“You won’t be leaving here at all if you don’t allow this condition,” Giovanni drawled coldly, his eyes chips of ice. “Do you really want your future wife drawn into a gun fight?”
Raina’s heart pounded in her chest as every man and woman in the club tensed, awaiting Mateo’s response.
Mateo stared back at Giovanni as though they were the only two people in the room. Finally, Mateo gave a short jerk of his head. Though he spoke to Giovanni, his intense gaze moved to Raina as if burning her features into his memory. “You will hand her over in the morning. If not, then I will consider us at war.”
"Good, that’s settled then,” Giovanni said jovially pushing his chair back and standing. He reached a hand out to Raina, helping her from her seat. "I will have her delivered to you tomorrow morning in your hotel suite at 10 AM sharp."
Waves of tension flowed from Mateo as she and Giovanni turned away from the table and left the club. Raina shivered and wondered what would happen between them when she no longer had Giovanni as a buffer.
Chapter Eleven
Raina sat stiffly in the back of Giovanni's limo as they headed back to the mansion. She glared out the window ignoring the passing scenery.
"You seem agitated," Giovanni commented.
She turned her glare on him. "I get that way when people threaten to chop me up and send me back to my parents in pieces."
Giovanni chuckled and reached out to pat her hand. "Posturing, my dear. Your suitor back there would have respected me less had I simply given in to his demands. He was posturing as well. He knew damn well I wouldn’t give my son up to him."
Raina thought that there was rather a lot of wiggle room between handing her over to Mateo or mailing her home in pieces. She didn't particularly like either option, but she knew which one she would choose if she had to.
"Would you have me killed if you believed it necessary? If you believed you had the upper hand with my stepfather and Mateo?"
To his credit, and though it chilled her to the bone, Giovanni actually gave thought to her questions. Finally, he shook his head. "No, I don't believe I would. Perhaps it’s my age, perhaps it’s your age and the fact that you are a woman. But the idea of snuffing out your light is untenable to me. I feel invested in your future now, though you have brought this problem to me."
Raina blushed. Everything that had happened to her in the past few days had been a blur. She hadn't really stopped to think about the consequences of her actions. Giovanni was such a force of nature, head of the Italian mafia. How could she hurt him? But he was still human, still capable of emotion. It had to bother him knowing that his son's life was in danger.
"Did you decide to keep me with you tonight as insurance so that Mateo won't go after Antonio?"
"You are a smart one, aren't you?" Giovanni said with a laugh, patting her hand again. "Though I do enjoy your company, your presence will ensure Antonio’s safety for another day until I can get him out of the country and hidden from Mateo. Your young man has quite a bloody reputation, one that rivals even his boss. Gutierrez is an unparalleled hunter and he doesn't quit. Two skills that I would love to have on my payroll but has also put me in a quandary. To be completely honest, if I thought I could get away with it, I would have Gutierrez taken out while he is here in my city. But that would put me at war with your stepfather, not something I'm sure I could win."
Raina was shocked with how candid Giovanni was being with her. She supposed he no longer needed to keep anything from her. They both knew the score now.
"Did you ever intend for me to marry your son, or were you trying to frighten me?" she asked curiously. The idea was clearly off the table now, but she wanted to know how serious Giovanni had been about it.
He shrugged. "It would have been a good merger. But no, I don’t believe a marriage between you and my son is appropriate at this time. One or both of you would end up dead and I’ve become rather fond of you."
Raina let out a laugh. Giovanni had a gift for both overstatement and understatement that she was beginning to appreciate. She liked the Italian Godfather and thought she might miss him when she left. Perhaps he would allow her to come back to Italy for a visit sometime.
"So, for now, we get to enjoy each other's company for one more evening. You will indulge my desire for company, will you not?" he asked, attempting to look rather pathetic. An attempt that didn’t work on Raina given his expensive clothes, jewelry and overall attitude of arrogance.
"Of course," Raina said warmly. Now that she was comfortable in the knowledge that he wouldn't try to have her killed or hand her over to his son in marriage, she was willing to relax and enjoy his company for an evening.
"Tomorrow," he said, giving her a wink, "we will work on extricating you from Italy and continuing your adventure."
Raina grinned at Giovanni. She suspected that she had made a lifelong friend and ally in one of the most powerful men in the world.
Chapter Twelve
Sotza was not pleased that his second-in-command hadn’t managed to retrieve his stepdaughter. Vee was even less pleased.
"There was absolutely no excuse to have left that club without my daughter." Vee’s voice echoed sharply through the room.
Mateo’s phone sat propped up on the nightstand on speakerphone. He was laying stretched out on the bed, his arms behind his head, his eyes closed. He was not relaxed though. He was thinking. He didn't trust Savino, didn't trust the man to hand Raina over. Mateo believed he had another plan.
"There were no less than a dozen of Savino’s men inside and outside the club. Had I brought everyone on hand with me, they wouldn't have been enough to get us all out alive. Raina might have been shot during the standoff. I had no choice but to allow Savino to leave with her."
