In short, he would look weak.
So from that part, Melina could understand why Mac thought she should have told him.
On the other hand, she thought Cosa Nostra tended to make a mountain out of a mole hill.
So James Sr. had made a few slick comments. Big whoop. It wasn’t like he was the first man to do so to her and before her time was finished on this earth, Melina was certain he wouldn’t be the last.
She was a big girl, who could handle herself.
Perhaps Mac needed reminding of that.
Melina’s eyes narrowed as Mac opened the door to their bedroom. She glanced at the clock on the wall.
“Do you know what time it is?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah.”
Another one word answer. He took off his jacket and threw it on the bed without looking at her. Melina’s ire was piqued but she squelched her inclination to throttle him. Tonight wasn’t about re-igniting their fight. She had plans to re-ignite something else altogether. Melina rose from her seat at her vanity and walked over to her husband. When she stepped in front of him, he looked at her for the first time.
“We need to talk.”
“About what?” Mac folded his arms.
Still looking her husband in the eyes, Melina slowly undid the belt to her black silk robe, giving Mac a subtle peek at what she wore beneath. His eyes narrowed.
“About the fact that we’re mature adults who need to be able to talk things out. About the fact that this distance between us isn’t good for a healthy marriage.”
“Neither is keeping secrets, doll.”
Melina sighed. “Mac, I wasn’t keeping secrets from you. Will you please listen to me?”
Mac took a seat on the side of the bed. “The floor is yours.”
“Look, when James Sr. ran into me, I fully had intentions of telling you. I thought to myself that you’d want to know he was still on the radar somewhere.”
“Your first inclination was right. What changed your mind?”
Melina sat beside Mac on the bed. “I didn’t want to cause any more problems than we already have.”
“How could you telling me that he accosted you cause more problems, Melina? You’re my wife. My most important job is to keep you safe!”
“Mac, you and James already have a contentious relationship and that’s putting it lightly. If I’d come home and told you exactly how the conversation went down and the way I felt afterwards, there’s no doubt in my mind you would have come unglued. If your father’s blood has to be spilled, I don’t want it to be because I enflamed an already volatile situation.”
Mac’s nostrils flared. “So you’re saying, there was more to it than you told me?”
Melina tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yes. He made me feel really uncomfortable.”
“In what way?” Mac’s voice was low.
“He didn’t look at me the way a man should look at his daughter-in-law and he made some insinuations about you.”
“What. Did. He. Say?”
“He said that he didn’t think that you were man enough to handle a woman like me and that perhaps someone like him was.”
Melina bit her lip as she regarded her husband. His eyes closed and his hands curled into fists. When he opened his eyes, and looked at her, Melina swallowed hard. She’d expected to see the cold, detached man she’d glimpsed when it came to dealing with business. What she saw before her was a man on fire. His hands relaxed and Mac touched her face, gripping her chin between his thumb and his forefinger.
“You’re mine and any man that thinks he can do and say whatever he wants to you without consequence has signed his own death warrant.”
His words were soft, like a silken caress and despite his veiled threat of murder. Melina couldn’t deny it turned her on.
“I don’t want you to …”
Her words were cut off as Mac pressed his thumb against her lips.
“Shh. Don’t go there, doll. Whatever decision I make will be mine and mine alone.”
She nodded as his other hand tugged open the side of her robe. His hot gaze scorched her and Melina’s body burned for more.
“You are so damned beautiful. So fucking sexy. So damned stubborn. A man couldn’t want you more than I do, doll.”
“I want you, too. I’ve missed you,” she whispered.
Mac leaned close and pressed his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too.”
“I appreciate that you didn’t want to make things worse between me and James. And I have no doubt that you put him in his place when he got out of line.”
“I did.”
“But next time, tell me, even if you think it’s nothing. Or even if it might make things worse, tell me. You and I can’t afford to have secrets.”
“You have my word. From now on, I’ll tell you everything, even if it bores you to tears.”
“I don’t think you could ever do that, doll. Now tell me something, is there a reason you’re wearing nothing but lace?”
Melina smiled as she leaned away so that she could look her husband in the eyes. “I planned on seducing my husband.”