by Bethany-Kris
She couldn’t know.
But he still wondered if she did.
Mac carefully put the leather cord around Melina’s neck, letting the cross fall by her hand on the pillow. If she woke up in the night before he got back, then she would find it. If he wasn’t back to the apartment by morning, then she could have something to keep.
Because if morning came and Mac wasn’t there with her, then he wouldn’t be coming back at all.
Ever.
It had taken a few cautiously made, strategically chosen calls placed to the right people to find out where the Pivetti Don was for the evening. Melina had made a good point earlier in the day when she tossed out the only two names of people who might possibly be coming after them, wanting blood.
Melina had mentioned Vin, the enforcer who caused issues for Mac in Guido’s office. Mac honestly didn’t believe the enforcer was the person who had come after them earlier for two simple reasons.
One, if Vin had come after them, they would be dead. Vin’s job was first and foremost to protect the family. The man’s specialty was killing. When he pulled the trigger, he wouldn’t miss. Simple as that.
And for two, Vin was alive and well. Mac had made a phone call to a friend of a friend who stuck close to Vin’s guys. If he were the one Melina shot earlier, he wouldn’t be hanging out with his people.
That only left the other person Melina mentioned.
The Pivetti Don.
Luca.
He was the only person, who at the very moment, had threatened Melina’s life, and by extension, Mac’s life, too. After all, he was the man involved with her. Mac was the one who brought her into their world and told their secrets.
Luca wouldn’t hesitate to kill Mac, too.
So, Mac wanted to find out why the man had chosen today, why the hit had failed, and why Luca didn’t have the balls to just take the two out without problems. It was fucking stupid—foolish, even. Mac knew better than to go off half-cocked, demanding answers from a Cosa Nostra boss.
It didn’t matter.
He had to know what he had done—what his girl had done—to deserve such a dishonorable hit. A hit that wasn’t even fucking good enough to put at least one of them in a grave. And if he could help it, Mac wanted to put an end to it however he could. If that meant sacrificing his life so that Melina had a head start to maybe get away, then that’s what it meant.
Stepping up to the entrance of the club, a beefy bouncer looked Mac over. Mac had bypassed the long line of people waiting to get in. It wasn’t his first time at the joint. He’d come a time or two with Guido, so his face was known as someone who should be let in the door without question.
The bouncer nodded at Mac’s jacket. Mac opened up the leather jacket wide and turned around to show the man he had no weapons on him. He’d left it at home with Melina. The bouncer grunted under his breath and moved aside to let him pass without a word.
Mac entered the dance club, feeling the heavy bass thrumming hard against the soles of his Italian leather shoes. Usually, he liked music and loved to dance. Tonight was not the right time. He swerved in and out of swaying, sweaty bodies, searching for a face in the crowd he might recognize.
It didn’t take long at all for Mac to find Luca.
A small set of winding metal stairs led to an upstairs section that was securely monitored by two men in black suits. It was a VIP section that was only used by the most important people in the venue. Luca was definitely one of those people.
Mac crossed the last half of the dance floor, keeping his gaze locked up above on the Don sitting in a booth and sipping from a glass. Unconcerned, and with his arm around his wife, Luca seemed to be enjoying his evening.
He certainly didn’t look like he was concerned about having put a hit out on two people earlier in the day. Then again, it was Luca’s job to be cold and distant from his choices when it came to protecting the family by whatever means necessary.
At the bottom of the stairs, Mac was stopped by the men in black.
“I’m here to see the Don,” Mac said.
“Boss is busy,” said the one man on the right.
Mac didn’t recognize either of the men. It wasn’t such a surprise. Luca had a handful of guards that rotated duty, depending on what he was doing that day and who he was with. His wife had an entirely separate horde of guards.
“He’s not too busy to see one of his soldiers, is he?” Mac asked.
Up above, Mac caught Luca’s eye. The Don’s brow furrowed as he looked down at Mac, and then snapped his fingers twice to gain the attention of the bodyguards.
“Let him pass, cafone,” Luca barked. “He’s one of Guido’s best soldatos. Let him up, Johnny.”
Luca’s interest in seeing Mac only left him more confused. Surely, if Luca had put the hit out on him and Melina, the man would simply order the bodyguard to take Mac away. Unless, that was, Luca was being incredibly cocky and arrogant.
That was a possibility.
The guard allowed Mac to pass. Mac took the metal stairs two at a time, his hands thrown casually inside his pockets. As he rounded the last few stairs, his nervousness finally began to settle. He just wanted some answers. Luca could provide them.
“Soldato,” Luca said, leaning across the table to grab a cigar from the top of a pile. The Don removed his arm from around his wife to pull out a gold zippo as he worked on lighting the cigar. “What brings you to the club tonight, Maccari?”
“I had something to take care of, Boss.”
Neeya Pivetti smiled at Mac and waved at the seat across the booth for him to sit down. He took the offer, and sat in the booth. “Evening, Mac. I didn’t think we would be seeing you again so soon. How’s your girlfriend—Melina, was it?”
Mac took note of the fact that Luca didn’t seem bothered or concerned over his wife questioning him about Melina.
