Melina was pulling late nights at The Dollhouse to get it finished on time for opening night. She had women ready to work, girls she trusted and knew. A bartender ready for the bar, and a backup, just in case.
It might have been that Melina was so busy she forgot to mention James’ show. Or maybe she hadn’t thought much of it at all.
Mac didn’t know.
It still irritated him to no end.
Melina stood across the room from Mac, waving at something at the back of the bar. She hadn’t noticed he’d come in, but he was perfectly fine with that.
For now.
The woman at her side nodded, agreeing to whatever Melina was saying.
With a final wave, Melina turned away and was off, moving toward the back hallway that Mac knew belonged to her new office space and a few private rooms. Mac was off the couch and following his wife’s direction before he had even thought it through completely.
What was he going to say to her?
Mac didn’t even know, but it had to be something.
Melina just opened her office door when Mac’s hand landed to the small of her back and guided her inside with him right behind. He let the door shut with a soft click as Melina turned in her tight dress and sky-high heels to face him. Her surprised but happy eyes at seeing him was enough to make some of his anger ebb away.
But not all.
“Doll,” he said. “Before I say anything else, I just want to give you the chance to tell me whatever you need to tell me. Anything, Melina, that you think I might need or want to know. Important shit, okay. Go for it.”
Melina’s brow furrowed. “I beg your pardon?”
She didn’t get it.
Mac figured that was half of the problem.
“I know you’re used to handling shit on your own, problems or whatever, but even when you do that, you need to include me.”
“Mac, what is fucking wrong with you?”
Ah, there she was.
Claws and all.
Melina’s eyes lit up with her anger, but she didn’t back down when Mac took a step forward, crowding her body with his.
“Who approached you?” he asked.
“Nobody.”
“Wrong answer, doll.”
Melina’s lips drew into a tight line. “I don’t know what has gotten into you, but I’ve already had enough. Go home. I’ll see you when I get there later.”
“No.”
“What—no?”
“No,” Mac repeated simply. “My father. A while back, you two had a run in, and you didn’t bother to tell me. Why not?”
Melina’s shoulders stiffened. “After I calmed down, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. We barely spoke. And it’s not like I give a flying shit about him. He’s not too fond of me, either.”
“Not the point. James only comes around when he wants something—I’ve explained this to you before, Melina. The man is a fucking snake. You should have told me.”
“Nothing happened for me to tell!”
“Yet!” Mac exploded right back. “Nothing has happened yet.”
His wife blinked in the face of his rage, her gaze dropping to the bloodstains on his shirt and the bruises on his knuckles. “What happened to you?”
“Me?” Mac scoffed. “Nothing. Fuck all happened to me.”
“Then, who?”
“Someone who knows better than to bother me and mine.”
Melina frowned. “Your father?”
“He earned it.”
“Mac! It wasn’t anything important. I would have told you if—”
“You should have told me this time, Melina.”
Melina didn’t look like she was ready to back down on the issue, but still asked, “You didn’t kill him, did you?”
Mac sneered. “Not this time.”
Mac had a control complex.
Now, more than ever, Melina was firmly convinced of it.
It had been nearly a week since Mac had showed up at The Dollhouse spoiling for a fight and they’d barely spoken more than a few words to each other since then. Mac had thrown himself even more into his “work,” and to Melina, his paranoia levels were at an all-time high. She didn’t understand it. All she had been trying to do was keep the peace and as a result, her husband was pissed at her because she hadn’t run to him and whined like some damsel in distress.
She’d never been the girl who needed saving and she wasn’t about to start now.
What was so wrong with her handling the situation herself?
James Sr. had gotten the message because she hadn’t seen him since.
No doubt, he’d crawled back under the rock he’d slithered out from in the first place.
So why was her husband giving so much of his energy to someone who didn’t matter?
She didn’t know, but she meant to find out because this … whatever this was going on between her and Mac had to come to a stop. They were still newlyweds, for fuck’s sake. They should still be basking in the ambiance of being married, not still stewing over a situation that was not even worth arguing over in the first place.
Melina loved her husband and she understood that he had an image to maintain.
After all, Cosa Nostra was all about appearances.
It wouldn’t be good if word got out that a man like James Sr. had no fear of approaching the wife of a made man and making insinuations. It would look like Mac wasn’t capable of protecting his family.