaze off her. Realising the perhaps perving over her was not helping him "The Ja...I...th...it is my most important task that I make sure you do not get hurt-"
"Great" she rolled her eyes and sighed deeply "a task"
Spinelli's gaze immediately shot back to her again "Um.." He shook his head erratically, and was at her side in an instant, quickly placing his hand on her arm, trying to reassure her "No, uh...desire" he corrected himself "It uh, it is the Jackals desire that the blonde one does not get harmed, please allow myself and Stone Cold to keep you safe until we are sure the deranged mob prince cannot harm you"
Spinelli sat down next to her again and Maxie stared into his green eyes. He was giving her that pleading puppy dog expression. Damn she hated that! That was his most irrisistable look, and she could feel her earlier resolve melting
A sudden knock on her bedroom door interrupted them "Maxie?" Lulu's voice questioned from the other side of the door
"Uh, hold on" Maxie called out quickly, as she and Spinelli jumped up from her bed "Hide hide!" she muttered frantically under her breath, as she pointed under her bed, before shoving him down to the ground, waiting until he had crawled out of sight, before opening her door, just wide enough to wedge her body between "What?" she breathlessly asked her housemate
"Is everything ok in here?" Lulu asked, trying to glance past Maxie into her room
Maxie shifted to try hide Lulu's view "Yes, why?"
Lulu furrowed her brow "I heard a loud thud"
"Oh um...that was me..." Maxie forced an embarrassed smile "I uh fell out of bed"
Lulu sniggered "Don't tell me you're having more hot dreams about Spinelli"
Maxie's face flushed, and she laughed awkwardly "I don't have dreams about Spinelli" she said embarrassed and well aware Spinelli could hear their conversation. Damn she should never have in a drunken moment told Lulu about her rated dreams of Spinelli, who knew her irritating housemate would remember that conversation, it was 6 months ago!
"Yeah right" Lulu chuckled "Well I'm going to bed"
"You do that" Maxie said through gritted teeth, trying to hide her extreme annoyance, as she watched Lulu turn and walk away, she took a deep breath, bracing herself, before stepping back, and shutting her bedroom door, and turning around again, Spinelli's head stuck out from under the bed and he stared up at Maxie whos blush deepened, as he pushed himself up, and took his former position on the edge of her bed again, not looking away from her. She immediately began rambling, trying to explain Lulu's earlier comment "Lulu was just....I'm not uh...." flustered, she waved her hands around as she spoke, before crossing her arms over her chest and quickly changing the topic "Fine, you and Jason can protect me"
Spinelli smiled happy at achieving his goal. He bounced to his feet, grinning broadly "The blonde one better pack a few items" he suggested
"A few items?" she laughed amused, as she opened her large closet "oh that's funny Spinelli"
After arguing a further 15minutes in her room over why she could not just take off right then, and would have to wait until morning and make up a story as to why she'd be staying elsewhere for a while to Lulu. Maxie who was barely refraining from opening her bedroom window and pushing an argumentative stubborn Spinelli out of it and down 5 floors, managed to barely stop herself and rather shove him out her room and through the front door instead, all that of course taking place after her not so subtle threats of grevious body harm on him if he didn't stop arguing with her and leave right then. Thankfully Lulu was one of the deepest sleepers she knew.
Maxie shut the front door and leant back against it. Living with Spinelli was defintely not going to be easy. "I'm in trouble" she mumbled under her breath.
TBC? Pls review.
