Gun Moll (19 page)

By the time the
boss’s attention was back on Mac, nothing looked amiss. The glass of whiskey
was back up to Mac’s mouth as if he was taking another drink.

“So, let’s chat,”
Luca said.

“I’d be happy to,”
Mac replied. “I just don’t know about what exactly, Boss.”

“Your female, for
one.”

“Melina.”

Luca’s nose
crinkled like he’d smelled something bad. “I’m aware of Miss Morgan’s name. How
did you come about dating an escort, anyway?”

“We met at an
event we both attended and hit it off. Luck, I guess.”

It wasn’t a total
lie.

“And how long have
you been dating?” Luca asked.

That was a
difficult question.

Thankfully, Mac
had an answer prepared. “Time kind of bleeds with Melina. You don’t really
notice it passing by.”

“Your Capo wasn’t
aware that you had a girl.”

“Mac’s always been
quiet about that sort of thing,” Guido said from the corner.

Luca ignored the
older gentleman, keeping his attention on only Mac. “And do you often allow
your females to behave abhorrently in both their career choices and personal
life?”

“What’s wrong with
Melina’s job?”

“She’s a whore,”
Enzo said, scoffing.

Matthew nodded his
agreement. “A little checking is all it takes to find out who she’s been …
working, so to speak.”

Luca waved at his
men. “There you go. Doesn’t it bother you at all?”

“That she needed
to support herself and did so how she could?” Mac asked quietly. “No, that
doesn’t bother me at all.”

“Call a whore a
whore, Mac,” Luca said.

It took all Mac
had inside him to keep from barking at the Pivetti Don that Melina was no man’s
whore, and she didn’t deserve the title. What in the fuck was his problem with
Melina, anyway? “As far as I know, she wasn’t fucking men for money, Boss.”

“But it’s
possible.”

Mac chuckled. “You
should spend some time with my girl. She’s not the kind of woman who has a
price, Boss.”

Guido snorted, and
then shrugged when all eyes turned on him. “Sorry, but Mac has a point. Melina
is quite … headstrong and independent. She doesn’t scream ‘hooker’ to me. Sure,
the job is a little questionable, but maybe she’s one of those girls who
doesn’t need to fuck to earn her buck, Boss. That’s all I’m saying.”

Again, Luca
ignored Guido.

“Well, her father
was quite sick, and essentially tossed aside by the government after he’d done
his duty for this godforsaken country,” Luca murmured. “I can see how she would
need something to support him with his medical issues, as well as her own home.
I’ll let the job pass, Mac, but you’ll do well to keep her from going back to
something similar.”

Mac took that info
in. He hadn’t known that. Somehow, Luca did. That told Mac the boss had been
looking into Melina. What was it that he’d mentioned earlier before they came
up here to chat?

Military
?

Yes, that was it.

“After the mess
with the cops,” Mac said quickly, “my girl knows that the escorting really
isn’t an option anymore. As far as the behavior you mentioned on the personal
side of things, I’m just guessing here, but you must be talking about Vin. I
handled that, Boss. Both on his side of things, and hers.”

Luca smiled like
that pleased him. “Good. The cops have me concerned.”

“Me, too.”

“Probably not in
the same way. This girl of yours … she practically comes out of nowhere. I
asked about the length of your relationship because I want to make sure she
hasn’t been planted or—”

“Absolutely not,”
Mac interrupted.

Luca cocked a
brow. “I beg your pardon?”

The coldness in
the man’s tone might as well have slapped Mac in the face. “Sorry, Boss, no
offense meant … I just get a little touchy when people start climbing my girl’s
back about that nonsense. She’s no rat, and she’s not a fucking cop wearing a
pretty dress. She’s just a girl—mine. Hell, she put a bullet in a man for me.”

Luca sucked in a
heavy breath, watching Mac closely as he said, “Yes, Tip. I’d heard about that
unfortunate event.”

“He had it
coming.”