“I don’t believe that. You’re supposed to be a professional, Mateo, and you’re telling me that you couldn’t extricate one girl from Italy. Incompetent - ” Mateo tuned Vee out as she continued on her angry tirade.
Mateo was steadily losing patience with Vee. Only two things kept him from going on the offensive with her; his employer would have him killed and Mateo loved her daughter. He refused to do anything to harm Raina, even indirectly. She would never forgive Mateo if he went after her mother. Which left Mateo to suffer the woman's disrespect.
"You made the correct choice." Sotza interrupted his Vee.
He was used to stepping in between his wife and his second-in-command. From the moment Vee helped her daughter leave the Venezuelan mountains, helped her leave Mateo, she’d made an enemy of him. Sotza cared for them both and tried to keep the peace, though it tested his already thin patience.
Focusing on his boss, Mateo said, "I have people near Savino’s estate where the guards won't see them. Ready to storm the place if it seems like Raina might be in any danger, though I got the sense that Savino feels somewhat paternal toward her."
"Good enough for now," Sotza said.
"Not good enough!" Vee snarled into the phone. "I need to hear her voice, know that she’s alive and well."
"My word is good enough," Mateo snarled back. There was only so much he was willing to take from the woman and insulting him at every turn was unacceptable. She acted as though he wasn't just as invested in keeping Raina alive.
There was some unintelligible mumbling from the other side of the phone, then the slam of the door, loud enough that even Mateo’s phone jumped. He smirked. Señora Sotza had left the office.
"Between you and me, my wife will not be happy again until she sets eyes on her daughter. Get the girl and bring her home. Do not delay if you can help it." What he didn't say was that his marriage would not be a happy one until Vee got what she wanted.
Mateo didn't envy the other man his choice of wife, but he got it. Despite his better judgement, Mateo was hopelessly fucked up over the daughter. And the daughter was very like the mother. It was a mystery to him how he could love one and despise the other. But he wasn't the type of guy to look too deeply at himself
and his motives. He lived his life the best way he knew how. And what he knew was that having Raina in his life would complete him.
"I’ll bring her home, you have my word," Mateo told his boss.
"I have full confidence," Sotza said calmly, and they both knew it was true. Mateo would not be Sotza’s second if Sotza didn't trust him completely and utterly.
A slight smirk curled the edge of Mateo's lip. "You can tell your wife to prepare for a wedding. A happy occasion should put her in a better mood, don't you think?"
"You enjoy testing my patience." There was humour in Sotza’s voice. "My wife would gut me with her new dagger if I so much as suggested her daughter might be marrying into the organization."
Mateo opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling. "It's a fact. Best she prepare herself. I will be marrying Raina."
As soon as he could get his hands on her.
Chapter Thirteen
Once again Raina slept well in Giovanni's mansion. She was growing more comfortable around Giovanni and his home. It was almost a shame that she had to leave. She suspected that spending more time with the proud Italian would give her a real glimpse of Italy. With that in mind, she decided to try to convince him to let her visit sometime in the future.
She pulled herself from the bed, wincing as her back muscles pulled on her stitches. The healing process was going to be long and painful, but she was grateful that no permanent damage had been done. It could've been much, much worse.
There was a pile of clothing for her on one of the chairs. She pulled them on one at a time, grateful that a dress had been chosen for her because it was so much easier on her injury. She could pull it over her head and tug it down, she didn't have to deal with a waistband pressing against her bandage.
She brushed her teeth and ran a comb through her blonde hair. She eyed it critically in the mirror. It was getting long again and she preferred to keep it around shoulder length. Her hair was fine and there was a lot of it. It tended towards the curly side and would get hopelessly tangled if she wasn't brushing it often. She placed the comb on the counter, gave her appearance one more critical look, and left the bathroom.
She meandered down the stairs slowly, lightly touching her fingers against the banister and looking around her as she descended. The house was definitely much less gloomy during the day. The darker furnishings, the austere pictures on the wall, there was a certain charm to them. Though she wouldn't want them in her own home, they suited Giovanni.
She found him at the dining room table, which had been uncovered and dusted off. On his placemat was a plate with toast, a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee next to his elbow. Spread out in front of him was a newspaper. He looked up and caught sight of her, a smile stretching his lips.
"I’m going to miss you when you’re gone, bella." He folded the newspaper and set it aside. "You have brought life to my home. I’ve always been careful of who I allow inside, becoming guarded throughout the years. It was necessary, as I have many enemies, but still, you’re like a breeze of fresh air in this place."
Raina sank into the chair beside him and smiled. They had only known each other for two days, yet they seemed to have forged an unlikely friendship. The Italian Godfather and the young daughter of American mafia royalty. The child of farmers. She felt an appreciation for Giovanni. Though he was somewhat old-fashioned, quite arrogant, and liked to have his own way, he wasn't completely unreasonable. He’d helped her when she needed him. She was grateful and always would be.
"I've been thinking about that," she said, reaching for the pile of toast and taking one off the top. It was still warm to the touch, butter making it soft. She placed it on a plate in front of her and spread jam on it. "Maybe we could see each other again sometime."
She felt as though there were a connection between her and Giovanni. Completely platonic, but kindred spirits. The thought of never seeing him again was depressing.
