Gun Moll (32 page)

Mac clenched his
teeth so hard that his molars throbbed. He had to force himself not to grab
Melina’s shoulders so tightly that he might hurt her.

It wasn’t her.

It was Anthony
that pissed him off.

Somehow, Mac found
his voice. “I’ll let Melina speak for herself where that offer is concerned,
Anthony.”

Melina glanced up
at Mac, one eyebrow lifted in silent question. Mac nodded to her, knowing she
would handle the situation just fine. She turned back to Anthony, and rapped
her manicured fingernails to the table.

“See,” she said
slowly, almost patronizing, “the neighbors already know Mac’s name. I would
hate to disappoint them by not being able to give them the same kind of
performance, Anthony.”

Mac squeezed her
once, and hid his smirk by looking away.

That was quite a
way to tell a man no and insult him at the same time.

Damn, he was
proud.

Anthony didn’t
look all that impressed with Melina’s response, but he shrugged it off and
looked to Mac. “I guess you’re fighting then, Mac.”

Mac didn’t even
blink. “I guess so.”

B
ruised.

Battered.

But somehow, Mac
was still standing.

It spoke to his
will and the deep inner strength that kept him going in times of adversity.
Melina’s throat was as dry as cotton as she watched Mac enter the cage for his
last bout. He’d won his first match with no real issues, easily outpacing his
opponent with his quickness and strong blows. Afterwards, he’d turned and
looked out into the crowd, looking for her. When their eyes had locked, he
winked at her. She hadn’t been able to keep herself from smiling.

That was Mac.

Confident, no
matter what he faced.

His second
opponent had been a little more difficult, partially due to the fact that Mac
had only received a one-hour break before his next match had started. He had to
be tired. The other man had managed to land a few direct hits on Mac’s face.

It was the first
time that she’d ever witnessed that.

And it scared the
hell out of her.

The cut above
Mac’s eye and the bruises on his cheek spoke to the battle he’d gone through.
So did the dark purple bruise on his abdomen. She hated to see him hurt … in
any way. The whole time she’d watched from the VIP section as his matches had
gone on, she’d wanted to be there to shield him.

To deliver a few
well-placed hits of her own.

There were easier
ways to bring a man down than this fighting nonsense.

A kick to the
balls would do nicely.

Speaking of a kick
in the balls, she wanted to do that and more to Anthony.

The arrogant
bastard.

She hadn’t missed
the smug looks and the wayward glances he’d thrown her way. Though he’d acted
as if her refusal of his offer hadn’t bothered him, Melina knew differently.
Men—all men—no matter their position or how much power they wielded, hated to
be refused by a woman. And not only had she refused him, but she’d praised Mac
as the superior man … in all things.

“Well, my dear, do
you think he can pull it off this time? He looks a little worse for wear,”
Anthony said from beside her.

“No thanks to
you.”

Anthony laughed.
“I have to follow the rules like everyone else here, Melina.”

“Is that the story
you’re telling now? Surely two matches would have served your purpose of
getting your money back.”

Her gaze narrowed
at Anthony.

“Sounds like your
faith is slipping in the indomitable Mac.”

Melina folded her
arms. “Never.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. All I am is
a woman looking out for the best interests of her man. Don’t screw him over,
Anthony.”

He put a hand over
his heart. “Melina, you wound me. I’m the one with the most to lose here.”

“You have nothing
to lose. At the end of the day, you are still going to be a fat cat doing
nothing but profiting off the hard work of a far better man.” Melina couldn’t
keep the heat out of her tone.

Anthony scowled.
“Some might say that you’re crossing a line with that remark.”

Melina shrugged.
“You know what they say. If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.”

With that delivered,
Melina turned her attention back to the cage. She’d given Anthony more of her
time than he deserved. After this evening, she hoped she never had to see the
bastard again, other than in passing. This Cosa Nostra business was really
starting to rile her the more she thought about it. Loyal men like Mac did all
the hard work, took all the risks, and had little to show for it while they
passed all the profits off.

It was bullshit.

When things
settled down, she would mention her feelings to Mac, but now she had more
important things to worry about. Mac’s last opponent entered the cage and
Melina held her breath. The dark haired man was about the same height as Mac
but his build was stockier. He was large muscled, like a wrestler or UFC
fighter. She watched him bounce around the cage, smirking. Clearly, he thought
he had this fight in the bag.

Melina’s eyes
softened as she watched Mac in his corner. He leaned against the wall of the
cage and though his face betrayed no expression, his body language told a
different story. He leaned all of his weight against the wall as he waited.

And then she saw
it.

When he took a
deep breath, he winced briefly before quickly schooling his features.

He was hurt.

How badly, she had
no idea.

She tried to catch
his gaze, silently pleading with him to look at her but he didn’t. His sole
attention was now on the man standing between him and freedom from his debt to
Anthony. Mac had to prevail and she knew he would, even if it nearly killed
him.

The bell rang,
signaling that the match was about to begin. Mac moved from his corner and to
the middle of the ring. The referee nodded for Mac and his opponent to touch
gloves. Mac offered his glove, but his opponent only smirked, refusing to offer
his own glove.

Prick
.