The faintest hint
of a smile tugged at the corner of Luca’s mouth. “You do realize that had it
been you who put a bullet into a made man, I would have returned the favor.”

Silence covered
the room in a heavy, awkward blanket.

Mac nodded once.
“I wouldn’t expect anything different.”

“I’m glad we got
that cleared up, then,” Luca replied. “But on the topic of your
girl
…”

All over again,
Mac got the distinct impression that Luca wasn’t fond of Melina and had no
intention of ever liking her. Mac had heard stories of how difficult the boss
could be when it came to accepting newcomers into his folds. To Luca, Mac
probably wasn’t considered an outsider, what with his old family ties to Cosa
Nostra, his father’s involvement, Mac’s own work, and whatever Guido had been
saying about him.

But Melina?

She was nobody to
Luca.

“What about her, Boss?”

“I’m sure you know
some of the details concerning her family history, yes?” Luca questioned
quietly.

“Yes,” Mac lied.

Praying to God up
above that Luca wouldn’t question specific details, Mac almost missed Luca’s
reply.

“Then you know to
be careful with her,” Luca said. “We all must be careful with whom we associate
and have around, Mac. You, more than anyone, should be aware of that little
fact, what with the effort you’ve put into keeping a distance between your
father and yourself.”

Guido coughed in
the corner, dropping his gaze down.

Luca passed the
man a cool stare. “Although, I must say, I was surprised to learn that one of
Guido’s best
soldatos
happened to come from filth like James Maccari.”

Mac let the
comment roll off his shoulders.

Guido shrugged. “I
told you, Boss, I didn’t think the kid was ready.”

What
?

Mac almost shouted
the question out loud, but somehow managed to keep it inside his head. His
Capo, the man who taught Mac practically everything about the streets and how
to run them, didn’t think he was ready?

When had hell
frozen over?

What was Guido trying
to prove?

“Yes, well,” Luca
muttered, setting his glass to the table, “… you’ve not given him much of a
choice but to be noticed now, Guido. First the truck incident with Anthony’s
territory, then the girl, and now the Tip nonsense. Frankly, you couldn’t have
done a better job of bringing him to my attention, had you asked him to jump my
fence and try to get past the guard dogs.”

Mac’s brow flew
high at that statement. “You have dogs?”

“Yes. Another gift
from my father-in-law. Beautiful creatures.”

“Vicious
creatures, you mean,” Guido mumbled around the rim of his glass. “Little
bastards.”

Luca smiled a
cruel sight. “Ah, watch it, Guido, or I’ll have you be their babysitter the
next time I have to leave the city for some time.”

Guido’s mouth snapped
shut instantly.

Mac chuckled under
his breath, but it quickly faded when Luca turned on him again.

“My first
inclination is not to trust your woman,” the Don said honestly. “Given what I
know about her and also what I don’t know about her, I can’t see my opinion
changing. There is an unfortunate amount of attention on her right now from the
official side of things, so I will be keeping watch.”

“Like you already
have been?” Mac asked.

“Noticed, did
you?”

“I’d be dead if I
didn’t notice things.”

“Good point,” Luca
said, flashing a grin. “Be that as it may, I am still watching, Mac. And if I
happen to find even one thing on that woman that could bring harm to my
children, my wife, or my Cosa Nostra, I will put her down like a dog.”

“There’s nothing
to find,” Mac said, willing away the sudden thickness in his throat.

“There had better
not be, or you’ll find yourself in a grave next to hers.” Luca flicked his hand
in Mac’s direction as if to dismiss him. His next words sealed the deal. “Go,
enjoy the evening. Find your woman and make sure she behaved while you were
away from her side. I’m sure this won’t be our last encounter, Mac.”

Mac smirked. “I
hope not. Just maybe for a different reason next time.”

“Keep working at
it,” Luca replied. “Good men get noticed, Mac, but the honorable ones get the
button. While you’re downstairs, I suggest you begin working on the honor side
of things by finding Anthony and working some kind of arrangement out that
pleases him to make up for the truck and money incident.”