"I would like that very much," Giovanni reassured her. "You’re welcome in my home anytime you want, my dear. Even if you bring a boatload of trouble with you."
Raina didn't bother to point out that it was Giovanni's own son that had started the boatload of trouble. She glanced down at the time on her phone. It was 9:28 AM. She was expected in Mateo's hotel suite soon. She would have to leave the house right away if she wanted to get there on time.
Giovanni seemed to sense her mood and reached out to squeeze her hand. He studied her thoughtfully. "I’m curious about your feelings towards the young man that professes himself your fiancé."
Raina's heart sped up as an image of Mateo flashed through her mind. As always, her feelings were conflicted. Part of her wanted him desperately, wanted the dark power that he possessed, that rock solid body, the devotion that he offered her. But the rest of her shied away from the idea of marriage to a man as entrenched in the mafia as Mateo was.
"I can tell by your expression that you’re not sure of your feelings. Do you want to go to him? Do you want to leave Italy with him? Go back to your stepfather?" He studied her carefully as she thought about it.
"I don't know," she murmured. She spoke her thoughts out loud. "On the one hand I would love to see my mother again. But doing that means going back to Venezuela and facing a wedding that I'm not sure about, that I haven't agreed to."
"And this wedding, "Giovanni said. "It is something that you do not want?"
Raina shook her head. "I don't know. I… I feel like I'm too young to get married. I haven't seen enough of the world. I don't know what the future holds and I fear if I marry Mateo, I’ll never get a say in my own future. I'm not afraid of my feelings for him and there are some very strong feelings. No, I'm terrified of what the future holds. I'm not quite ready to face it yet."
Giovanni nodded thoughtfully. He picked up the napkin that was across his lap and dabbed his lips then dropped it on the table. He leaned back in his chair and looked at Raina, but his gaze was in a different place, maybe thinking of a different person.
He confirmed her thoughts with his next words. "My wife, Antonia, was very young when we married. Nineteen years. She was so beautiful, so bright, so full of life. She was thirty-four when she died."
Raina could hear the longing and the love in his voice and it made her heart ache with sympathy. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Giovanni."
"It’s been many years since I lost her and I still see her face in my head as clear as day. She might have left me, but I haven’t lost her." Giovanni stopped for a few seconds, overcome by emotion. He gathered himself. Raina surreptitiously swiped at her eyes. "Ours was an arranged marriage but we were happy."
Raina believed that he was trying to tell her something. Perhaps it was that her and Mateo's passion might overcome the origin of their relationship. That their story could end as happily as Giovanni’s and Antonia's.
Giovanni's eyes sharpened, away from the past as he looked toward the present again. "We married too young. There were too many things that we both should have done before we settled down. And though ours was a great love, I have many regrets. I didn't treat her as well as I should have. I didn't have the patience for my family, didn’t spend enough time with them. As evidenced by the way my son has treated you. My wife should’ve been given many more years of freedom before she was tied to the mob."
Giovanni reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled something out. He placed it on the table in front of Raina. She recognized it instantly, because she had made many forgeries of these documents before.
"A passport." She reached for the document and flipped it open. It was a replica of her old passport photo, the one that would have been in her studio apartment when Antonio's men had shot it up. The passport looked completely legitimate, though she knew it was a skilled forgery.
"You will use this to go anywhere in the world that you want." Giovanni reached out to take her wrist in a tight hold. His hand was as tense as his voice when he spoke. "You must choose very carefully where you will go, bec
ause Mateo Gutierrez will be directly on your heels. He doesn’t like to lose and he’s world renowned for his tracking abilities."
Raina looked at Giovanni with a smile filled with relief and happiness. She wouldn't have to make a decision about Mateo. At least not right now.
"I've managed to elude him for two years, I've no doubt that I can get myself lost somewhere in this world."
Giovanni shook his head and waved his hand in the air. "I’ve known of Gutierrez’s reputation for a long time now. Had I been able to employ him I would have. But your stepfather keeps him close at hand, utilizing his skills only for himself and the Sotza Empire. Mateo is the best tracker in the world. He’s unparalleled. I have heard that his skill is like magic, the uncanny ability to know where his victims are hiding."
A chill slithered down Raina’s spine. "Then that would mean that he always knew where I was. That he chose to allow me to travel the world for those two years. That he has now chosen to come and collect me."
Raina wanted Giovanni to deny her words, to tell her that wasn’t Mateo's plan. That somehow he managed to find her in the nick of time to stop Antonio's men from killing her. She knew better. She'd been stupid to think otherwise. Naïve.
"He will find you wherever you choose to go next. That is why I implore you to choose carefully. Don’t try to hide or evade him, because it won't work. He'll find you, he'll scoop you up and he'll take you home. If you wish to make the most of the few days you have left of freedom, choose a destination that truly means something to you."
Wise words, Raina thought to herself. Where should she go? If Mateo was going to follow her, then maybe she should give up and hand herself over. Because there was a part of her heart that was in Venezuela, that longed to go back.
Born a Queen (The Queens Book 3) Page 7
