Gun Moll (9 page)

The sound of
crunching gravel made Melina stop and turn around. Her breath dried in her
throat when she saw two men behind her with guns pointed straight at her.
Raising her arms, Melina’s purse dropped to the ground.

“Please don’t
shoot me.”

One of the men
opened his jacket and removed something. He held it up for Melina to see, all
the while keeping the gun steadily trained on her. It was a shiny silver badge.

Fuck
.

“Melina Morgan,
you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used
against you—”

“I haven’t done
anything.”

The dark-haired
man holding his badge continued to read her the Miranda Rights while his
orange-haired partner put his gun away and proceeded to cuff her.

“You have to at
least tell me what the charges are,” Melina said.

“Solicitation.
Let’s go.”

Melina nearly
stumbled as she was unceremoniously jerked and dragged behind the undercover
officers.

This couldn’t be
happening.

This was supposed
to be a night out. A night to throw her cares to the wind and have some much-needed
fun. Instead, she was heading to the slammer.

As Melina was
shouldered roughly into the backseat of an unmarked SUV, she caught sight of a
familiar man coming down the street. Mac. Melina opened her mouth to say
something, maybe to warn Mac off, even though she had no reason to, but
something made her stay quiet.

Maybe it was the
way Mac’s gaze caught the glint of the cuffs Melina wore before his fist
slammed into the concrete support beam. Then, he turned fast on his heel and
disappeared.

Great.

Even Mac wasn’t
going to help her.

She was on her
own.

Again.

Not that Melina
was surprised.

Life was a bitch
and once again, Melina had been fucked over.

Melina sat in the
dark room, handcuffed to the table in front of her. She could see people moving
through the large glass window to the right of her. Her mind had still failed
to process that she’d been arrested.

Solicitation.

A prostitute was
the last thing she was. Besides, she wasn’t buying any of this. It was too
random. There was more at play here than she was being told, there had to be.
Her gaze narrowed when the door opened and the two men who’d arrested her
waltzed in. The ginger-haired one took a seat on the opposite side of her,
while the dark-haired man took a spot leaning in the corner watching her.

“Ms. Morgan, I’m
Detective Parks. My partner is Detective Keaton,” the ginger-haired man said.

Melina said
nothing. She simply stared.

“You’re a very
beautiful woman. It’s easy to see why men can’t help themselves around you,” Detective
Keaton said.

“It’s not a crime
to be beautiful.”

“Indeed, it
isn’t.” Detective Parks leaned back in his chair and regarded her with a smirk.

Melina itched to
put her stiletto through his throat.

“No. It’s not a
crime to be beautiful, but it is a crime to solicit,” the other detective said.

“I went to a club,”
Melina replied, unaffected. “Last time I checked, going to a club was in no way
related to soliciting.”

Detective Keaton
came towards the table and sat on the edge next to his partner.

“It is when your
patrons include two members of the Pivetti crime family.”

“What the hell are
you talking about?”

“Don’t play
stupid. We watched you in action tonight. You’re good. I’ll give you that,”
Parks said.

“You guys really
need to get out more.”

Keaton tapped his
partner’s shoulder. “We’ve got a smart aleck on our hands.”

“Seems that way,
but I bet a night in the slammer will make her talk.”

Were these fools
for real?

Melina crossed her
legs. “Threats aren’t going to work on me. I’ve done nothing wrong and the last
thing I’m going to do is let two dimwitted cops intimidate me.”

“We’ve got you,
Ms. Morgan, if not for soliciting, then you are definitely working for them in
some other capacity. Maybe you’re a mule or a messenger. We’ve been watching
that club for long enough to know what beautiful women like you are used for
inside that business.”

“This is not
The
Godfather
. Are things really that slow that you have to result to harassing
innocent citizens?”

“If you’re so
innocent, make it easy on yourself and be a good citizen. Tell us what we want
to know.”

Melina would not
have been surprised if flames started shooting from her eyes.

Be a good citizen.

They could go fuck
themselves.

“Why don’t you two
stick this illegal interrogation up your asses? And while you attempt to pull
it back out, let me have my phone call. I’m done talking.”

Melina turned her
head and refused to look at either of them. She gritted her teeth and closed
her eyes. Yes, she’d just told them a few words, but if they acquiesced and let
her have her phone call, who would she call? Dulcea was out of the question. No
way would her boss want to be within a mile of the cops, especially with them
saying Melina was soliciting at the time of her arrest.

She had no one to
call.

Melina was alone
in the world and the hard reality of that was staring her right in the face.

“A
h, Mr. Maccari, I
wondered which one of Miss Morgan’s patrons would come to her rescue this
evening.”