“Yes, do that,”
Guido echoed, smiling a little too slyly.

Mac shot his Capo
a hard look he hoped voiced his anger. Guido went back to drinking like nothing
was amiss.

“Mac?” Luca asked.

“Yeah, Boss?”

“I said you were
to leave. It wasn’t a request.”

Mac got the point.
He disappeared from the room before he needed to be told again, and dumped the
remainder of his whiskey into another plant as he passed it by in the hallway.

Now, he had to
find Melina.

His little doll
wasn’t going to like what he’d just learned. His concern over her safety was
now at a critical level. Luca had eyes on Melina, and the man seemed almost
intent on finding something awful on her. Something worthy of killing her.

Mac
couldn’t—wouldn’t—let that happen. Melina hadn’t asked for this. She was
innocent. A bystander that got caught up in something that had little to
nothing to do with her life. The chance of Mac being able to cut his ties with
Melina and let her go scot-free was unlikely, too. Luca might take that as a
sign of Mac’s dwindling care for the woman and decide to take her out if he
felt she was still a liability.

Goddammit
.

Plus … her family
history.

What was that
about?

Everything about
this night felt ten shades of wrong to Mac.

But he still had
shit to do.

N
eeya Pivetti was
an interesting woman.

Regal.

Strong.

Melina liked her
and she was fairly certain the Pivetti Don’s wife was warming up to her as
well. That still didn’t take away the fact that she was a guest in a hostile
environment.

An unwelcome
guest.

Though Neeya had
done her best to engage Melina in conversation and patron her presence, nothing
could make Melina forget her brief encounter with Luca Pivetti. The man didn’t
like her. That much was obvious and normally she wouldn’t have cared, but
things were different when a man that didn’t like you was a Cosa Nostra Don
that knew things about a past you didn’t advertise.

Yeah. That was
when things got sticky.

Melina had enough
problems in her life. The last thing she needed was Luca added to the mix. And
what about Mac? He’d been gone for a lot longer than she’d expected him to be
and that could only mean one of two things. His meeting was going very well or
had gone very badly and her would-be “boyfriend,” was on his way to a body bag.

Grabbing another
glass of champagne from a passing waiter, Melina gulped it down in an effort to
calm her nerves. Mac was a big boy. He could take care of himself. She’d seen
that firsthand, but this wasn’t just an everyday occurrence. From the moment
they’d entered the Pivetti monstrosity of a mansion, the stakes had been upped.
It had been a long time since Melina had prayed, but if sending up a few words
to the Big Man Upstairs was what it took to get her and Mac out of here
breathing, she was willing to do just that.

“Doll, you look a
little tipsy.”

Melina’s eyes flew
to Mac’s face. His hand rested possessively just above the swell of her ass but
he wasn’t looking at her. Instead, his attention was focused across the room on
a dark-haired man with a slight build. A burning cigar was held between his
lips as he engaged in conversation with a waitress.

“How do you know
how I look when your attention is across the room?”

The words came out
more harshly than she intended for them to. Mac smirked before his eyes locked
onto her in a bold stare. She swallowed hard.

“Just because I’m
not always looking at you, doesn’t mean I don’t see.”

“And exactly what
does that mean? More cryptic mob talk?”

A furrow formed
between Mac’s brows and for the first time, she noticed the unease that hung
between them.

“Mac, what’s
wrong?” she asked him.

He sighed. “A lot
of things, doll, but we’ll handle them however they come.”

“What aren’t you
telling me?”

Mac glanced around
before he took her hand and led her away. He was walking so fast she was having
a hard time keeping up with him. He was holding her hand so tight she could
feel the tension in his body. This wasn’t the Mac she knew. The Mac she knew
was confident to the tee and unafraid of anything. The man holding her hand now
was strung up tighter than a steer at a rodeo. With purposeful steps, he led
her down a short hallway, haphazardly opening up doors as they went and peeking
inside. When they came to almost the end of the hallway, Mac opened a door and
pulled her inside before shutting and locking the door behind them.

