CHAPTER ELEVEN

Melina drags her feet out of the bathroom the next morning. She walks a few feet away from the bed to her little closet. Her bed has white covers and pillows, and a brown quilt. Melina’s mood is gray right now, as is the color of the room’s paint. She puts on the new housekeeping uniform Linda got for her. She told Linda immediately when she got back yesterday to help her get a new one. Melina walks to the mirror to check herself out, and her shoulders drop as she sees her ass. Even with a longer dress, her ass is still sticking out. Thomas is going to be furious when he sees her. She’s certain he thinks she chose a short dress to seduce him. If only he'd known she didn’t even want him looking at her hand.

She scratches her head, trying to figure out how to solve her problem. If she values her life, she should not wear this dress to work. Thomas would have her head the minute he saw her. She sits down on her bed, pondering over what else she could wear. Melina has few clothes as she was dragged here against her will. Most of the clothes she has were given to her by Linda.

Time passes by as Melina mulls over what to wear. She snaps out of her reverie when someone knocks on her room door and slightly opens it. Serena pokes her head inside, smiling at Melina.

“Come in,” Melina tells her.

“We missed you at breakfast. Is everything alright?” Serena walks over to Melina on the bed.

“The new dress Linda gave me is just as short as the old one.”

“Oh, sorry,”

“I don’t know what to do. I wish Linda could get me a longer one, but she said this is the last one available. Thomas will kill me if I wear something as short as the one I wore yesterday.”

“Yeah, Sotto capo would.”

“Can you help me think of something, Serena?”

“How about you skip work?”

“If I weren’t sick, Linda would never let me skip work.”

“That’s true.” Serena bites her lower lip as she thinks.

“How about you wear something different.”

“Like what, exactly?” Melina’s eyes light up, believing Serena has something in mind.

“How about you wear pants instead?”

“I thought of that but decided against it.”

“Why?”

“I thought it might draw more attention to me if I dressed out of the ordinary.”

“That’s true, but it’s better than attracting Sotto capo’s wrath by wearing something short.”

“That’s true; it’s better to look out of place than to make him angry.”

“Yeah, and I believe we have your size in the store.”

“Really? That’s great.”

“I’ll go and speak to mom right now and get one for you, but first, I would like to thank you.”

“Thank me for what,”

“Yesterday I found out Thomas emasculated Matteo, the guy who harassed me.”

“He did what?!” Melina asks, shocked.

“Yes, and it’s all thanks to you. If you hadn’t saved me, there’s no way Thomas would have found out. Thank you so much,” Serena says as she pulls Melina into a hug. Melina hugs her back as her mind tries to process what Serena is saying. She couldn’t believe it. After he punished her for fighting for Serena, Melina assumed he was angry with her. She’s delighted that the Thomas she knew is still alive and well, and that justice has been served for Serena. She smiles, believing that the real Thomas will return to her one day return to her one day.

THOMAS

Later that night, Thomas goes downstairs to meet with his brother and their business associate from Asia. He walks into his office, where they should be waiting for him, but finds neither of them there. Thomas walks out, fetches his phone from his pocket, and calls his brother. While dialing his brother’s number, he is interrupted by the sound of someone singing. Without thinking, Thomas walks toward the kitchen, where he hears it coming from. Not surprisingly, he finds Melina singing while she prepares their drinks. Thomas is about to return to dialing his brother’s number when something else catches his attention.

Thomas sees Melina swaying her hips to the sound of her voice, just as she did last night. His dick in his pants grows, remembering how she dry humped him yesterday. Thomas has explored every inch of her body, but right now, it feels like he’s never had a taste for her. Watching her ass shake and hips flex, his dick starts pressing hard against his zipper.

“Fuck,” Thomas curses, realizing he will need a cold shower as he did yesterday when she danced for him.