Mac turned at the
sound of the weasel-like voice, only to come face to face with a plain-clothes
police detective. Smiling slowly, Mac looked the cop over. Seemingly tired and
worn, the man’s clothes were wrinkled, his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his
elbows, and the top two buttons had been undone to loosen the collar around his
neck.

Apparently,
illegally interrogating people could make a man exhausted.

“Patron?” Mac
asked. “I can’t say I know what you’re talking about.”

“Melina
Morgan—escort extraordinaire. I found it interesting that the Pivetti family is
shelling out the dough for a hooker of Melina’s caliber. That’s quite a cost,
James.”

Mac lifted a brow,
refusing to show his annoyance and confusion. “First off, it’s Mac.”

“Ah,” the
detective said, smiling, “your father is the James of the family, yes?”

What in the hell
was this guy playing at?

Mac didn’t give
him an answer.

“How about I just
call you Maccari?”

“How about you get
these fucking tools you call desk workers to enter in the bail money I just
paid them, approve the bond, and release Melina like the law demands?” Mac
asked, tired of the games.

“They will,” the
man assured, “once we have a little chat. As I said, I find it interesting the
Pivettis have such a high-priced escort working one of their clubs, when we
both know they can have more than enough women to take care of that business.
Is the boss stepping up his game, Maccari?”

Fuck this.

“I have nothing to
say to you,” Mac said simply.

And he never
would.

Frankly, Mac had
no idea what the detective was going on about anyway. Melina had no ties to the
mob and whatever work she did as an escort had nothing to do with the Pivetti
family. This guy was pulling at straws and would come up with nothing. Mac didn’t
plan on helping him along in that game.

“Funny, Melina
said the same thing. Nothing to say, no calls to make, no info to give. But
rest assured, Maccari, my department has been watching Guido’s club for a while,
as well as his crew and the rest of Luca Pivetti’s business. We caught a lucky
break with Melina being at the club. I’m sure the task force working the escort
scene won’t mind opening their case files to us so we can have a little look at
what they know, too.”

Good to know.

Mac didn’t give a
damn, nor did he know, what they could or would find.

They could have
fun trying.

His plan was
simple—get Melina the hell out of jail. As it were, she’d been in there all
weekend. Mac had waited until Melina was arraigned on false solicitation
charges the day before, and then that morning, he skipped down to the jail with
money in hand to bail her out.

Nothing was ever
simple and Mac had a mess to clean now.

The police was
just one of them.

Mac smirked. “Then
I suppose my girl gave you everything you need to know.”

“Well—”

“The bail has been
paid,” Mac interrupted coolly. “I’d appreciate it if you released my
girlfriend.”

Mac seriously
hoped Melina didn’t have a fit when she heard that little title. It wasn’t like
Mac had much of a choice. He could have brushed off the scuffle he had with Vin
the night at the club, but then Melina got arrested. Guido got wind of a woman
being arrested outside of his club for solicitation, and when he added in the
fact that the same woman had been the source of discontent between two of the
Capo’s guys … well, Mac had to make up something worthy to explain that shit
away to his Capo.

So, Mac’s girl she
was.

Melina would have
to suck it up until Mac came up with a better plan.

“Do you often
allow your woman to dance with another man like she’s single and ready for the
taking?” the detective asked.

Mac bristled at
the comment, but hid it well. “Watched that, did you?”

The man grinned,
but said nothing.

“Good to know you
pigs are inside the club. I’ll be sure to let Guido know, so he can make sure
you don’t get inside again.”

The detective’s
haughtiness faded fast.

“As far as who my
girl was dancing with in Guido’s club and what she was doing,” Mac continued
calmly, “I don’t think there’s very much to be concerned about. I invited her
to the club and while she was waiting for me to finish up some business, she
danced with another man.”

“A man you clearly
took issue with.”

“I handled it.
Vincent won’t make the mistake of pushing up on my girl again.”

“Him, not her,”
the detective said, shaking his head.

“Because he knows
better.”

All made men did.

Claimed women were
untouchable.

Melina just got
branded, whether she wanted to be or not. Mac figured it would keep her ass out
of trouble until both the police and Guido’s interest in the woman had faded.
Then she could do whatever in the hell she wanted.

“High bail,” the
detective noted, looking over the paperwork Mac had signed on the
receptionist’s desk.

“Three grand isn’t
bad.”

Mac had paid
higher for himself on a weapons charge, actually.

“I’ll have Melina
released within the hour.”

“I’m sure she’d
appreciate that,” Mac replied.

“Yes, well, we’ll
have a few more discussions with her, I’m sure.”

Mac scowled. “When
you do, there’ll be a lawyer there.”

“Like the public
attorney assigned to her case at arraignment?”

Don’t give him
what he wants
, Mac told himself. “My suggestion is that you drop
these bullshit charges on her before you start climbing down a rabbit hole you
can’t get out of.”