The ref stepped
away from the two men and Mac’s opponent struck first, nailing him in the jaw.
Melina bit her lip hard. Mac backed away a few steps but quickly recovered. She
watched a cut on his lip begin to bleed. Her fingernails dug into her palms as
the man lumbered towards Mac. Her eyes barely followed as her lover landed a
series of hard body blows. Surprise doted the other man’s face, before he tried
to hit back. Mac sidestepped him, but not before he took a shot to the gut.
Spit flew from his mouth at the force of the hit.

“That was a nasty
hit.”

Melina ignored
Anthony’s comment. He was inconsequential now. All that mattered was Mac. She
continued to watch as the match went on. Mac gave as good as he got, but the
two previous fights had taken a real toll on him. He wasn’t shielding himself
like he normally did, and he wasn’t able to dodge his opponents strikes as
quickly as he needed to. Her man was wearing down, but there was a fire in his
eyes.

She recognized
that look.

Mac was going to
go for broke.

In a flurry so
fast she could barely follow him, Mac struck, delivering blow after blow.
Melina rose to her feet. Mac’s fists rained down on the other man, and his
opponent staggered to the ground. The ref quickly got between Mac and the man
as he started to count. She barely breathed. An eight count and the man made it
to his feet.

Melina cursed
under her breath as her eyes shifted to Mac. His chest heaved but his fists
were up. Sweat poured from his forehead. He’d just unleashed what was no doubt
his last barrage. She didn’t know if he had anything left to give. His opponent
came towards him, attacking with body blows. Mac tried to shield himself, but
he couldn’t escape some of the hardest hits. He staggered back and then just
when she thought Mac would fall, he came back, landing a direct hit in the
face.

Melina heard the
man’s nose crunch from the force of the blow.

Blood poured from
the man’s nose as he stumbled and hit the mat. Mac backed away as the ref
started to count. Melina had never much believed in praying, but there was a
first time for everything. Silently, she moved her lips, praying for the man to
stay down. Finally, the ten count came and Mac’s hand was raised in victory.

He was bloody and
beaten, but he was the winner.

“Well, well. Mac
is a man of his word,” Anthony said.

“He always is.”

“So I see. You
know, it’s too bad, Melina. You and I could have had a real good time.”

Mac had won and
she’d had enough of Anthony’s arrogance. She turned to the man and glared down
at him.

“In case you
didn’t get me the first time I said it, Mac is all the man I will ever need. To
him, I’m not some trophy or a piece of ass to toss aside once he’s gotten his
rocks off. He values me, and he shows me that in ways that men like you will
never understand. Money doesn’t make the man, Anthony, and it will never be
enough to impress a woman like me. Now, if you’ll please excuse me.”

With a smile on
her face, Melina turned and made her way to the cage. She waited as Mac climbed
over the wall and came to where she stood. He gave her a lopsided grin.

“Doll,” he said,
still smiling.

“If you ever scare
me like that again, I’ll have your balls. Do you understand me?”

“You already own
them and my heart, too.”

“Good answer,
Maccari.”

Wiping the blood
from the corner of his mouth with her thumb, Melina kissed him hard. He’d won
the battle today, and whoever was making war against them, she was certain he
would win that battle, too.

“You know, if I
hadn’t seen and experienced this for myself, I would never believe it.”

“What are you
talking about now?” Melina asked.

She leaned on her
elbow, drawing lazy circles on Mac’s chest.

“That you could be
such a sweet little nursemaid. I don’t think I’ve ever been taken care of so
well.”

“Don’t get used to
it. All of this sweet girlfriend nonsense can get a little sickening.”

Mac laughed. “Only
you would say something like that. There’s nothing wrong with being sweet
sometimes.”

“I didn’t say
there was. If you recall, my sweetness had you begging and pleading a few hours
ago.”

“Touché.”

Melina smiled. Nearly
four days after Mac’s wins in the cage, he’d walked away with bruised ribs, a
tender kidney, and thankfully nothing worse. She’d had to beg and plead with
him to go to a doctor to begin with. But after threatening to add to his injuries,
he’d reluctantly agreed to be checked out.

Since then, Melina
had done her part to nurse him back to health. He still had bruises, but they
were fading and his soreness seemed to be all but gone. But even though Mac
teased her about playing nursemaid, she hadn’t minded it. Cooking for her man
and tending his wounds had made her feel empowered. Mac made her feel like she
was vital to his existence. Sometimes, she caught him looking at her as if he
couldn’t breathe without her.

A year ago, she
hadn’t even known this man existed and now they were so intertwined and in sync
together that Melina couldn’t imagine what her life would be like without him.
Especially now.

“Hey, I call it
like I see it,” she said.

“I know you do,
doll. You’re a straight shooter, in more ways than one.”

Melina laughed.
“Ha. Speaking of which, when am I going to get a chance to do that again? I’d
say Anthony could use a bullet after the highway robbery he committed by taking
all of your winnings.”

Mac pulled her
into his arms. “Are you still sore about that, Melina?”

“Hell, yes. You
could’ve been seriously hurt, and he makes off with all the damn money. A
reasonable man would’ve at least given you a cut of it after the shit you went
through to earn it.”

“That’s not the
way things work. I made more in the fights than the truck was worth, but taking
all of it was supposed to teach me a lesson about respect and not fucking up
again.”