“I know, right,” someone says beside Thomas. He turns and sees his business associate also staring at Melina’s ass. His nose flares, seeing the man watching Melina. Thomas wonders when the man arrived, but that was the least of his concerns. The lust swimming in the man’s eyes was his primary concern. Thomas wants to pluck out his eyes and feed them to him for staring at Melina. He was pissed that someone else was staring at Melina’s ass and wanted what was his and his only.

“What the fuck are you wearing?” Thomas asks, stepping into the kitchen. He needs to channel his anger into something else. Otherwise, he will kill the man beside him for looking at what is his.

Melina jumps in her spot on hearing him. She turns, looking terrified of being caught singing again. Thomas smirks, loving the look on her face. He forgets he was close to ripping someone’s head off a second ago because of her and prepares to feed his demons.

Melina doesn’t answer and stares at the man standing beside him. This annoys Thomas.

“I asked you a question, Melina,” Thomas says, taking threatening steps toward her. Melina takes her eyes away from Xiao Zhan and locks eyes with him.

She swallows hard and rasps out. “A housekeeping uniform,”

“This is a housekeeping uniform;” he frowns, staring at her from head to toe. “You look hideous. I told you to get a longer dress, not to dress like you work in a factory,” he says, disgusted by her outfit.

“I won’t put it on again,” Melina says.

“Good,” he says as he moves closer to her. Melina’s breathing stops as she feels Thomas’ breath on her neck. “Do not dance in front of anyone again, except me. Okay?” he asks quietly. Melina quickly nods her head. “Good again,” he says as he walks away from her and out of the kitchen, his associate following close behind.

They walk into Thomas’s office and join his elder brother by the couch. They share the same physic and facial features. Their eyes were the only thing that truly tore them apart. Stefano has green eyes.

“Brother,” Thomas greets Stefano as he takes his seat beside him. Stefano nods in response.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Zhan,” Stefano says, standing up and shaking Xiao Zhan’s hand.

“Likewise,” Xiao Zhan says, shaking back his brother's hand.

“Shall we begin?” Thomas asks, laying out the documents for their meeting.

“Yes,” Both Stefano and Xiao Zhan reply before taking their seat.

Melina walks in soon after carrying the drinks she prepared for their meeting. Thomas watches her as she places a glass on the table beside each man. She doesn’t put them too close to the papers but also not too far away from reach. Melina is placing the last glass of bourbon on the table when she raises her head and looks at Xiao Zhan. Thomas turns and finds Xiao Zhan staring at her. Thomas glares at him, pulling his hand into a tight fist.

“How much?” Xiao Zhan asks, staring at Melina’s ass as she approaches the door. Thomas is getting angrier by the second as he watches Xiao Zhan do this. The way he looks at Melina infuriates him.

“What are you talking about?” Thomas understands perfectly what he’s talking about, but he wants to be certain before responding.

“I know you both saw me staring at her, so you know what I am talking about,” Xiao Zhan says, licking his lips. This aggravates Thomas because he knows why he did that. He knows the sick bastard is fantasying about fucking Melina.

“How much are you willing to offer,” Stefano asks. Thomas’ looks across the room to his brother. He couldn’t believe his brother had just said that. Didn’t he know who Melina was to him? She may no longer be his girlfriend, but he sure as hell will not sell her to anyone.

“Melina is not for sale,” Thomas says threateningly. He called her by her name to show ownership of her to Xiao Zhan. If he didn’t get the message, that is his fucking business, but he’s telling him to back off.

“Why,”

“Because I said so,” Thomas slams his fist into the table. This astounds his brother and Xiao Zhan.

“I am willing to accept any price you mention. I’m even willing to agree to all of your terms.”

“Really, that would be wonderful,” Stefano says before Thomas can respond. If Thomas's eyes were laser beams, the glare he gives his brother could burn down a building. It’s bad enough that someone is trying to take what’s his, but his brother is willing to sell it off.

“I said she isn’t available for sale,” Thomas speaks before Xiao Zhan.

“Okay, I get it, Thomas, no need to kill me with your eyes,” Xiao Zhan says, finally noticing how Thomas has been glaring at him and getting the message that Melina is his and not for sale.

“Good.”