Melina jerked away
from his grasp and he let her. She watched him as he stood silently leaning
against the wall, arms folded. He watched her but said nothing.

“Mac?”

He pushed off the
wall and came towards her in one fluid motion. As he pulled her towards him,
Melina cocked a brow.

“I’ll explain
everything but first…” he trailed off.

“First what?” she
whispered.

“I need you.”

His lips met hers
in an open-mouthed kiss that had a hint of whiskey and desperation.

Mac didn’t drink. Ever.
He had mentioned that to Melina during their evening together when she’d asked
about having some wine brought up with food.

 Something was
very wrong. She pulled away.

“Mac, whiskey?”

Ignoring her
question, he kissed her again with no hint of gentleness. His mouth sought to
dominate hers and for once, Melina let down her guard. It didn’t matter what
had happened or what would happen. Right now, she was in the arms of a man who
wanted her, who needed her. And deep in the back of her mind, Melina was slowly
starting to think she might need him, too.

 With his hard body
pressed into hers, one of his hands slid down her waist to pull up the hem of
her dress. She glanced at their surroundings and noticed they were in a small
bedroom. A queen-sized bed on a dais dominated the room.

“We’ve got a bed,”
she whispered against his lips.

“Why do you think
I picked this room, doll?”

Rolling her eyes,
Melina allowed Mac to guide them over to the bed but just as the back of her
legs hit the bed, she spun around and pushed Mac down. His hands grabbed her
waist bringing her with him. Pushing against his chest, Melina straddled him.

“I don’t know
what’s gotten into you, but I think it’s time I reminded you exactly what kind
of woman you’re dealing with.”

Mac smirked as
Melina reached for his pants with deft hands. Undoing the top button, she
lowered his zipper and reached inside, freeing him from the confines of his
pants. He was hard and thick in her hand and growing larger as she slowly
stroked him. Below her, Mac gritted his teeth. She loved the power he let her
have over him and the way he willingly ceded his control to her. But Melina
sensed he didn’t need her to be an alpha female right now. What Mac needed was
to reassert his dominance.

Releasing her grip
on his cock, Melina rolled to lie beside him and pulled her dress up over her
hips. Then she turned and kissed Mac. He pulled back to look at her.

“What are you
doing?” he asked.

“Giving you what
you need. I don’t know what happened in your meeting, but instincts don’t lie.
My instincts are telling me that right now you don’t need me to challenge you.
All you need is for me to be your lover.”

His stared at her
long and hard before his hand came up to caress her cheek. Melina leaned into
his touch.

“You never cease
to surprise me, Melina.”

“Keeps things
interesting, doesn’t it?”

“In more ways than
one.”

Mac’s mouth
crashed down on hers and Melina kissed him back, nipping at his lips. Her body
relaxed as he pushed her back firmly against the bed. When she felt the brush
of his fingertips at her hip bone, she moaned. Their kiss deepened as he eased
the scrap of black lace down her hips. Melina lifted up off the bed to allow
Mac to pull her panties all the way down her legs, before he tossed them onto
the floor.

“Open for me,
Melina.”

She gasped as his
warm fingers found her wet slit, exploring and stroking. Mac’s tongue teased
hers in the same way his fingers were. Thick and strong, his digits swept over
her folds as his thumb worked her clit. Her body burned to have his cock inside
of her. Melina whimpered when his mouth left hers. His lips trailed down her
neck and she pulled him closer, silently urging him to take what she offered.

When his mouth
replaced his fingers between her legs, she bit her lip to keep from crying out.
With the tip of his tongue, he teased her soft lips before licking her slit
greedily from front to back. Melina’s thighs trembled as he leisurely tasted her.
Pleasure hummed through her body, building in intensity with every hot lap of
his tongue between her legs.

