Gun Moll (23 page)

A new life that
could very well be the cause of her death. Somehow, she knew Mac wouldn’t let
that happen. Whatever happened, they were in this together and as she watched
him take down and open boxes, she couldn’t help but be glad that there was
someone who finally cared about her enough to watch her back.

Almost two weeks
had passed and things were quiet, which was not at all what Melina had
expected. After all, with her on the Pivetti boss’s list of people to watch,
she’d been waiting for something to happen. Perhaps someone tailing her, but
that hadn’t happened. Even the cops had backed off and for that, she couldn’t
be happier. Those ridiculous charges had mysteriously been dropped, as well.

She and Mac had
settled into somewhat of a routine. He slept over a few nights out of the week.
Those nights usually ended with them tearing up the sheets, enjoying their fill
of one another. Having sex with Mac was slowly becoming her new addiction, and
it was one she didn’t mind having. But she was starting to enjoy more than just
the sex. Mac had a way about him. She found herself laughing and smiling more
than she had … since she was a child.

The realization
had startled her earlier that morning, when she’d left her place with Mac.
They’d been together pretty regularly, as she accompanied him some days while
he worked. She’d seen Mac and his fellow crew members unload more hot goods
than she could keep count of. Not to mention, the stolen car parts they’d sold.
Her eyes had grown as big as saucers when she saw the stacks of money Mac made
every day. Then she’d promptly let loose a stream of curses when Mac told her
he only kept thirty percent of his take.

Bullshit.

She pushed the
thought from her mind as she leaned against the wall of the store, watching
Mac. Today they were doing the collection bit. That morning, Mac had allowed
her to collect the money from the more upscale of those businesses, before
giving her what was his cut without batting an eye.

“I told you I’d
take care of you, didn’t I?” he’d asked softly.

So far, Mac was
proving to be a man of his word. Her landlord had called her two days ago and
thanked her for paying her rent early for the next two months. When she’d asked
Mac about it, he’d just shrugged and smiled, pretending he had no idea what she
was talking about. She was learning that was his way. He liked to do things
without receiving recognition. The man liked to move in silence and shadows,
but sometimes you needed to step out into the light. Perhaps she could persuade
Mac to do that, at least for tonight.

“We’re out of
here, doll.”

He reached for her
hand and led her outside.

“Are we done for
the day?” she asked.

“Don’t tell me
you’re tired? Not the invincible Melina,” Mac teased.

“Hardly.”

“Then what is it?”

He squeezed her
hand.

“We haven’t had
much time to spend together, since you’ve been working so much.”

Mac stopped
walking and looked at her. “We’ve been together almost every day.”

“But you’ve been
working. There hasn’t been that much time for …”

“For what, doll?”

He stared at her
hard.

“For us.”

His hand caressed
her cheek. “So there’s an ‘us’ now?”

“I thought that’s
what we were moving towards. That is, if you still want it.”

“Of course that’s what
I want. Hell, it’s what I’ve wanted since the moment I laid eyes on you. I’m
sorry you’ve been feeling neglected, but I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

Melina shook her
head and looped her arms around Mac’s neck.

“I’m not talking
about me. I’m talking about you.”

“Me? I’m not
feeling neglected.”

“Well, you should
be. You’ve been working non-stop, sneaking behind my back and paying my bills.
Not to mention making sure I don’t end up in a pine box. And during all of this,
not once have you thought about yourself or your own needs. Tonight, I’m going
to do something about that, provided we’re done with business for now.”

“Melina, a real
man puts others’ needs above his own. I learned that at a young age.”

“I won’t disagree
with you there, but sometimes everyone needs someone to look after them and I
want to do that for you.”

Leaning forward,
she kissed him softly before pulling back to smile at him.

“What did you have
in mind?” His eyes danced with amusement.

“I could
try to
cook you a nice dinner, and we could enjoy a nice bottle of wine before moving
on to dessert.”

Mac raised an
eyebrow as one of his hands traveled lower to caress her backside. “Dessert,
huh? What kind of dessert?”