“The woman is an
escort, Maccari.”

“I didn’t say she
wasn’t.”

“And she was in
Guido Vasari’s club, a joint known for the backroom hookers.”

Mac’s jaw ticked,
his agitation beginning to boil over again. “Maybe so, but my girl isn’t one of
them. She wasn’t working that night.”

“She sure looked
like she was.”

Mac resisted the
urge to punch the guy in the throat.

“The bail is
paid,” he repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. “Release Melina
Morgan.”

The detective
waved at the woman waiting behind the desk and then turned on his heel without
another word.

Mac took that as a
battle won.

Melina snatched
the heels and purse that were pushed out to her in a plastic tub through the
hole in a Plexiglas window. She had yet to notice Mac just fifteen feet away,
waiting for the right time to step in. It was likely that she still didn’t know
who had gotten her out of jail.

She had her dress
from the club on but her face had been washed free of makeup and her hair was
piled high on her head in a messy bun.

Jail was not a
good look on a lot of women.

It kind of looked
good on Melina.

Mac chuckled to
himself as the woman behind the glass rambled on about the things that Melina
had given up when being taken into the jail. Melina looked like she was two
seconds away from ripping the poor girl’s throat out.

Touchy, touchy.

“Thanks,” Melina
said, clipped and angry, snatching a pen to sign the document that had been
handed over to her.

Turning on her
heel, Melina’s gaze met Mac’s from across the room and she froze.

“Doll,” Mac
drawled. “You look like you’re ready for a fight. Good thing I’ve got fast
feet, hmm?”

Briefly, Melina’s
shoulders loosened. The detective who had been bothering Mac earlier waltzed in
behind the Plexiglas window. Another ginger-haired man followed behind. As the
two looked over the paperwork and chatted with the woman who had signed
Melina’s things out, they also kept an eye on the meeting between Mac and
Melina.

“You didn’t think
I’d leave you in here to rot, did you?” he asked when she stayed quiet.

“I—”

Mac couldn’t let
Melina ruin the cover story he’d created for her with the detectives. It was
better for him to cull the possibility of that nonsense as quick as possible.
His goal was only to keep her out of further trouble, whether she liked it or
not.

“I take care of my
girl,” Mac said, flashing Melina a smile. “Isn’t that right, doll?”

The stiffness in
Melina’s posture and the fire in her gaze returned in an instant. Mac could
practically see the retort forming on her tongue.

“How many times do
I have to ask you not to call me that, Mac?”

Pushing off the
wall with a slow confidence that drew Melina’s gaze downward, Mac crossed the
fifteen or so feet separating them. If much more came out of her mouth, she
might blow his cover story with the detectives still in hearing range. Melina
didn’t want the kind of trouble that might follow her if those bastards
believed she was involved with Cosa Nostra or Guido’s business, beyond her
personal involvement with Mac.

Melina stiffened
as Mac caught the heels she held with two of his fingers. Without her heels,
Melina was a couple of inches shorter and had to stare up at him.

“Let me help with
these,” Mac said quietly.

“I—”

Mac leaned forward
and silenced whatever Melina was about to say with a hard kiss. Instantly, the
tension in her body released and Mac used that opening to move closer, close
enough that her chest was pushed against his and her hands fisted into the bottom
of his T-shirt. Her kiss was no different than the first time. Her mouth was
still as hot as sin with a sweetness lingering right behind. It still made him
harder than steel, too. Then, Mac felt her hand open and her palm press against
his midsection as if to push him away.

He let her pull
away, but he grabbed her waist to keep her close.

“We have guests,”
Mac said under his breath, shooting a look over Melina’s shoulder.

Melina’s gaze
flicked up to meet his, wary and tired. “Oh?”

“As of now,
they’re under the impression we’re very close. I’d like for them to believe
that for a while longer, and it would be in your best interest if you did,
too.”

“I had no one to
call,” Melina whispered.

Mac softened at
that admission. Guessing by the defeated expression Melina wore, she had been
let down one too many times in her life by people who should have given a damn.
Sometimes, life was an awful bitch like that.

“I came, doll.”

“Thank you.”

Two words spoken
so softly that if he wasn’t so close to her, he might not have heard them.

 Mac ticked two
fingers under her chin, forcing Melina to look up again. “You’re welcome. You
might be tough as shit with enough stubbornness and fire to rival Satan
himself, but you’ve got a lot to learn yet, woman. Right now, I want you to
smile, let me put these shoes on you, and then you can take my hand, and let me
escort you out of the jail like the good boyfriend I am. I want those
detectives to believe we’re together so they’ll stop digging for things that
don’t exist. It needs to be believable. Can you do that?”