“She’s fine right now,” Mac said. “At home sleeping without me. Earlier, however, she was nearly gunned down on the street corner as I was finishing up some business.”
That caught Luca’s attention. The boss’s head snapped up, his gaze finding Mac instantly. Luca’s eyes narrowed with a dangerous glint as he took Mac in for a second time, like he was reconsidering why Mac was there.
“Is that so?” Luca asked.
“Sì,” Mac confirmed.
“And you felt the need to come here and what, confront me, Maccari?”
Mac leaned back in the booth. “Actually, I wanted to know why a Don couldn’t manage to find a better hired gun to do the job, if that was the case and you had put out the hit. You didn’t hide the fact you were uncomfortable with Melina, and you promised to fix the issue if need be.”
Luca’s lips thinned into a tight, angry line. “You’re either terribly arrogant, or mighty stupid.”
“Luca,” Neeya said quietly.
“Hush, woman.”
Neeya’s mouth snapped shut.
“I was hoping to find out if you were the one who put the hit out,” Mac continued without missing a beat. “And if that is the case, I’m more than willing to accept the punishment for Melina, if you leave her be and let her go.”
“He’s not going to kill Melina,” Neeya said, quiet and sure.
Mac didn’t know about that.
Luca still didn’t look pleased. “Neeya, that’s enough. Be quiet.”
“No.” Neeya flicked her wrist in her husband’s direction, as if to dismiss him. “Luca won’t hurt the girl—I like her. Tell him, Luca.”
“Neeya, mio Dio. Stop it.”
“Luca.”
Luca’s gaze cut back to Mac in a blink. “I didn’t put out the hit, not that I owe you a single fucking explanation for anything, Maccari. You’re a good soldier, but you are seriously forgetting your fucking place in the food chain of this family right now.”
“Disrespect is the first thing to get a man killed,” Mac said.
“You’re goddamn right,” Luca replied smoothly.
“
Then surely you can understand why I did come here looking for you tonight. I wanted to know if you had decided to fix the issue like you said you would. That was all.”
“I didn’t.”
The two words had come out of Luca’s mouth clipped and pissed. It was enough to tell Mac that the boss was telling the truth.
“But if I had, what would you have done?” Luca asked.
“Nothing.”
Luca smiled coldly. “I doubt that.”
“Coming here was all I needed to do,” Mac said, shrugging.
“A distraction for me?”
Mac nodded. “If you want to see it that way.”
“To give your girl a chance to run,” Luca murmured.
Mac passed Neeya a look. “Wouldn’t you do the same?”
Luca’s expression remained passive. “I would. You have a problem, I see.”
The darkness coating Luca’s tone was enough to make Mac want to leave the man’s space. “Do I?”
“Yes.” Luca scoffed, adding, “Seems you have someone who wants to kill you, Maccari, and it’s not me. Who is it?”
“I don’t have the first clue,” Mac admitted.
“That’s not good,” Neeya said, frowning at her husband.
“That’s how it usually works, bella,” Luca replied. “We never know who until it’s too late.”
Neeya didn’t seem pleased with that answer, but she stayed quiet.
Luca patted his wife’s knee, saying, “Worry not. I’m sure Maccari is more than capable of handling the problem. Aren’t you, Mac?”
“Sure,” Mac said.
Neeya glanced down at her lap. “I would like to invite your girlfriend to dinner again, Mac. Please make sure that she’s alive to come.”
Mac passed Luca a look, wondering how to take that statement.
Luca just shrugged. “You heard the woman. If you find out who is the person behind this nonsense, I give you full permission to take care of it, Maccari.”
That seemingly flippant statement was anything but simple.
“Even if he’s made?” Mac asked.
Luca smirked. “Especially, if he’s made. If he is, then he likely wants to get rid of you for a reason. Maybe you know something. Maybe you’re in his way. Who knows? Do you know something I don’t, Maccari?”
“No.”
“Then I suggest you work on figuring it out,” Luca said, turning away from Mac to give all of his attention to his wife. “Have a good evening, Maccari.”
Dismissed.
Mac didn’t mind. He left without saying goodbye.
Mac let the hot water beat down on his tense shoulders and back. Turning around, he tipped his head under the water. All of the sound around him was muted by the torrent of rain drumming on his head. He’d gotten back to Melina’s apartment before dawn, and found that his girl was still sleeping in bed, unaware that he had left.
Well, he suspected she didn’t know.
Sighing, Mac rolled his head back and forth, cracking his neck. It took away a little more tension still lingering in his muscles. After his meeting with Luca, Mac was left more unsettled than ever and with more questions than he had answers.
Who was coming after him?
Were they after Melina, too?
Was it both of them?
Mac didn’t know. He hated not knowing things.
The slide of the glass shower door was the only warning Mac got that someone had entered his private space a second before small but strong arms wrapped around him from behind. He let out a contented sigh at the feeling of Melina’s plump lips pressing to the spot between his shoulder blades.
“Morning, doll,” Mac murmured.
“Morning,” she whispered.
Melina hugged him tighter. Mac let her. Her perky breasts pressed to his back, and her body molded perfectly against his.