“A one-of-a-kind
delicacy you’ve started to enjoy very, very much,” she whispered.

“I’m sold. Your
place or mine?”

“Mine. I’ve got
the big bath tub, remember?”

“That you do,
doll. How did I get so lucky to land a woman like you?”

Melina shrugged.
“Maybe you did something good in a past life.”

He laughed. “I’ll
go with that. Now let’s get out of here.”

Cupping her face
in his hands, Mac kissed her hungrily, silently promising that they had another
long, hot night ahead of them. Melina’s body heated in anticipation. When Mac
pulled away and tapped her nose, she couldn’t help smiling. She’d been doing a
lot of that lately and it felt good.

Cars raced down
the street behind Mac, except one. As it crept closer to where they stood on
the sidewalk, the back window slowly lowered. Melina’s body tensed as alarms
rang in her head.

“Mac.”

His head whipped
in the direction she was looking and then gunfire exploded.

Mac pushed her
behind a parked car and then to the ground. Melina barely had time to brace
herself.

“Keep your head
down.”

Bullets continued
flying and the sounds of glass shattering and screams filled the air. It was a
drive by, and the only thing that was clear was that someone wanted blood. Hers
or Mac’s, she didn’t know. What she did know, was that she’d had enough of this
shit. Rolling away from Mac, she grabbed for his gun.

“Melina, don’t!”

He reached for
her, but she eluded his grasp as she scrambled to her knees behind the shot-up
car that had shielded them. The gunfire had stopped. Melina peeked over the
hood of the car and saw a silver Dodge Charger. Melina fired, putting a bullet
in the back headlight. The car revved up, and Melina carefully aimed one more
time.

The car rolled to
a stop seconds after the bullet shattered the back window. Melina had managed
to hit her target.

Mac grabbed her,
jerking her to her feet.

“We have to get
out of here. Now.”

He snatched the
gun from her and tucked it into his back pocket before nearly dragging her down
the street to where they’d parked. Melina didn’t know who was after them or
why, but she could damn well guarantee that when word got out, they’d think
twice about coming after her and Mac again.

“Y
ou have really got
to stop grabbing people’s guns and shooting with them,” Mac muttered.

Melina shot a look
over her shoulder, probably in the direction of the car. “Why? I get the job
done, don’t I?”

“Not the point.”

“It’s the only
point that matters when someone is shooting at you.”

“Fair enough.”

“I thought so,”
she said.

“Your father?”

Melina nearly
slipped in her heels, but Mac caught her around the waist and drew her to his
side. It was becoming second nature for him to keep bringing Melina closer. She
was better there, safer, and happier. She deserved to be there.

He just wasn’t
sure how to deal with it.

In his arms,
Melina kept a steady pace, seemingly unbothered by the fact she had probably
just killed a man. She never failed to shock Mac, but he liked it. He liked
her.

A lot.

“What about my
father?” Melina asked.

Mac made sure the
gun was safely tucked into the waistband of his jeans. “Was he the one who
taught you how to shoot like that?”

Melina laughed.
“Yeah.”

Mac nodded
approvingly. “Damn. I would have liked to meet him. Shake his hand. Thank him,
maybe.”

She didn’t
respond. Mac didn’t mind. He knew how touchy of a subject her father was.

Thankfully, Melina
kept up with Mac’s jogging pace down the sidewalk. The street had gone
completely quiet of noise. When the first burst of gunshots had rung out,
people dropped to the ground or scattered into the closest businesses they
could find.

No doubt, the cops
would be showing up soon.

Mac didn’t need
their brand of trouble. Neither did Melina. God knew the cops had been a big
enough nuisance in their lives lately.

“Fucking
surprising,” Mac muttered.

“Hmm?”

Mac held Melina
tighter. “I was thinking it was surprising that those dumbass detectives
weren’t following right behind us today. They usually are.”

“Maybe we lost
them earlier.”

“Must have. Get
in,” Mac demanded the second they came up beside his black car.

Melina did as he wanted.
No arguments.

It was a damn good
thing she wasn’t her usual combative and difficult self when shit was going
down. Mac appreciated that about Melina, amongst many of her other
interestingly wonderful qualities.