This was crazy.

Absolutely fucking
crazy.

They were in the
residence of a Cosa Nostra Don, locked in a room where Mac was eating her pussy
like his life depended on it. He sucked her clit into his mouth hard and Melina
came apart.

“
Mac
.”

Her body trembled
as the force of the orgasm shook her to the core. Why was it that every time
this man touched her, she lost her sanity? He kissed her and she tasted herself
on him, tart and forbidden. When he shifted atop her and thrust inside of her
with one smooth motion, she wrapped her legs around his waist. He pounded into
her, and she met him thrust for thrust. Mac’s eyes held hers as he took her,
scorching her with the intensity of his gaze.

Her hands held
onto his shoulders as he pumped in and out of her welcoming heat. The hard,
thick length of his cock touched every aching spot inside of her as the tempo
of their fucking came faster and faster. Mac’s breath came out in harsh pants
and just as the force of another orgasm made her cry out, he grunted his own
release above her. Collapsing atop her, she stroked his back as both of them
struggled to breathe.

“Damn it, Melina.
This wasn’t …”

His words are cut
off as the sound of a doorknob turning stopped them cold.

“Is someone in
there?” a voice called from the other side.

She recognized it
at once.

Neeya Pivetti.

“Get dressed,”
Melina ordered.

Pushing Mac off
her, she got off the bed and searched for her underwear. She found the lacy
panties lying next to the bed and quickly slipped them on before she smoothed
down her dress. Melina spared a glance at Mac, who was up and straightening his
own attire. She had no mirror to see how she looked, but she could imagine that
she had a case of bedhead that nothing could explain away.

“Hello?” Neeya’s
voice came again. This time, there was a hint of anger.

Running her
fingers through her hair in a half-hearted attempt to look presentable, Melina
finally gave up and rushed over to unlock and open the door. Neeya Pivetti
stood in the hall, arms crossed. When she saw Melina, the look of annoyance on
her face disappeared briefly as she cocked a brow.

“Melina, is
something wrong?”

Melina shook her
head. “No. I just needed—”

“We just needed a
few moments to talk privately. Please forgive us for encroaching on your
hospitality, Mrs. Pivetti,” Mac said smoothly.

Melina forced a
smile as his arm slipped around her waist in a firm but gentle grasp.

Neeya glanced from
Melina to Mac and back again as an eyebrow lifted in silent understanding. The
hint of a smile ghosted across her lips.

“Then I hope your
talk went well,” their host finally said.

Melina didn’t miss
the undercurrent to Neeya’s words.

“It did, so we
should return to the festivities now. I wouldn’t want us to be missed,” Mac
said.

Neeya nodded. “I
agree, but first Melina might want to fix her hair.”

Patting Melina’s
arm, Neeya walked away. Melina closed her eyes, certain that her cheeks were
burning bright red. Behind her Mac, laughed softly. She spun around to face
him, hands on her hips.

“It’s not funny.
Neeya and I were getting along, and now I have no doubt you’ve got her thinking
I’m some kind of slut that fucks around in other people’s homes.”

Mac’s eyes
crinkled at the corners as he gently ran his fingers through her thick hair.

“Did I tell you
how much I love these highlights in your hair? They really bring out how
beautiful your skin is.”

“Mac!”

“I heard you,
doll. Neeya doesn’t think you’re a slut. If anything, she’s probably wondering
if I made it worth your while. If she ever asks, you can tell her I left you
well satisfied.”

Melina swatted his
hand away and he stopped smiling. His mask was back in place and she swallowed
hard. She could feel the coldness emanating from him once again. The man who’d
just taken her so fiercely was gone and in his place was a soldier navigating
his way on a constantly changing battlefield. Mac wore the look of a man trying
to survive against all odds. Melina knew that look all too well.

“We need to get
going,” he said.

She nodded,
sensing that now was not the time to argue with him. “Okay.”