“You wanted a shower too, huh?” he asked jokingly.
“I wanted to be with you.”
Mac smiled. “I like that.”
“Me, too.”
Spinning slowly, Mac encircled Melina in his embrace. She tilted her head up, allowing him to bend his head just enough to capture her lips with his own. Her soul-brown eyes watched him with an intensity he hadn’t seen from her before as her lips parted to let him deepen the kiss. The moment he did, Melina let out a little moan that was enough to make his cock harden. She moved closer, pressing her tight body harder against his.
Mac let his hand fall from her side and snake between Melina’s thighs. He stroked her bare pussy, feeling her shudder under his palm. She was hot to the touch, and he loved that. Her body was always so responsive to him, no matter what he was doing. He was finding himself constantly needing her little sounds, and wanting to watch her face when he was buried deep in her pussy and fucking them both to a fast heaven.
He craved those things.
Badly.
Every day.
“Now this is a damn good morning,” Melina breathed.
Mac stroked her sex again, spreading her open with two fingers before he let them sink inside. Her snug walls flexed around him, and Melina swallowed a cry. Her forehead fell against his, and she rubbed her cheek along the stubble dotting his jaw. Her hips rolled into his hand with every thrust as steam fogged up the glass surrounding them.
“No dirty words for me today?” Melina asked.
Mac chuckled. “You don’t need it. I don’t need it. Not this morning. This is enough, huh? Just feeling me, babe. Feeling you all over me. Loving all your little sounds and the way you move against me, wanting more. Loving kissing your mouth when you come, and filling you full all over again when you ask for more. What else do you want, doll?”
Melina’s gaze found his, knowing and searching at the same time. “Love me.”
The rhythm of Mac’s fingers slowed for a second. Melina didn’t stop watching him.
Love was a big word.
It was kind of scary, too.
The only love Mac had ever seen between a man and a woman growing up was one that had been unhealthy and untrue. He didn’t think it was real—he wasn’t sure he knew how to love someone.
But he did know how he had been seeing Melina for the last little while.
She was by his side every morning. He liked kissing her mouth, holding her hand, keeping her near, and needing her even closer. He made sure she was happy, pleased, and taken care of. He wanted her smiles, and fuck any other man that thought they deserved one, too.
Mac wanted her to be his. No one else’s. Just his.
He wanted to breathe her air. He needed her like he needed the breath in his lungs.
It was still strange.
“Yeah,” Mac said, kissing her cheek softly. “Love you, doll.”
Melina’s lashes fluttered closed as she trembled her way through a slow orgasm. “Oh, my God.”
“Best thing to wake up and get, huh?”
“Keep giving me that when I wake up and I’ll let you know.”
There was his girl.
Without needing to be told, Melina turned around and faced the shower wall. Mac crowded her back, running his hands over her wet curves and the swell of her ass.
“Christ, you’re so beautiful,” he said.
Melina smiled coyly when Mac kissed the corner of her mouth. “Beautiful for you. Thank you for the gift, by the way.”
“Hmm?”
“The cross.”
Mac traced a line from Melina’s shoulders to the small of her back. “It’s safer with you.”
“I’ll make sure it stays that way.”
“I’ve never taken it off, doll.”
“I wondered about that. I think that’s how I knew.”
Mac found her watching him, and smiled. “Knew what?”
“That you love me, and that I love you.”
That word in her mouth was enough to make Mac insane. He wanted her to say it again. Over and over. In however many different ways she could spin it, Mac wanted to hear it.
>
He fitted himself behind her, pushed her against the wall and up on her toes, and positioned his cock right at the entrance to her heaven. With no forewarning, Mac pushed in. Melina hadn’t been expecting it, but she was wet enough to take his bare length with no trouble. In one hard thrust, he was seated deep in her pussy, and it felt like a drug seeping straight through his skin to his bones.
“Fuck,” Mac mumbled against her shoulder.
Melina whined. “Yeah.”
“Fucking fuck.”
“You feel better like this,” she said. “Bare. Just you. I can feel that.”
Mac’s teeth buried into the junction of Melina’s shoulder with a gentle bite. She sighed, and backed into him as he began to fuck her against the wet shower wall.
“Love me,” he ground out.
Melina’s hands fell from the wall and reached back to find his thighs. “Love you.”
“Again, doll.”
“Love you, Mac.”
His stress finally floated away. He fucked her harder when she asked for more. His fingers raked over her skin, imprinting her to memory, taking from her body, and forgetting about the rest of the world still fucking them over.
She mattered.
They didn’t.
She, Melina Morgan, was in love.
Completely.
With every burning fiber of her being.
It scared the ever-loving hell out of her.
The silk sheets rustled against her bare skin, as she lay in bed naked. The past few days had passed in a haze for her.
A haze of fucking, lovemaking, and Mac.
Only Mac.
She bit her lip, trying to fight the smile that came across her face as she thought of him. It wasn’t in her nature to be like this—giddy with happiness. For the first time since she could remember, hope for a real future bloomed hot and heavy inside her. If anyone would have told her that she would fall in love, Melina would’ve told them they’d lost their mind. It was amazing how everything had changed.