Mac went to shut
the door, but Melina stopped him. Her brown gaze, wary and concerned, found
his. Despite their situation, it calmed Mac just to take a moment, push aside
his panic, and stare at Melina.

And that’s how he
knew.

That she was his?

His girl?

Yeah, that was how
he knew.

“We don’t have
time to stand around and chat, doll. What do you need?” Mac asked.

“My father,”
Melina said.

“What about him?”

“He would have
loved you, Mac.”

Mac’s hand
tightened around the metal edge of the passenger door. A heaviness pooled in
his stomach, grounding him. It didn’t feel entirely bad, though.

“You think?” Mac
asked.

“I know,” Melina
told him with her usual fierceness.

“I’m not the kind
of man that fathers usually want their daughters running around with. There’s
not a whole lot about me that’s good inside.”

Melina never took
her eyes off Mac for a second. “There’s enough good where it counts.”

Mac supposed she
was right.

And as long as he was
what Melina wanted, nobody else mattered to Mac.

“We have got to
go,” Mac told Melina.

Melina moved her
hand from the door, letting Mac shut her inside the car. The pressure that had
been steadily building in his chest deflated slightly. Melina wasn’t entirely
safe just yet, but being inside a vehicle was better than being way out in the
fucking open.

Mac crossed around
the front of the car quickly, sweeping both directions of the street with his
sharp gaze. He didn’t want to be caught up in another drive-by situation with
whoever.

Mac’s stare
narrowed in on the silver car down the road. It was still resting where it had
come to a stop after Melina shot the driver. It was still running, too. No one
had even tried to approach the vehicle, yet.

Who,
was
the question.

Mac wanted to run
down, take a quick peek at the driver, and get the hell out of Dodge. He
couldn’t afford to take the risk. He didn’t want to stay in the area for any
longer than was necessary.

As it were, they
had already been there too long.

He wouldn’t put
Melina in more danger.

Mac would always
take care of his girl.

No matter what.

Sliding into the
driver’s seat and shutting the car door, he slid the key into the ignition,
shifted gears, and spun the tires on pavement when he pulled out of the parking
spot. Melina cussed under her breath, her hands flying out to the dashboard to
steady herself.

“Who did that?”
she asked. “Luca? That enforcer—Vin—maybe?”

Mac tightened his
grip on the steering wheel. “I don’t know.”

And that was a
fucking problem.

Mac glanced over
at Melina.

It was a problem
he intended on fixing.

It had taken Mac
the majority of the evening, but he finally convinced Melina to stop worrying
and take a nap. Their plans of a nice dinner, a dessert, and a quiet night
together had been ruined by her concerns and his lack of answers.

Mac felt bad.

He wanted to be
able to tell her it was all right and mean it. He couldn’t do that.

Leaning in the
doorway of Melina’s bedroom, Mac watched his lover toss and turn in the sheets.
She was sleeping, but fitfully. More than anything, he wanted to crawl in the
bed with her, bring her closer, and take away whatever nightmares were
troubling her sleep.

Unfortunately, he
couldn’t do any of that.

Not tonight.

Mac had other
business to attend to. No doubt, if Melina knew what Mac was planning, she
would demand to go with him and be a part of his dealings. Mac couldn’t bear
the thought of putting Melina back into yet another position where she could be
hurt or in some kind of danger.

As it were, she
had enough attention; she had enough problems.

Too many were
caused by his involvement in her life.

Mac fingered the
cross hanging down from his neck. It hung off a leather cord, and he never took
it off for anything. Not even when he fought. Usually, touching the cross would
give him some sense of relief, or even hope.

He didn’t find it.

Something else had
taken its place for calming him when he needed it. That something else was Melina.

Tugging the
leather cord up over his head, Mac watched the cross swing in front of his face
for a second before he enclosed it into his fist. Crossing the bedroom as
quietly as he could, he bent down over the side of the bed and pushed a few
stray waves of hair from Melina’s face. Her lips curved upward in her sleep,
seemingly pleased at his touch.

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.