"I went to a lot of different places. I started in Venezuela." Though not willingly, she thought silently. "Then I flew overseas, into Amsterdam. I travelled around Europe, then London, Glasgow, Edinburgh. Then, Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Australia. And then I finished in Italy."
The look of supreme male confidence melted into something close to jealousy. "That's a lot of places. Did you have fun?"
Raina felt impatient at the questions. They were pointless. Did she have fun? Of course she had fun. She travelled the world, something that most people wanted to do but couldn’t find either the time or the money. She was in a position where she’d been able to do something incredible with her time. She was lucky.
But something was stopping her from sharing her experiences with Darcy. Maybe because she knew he didn't actually care about the answers.
"Yeah, it was mostly fun." Except for getting shot and causing a great big mess in Italy.
Darcy hauled her closer until Raina's breasts pressed against his chest. Though she was all good with a little light flirtation, she sensed that Darcy was in this for a one-night stand. Maybe more. She tried to ease back in his arms, but he tightened his hold and didn't let her go. She was about to demand that he stop dancing so close to her when he leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"I've missed you. I gotta be honest, I came out tonight because I heard you were back in town. Knew I'd see you out and about eventually. You’re a girl that knows how to have a good time."
Raina wrinkled her nose. She didn't like the connotation behind that. Maybe he meant it innocently, but she suspected he was insulting her. Treating her like she might be easy, might give up the goods because he thought a woman who travelled the world was a woman with experience. Which was her business if she was. Of course, she never really had the opportunity to whore it up, but either way, it didn't mean he got to speak that way to her.
She was about to open her mouth and tell him so when he was forcibly torn away from her. One minute, Darcy was standing in front of her, leering and making inappropriate comments, and the next he was flying backwards so hard that he hit a table, which flew out from under him and smashed into another table.
Miraculously, no one seemed to be injured. Except for maybe Darcy, or at least his pride. He was picking his way out of broken glass and table and gradually climbing to his feet a look of dazed bewilderment on his face.
Raina looked around wondering how he'd managed to fling himself backward so hard, when she discovered the answer standing right next to her. A towering, rage-filled, or so he looked, Mateo was staring down at her like she was going to be his next victim. She took a quick step back before he could fling her into a table too, but he caught her arm and held her still.
"Got you," he said, sinister promise in his deep tone.
Chapter Eighteen
Raina didn't know how they did it, but suddenly Cass and Noah were standing in front of her, their body language protective. Cass’s arms were crossed tightly over her chest, her eyes were narrowed on Mateo.
"Who the fuck are you and why the fuck are you touching my friend?" she demanded without missing a beat.
Mateo didn't even look at her. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Raina once since downing Darcy, who was still picking himself up off the floor, a dazed expression plastered on his face.
"You got here faster than I thought you would," Raina noted, her gaze on Mateo. She still didn't entirely trust him not to throw her into a table. He looked really pissed.
"I always know where you are, chica. Every step of the way. Everywhere you go. I'm never far away." His words could be taken as either comforting or as a threat. Raina didn't want to take them either way.
When Cass didn’t immediately get an answer to her question, she got right in Mateo’s face and growled, "Were you the reason she had to leave university so suddenly two years ago?"
Both Mateo's and Raina's eyes snapped to Cass. How on earth had she made that leap in logic? She was correct, but she shouldn't know.
"What exactly did my parents tell you?" Raina asked.
Cass looked guilty. "They told me some stuff."
At Raina's horrified expression, Cass quickly tried to reassure her, "After you disappeared, I wouldn’t leave them alone. I couldn't accept the explanation that you ran off to go travelling. It wasn't like you to not contact your family or friends."
Raina realized that Cass had been hurt by the idea that her best friend had abandoned her. Over the past few years, Raina had struggled with her feelings over leaving her friends and family. She felt sad, angry, guilty. But ultimately, she had also realized that she had no choice. At the time, it was the only path she could've taken.
Raina leaned over and hugged Cass. She held her and said in her ear, "I'm so sorry that I had to leave you without an explanation and sorry that my parents told you. You shouldn't have been burdened with that."
Cass shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I was threatening to go to the FBI. I told your parents that I would tell the authorities that they'd kidnapped their own daughter and that they were keeping her locked up in the barn if they didn't tell me what really happened to you. I didn't give them much choice."
Raina burst out laughing. It was just like Cass to get overinvolved. But Raina felt good knowing that her best friend had her back. Raina would've done the same for Cass, had Cass suddenly disappeared off the face of the planet.
"We’re going." Mateo grabbed Raina's arm and started pulling her away from her friends.
"Wait!" Cass leapt forward and grabbed Mateo's arm, trying to hold him in place. He glared down at her hand and then up into her face. Cass instantly let him go, as though reading her own death in his eyes. Raina didn't think that he would murder her friends, but he sure gave the impression that he could and would do it without batting an eye.
"It's okay," Raina said reaching out for her friend. When she saw Noah’s concerned expression, she reached out to squeeze his arm as well. "Really, it's fine. I need to talk to Mateo anyway. You two go ahead and have a good time, I'll see you later. Maybe tomorrow."
Raina glanced at Mateo to see if she’d told the truth. His eyes told her that she absolutely would not be seeing her two friends the next day… maybe never. She had to fight back tears. Was this it? Was he going to drag her away from her family and friends once more? And the man wondered why she didn't want anything to do with him. He was an asshole. He might be an attractive asshole, but that was no excuse for assholiness.
Raina hugged Cass and Noah goodbye. Noah’s hug was much shorter than Cass’s as Mateo dragged her from the other man's arms with a hand on her neck. He didn't say a word to her friends, just pulled her away and strode through the bar toward the exit.
It was then that Raina finally noticed his backup. Though they were Latino mobsters and should’ve been out of place in a country bar, they somehow managed to blend into their environment. Raina supposed it was part of the job. Don't get noticed until it was time to get noticed.
The cool air slapped her in the face as they stepped outside and she paused to breathe deeply, taking it into her lungs and cleansing the tension of the past few minutes. Mateo pulled her down the wooden steps of the bar, dragging her toward a black SUV with tinted windows. There were two SUVs to accommodate all of his men. She guessed she should be flattered. It took a whole contingent of highly skilled gangsters to pick up one small woman.
As they reached the SUV, Raina finally managed to tug her hand away from his. She stood with her hands on her hips and her chin jutted out. "What the hell was that?"
Mateo didn't miss a beat. He stopped, turned, grabbed her around the waist, picked her up and hauled her into the side of the SUV. He had a hand at her back to stop her from slamming too hard into the metal, but there was enough force that she got his point. He wasn't happy with her. She probably should've kept her mouth shut. Still, what the hell?
"You didn't have to beat up Darcy like that," she snapped, his anger making her even angrier.
"Don't you ever say another man's name to me again," he snarled, pointing a finger in her face.
Raina's mouth dropped open. Mateo had his moments, had shown her before that he had a temper, but this was the first time he wasn't acting the picture of reason. He was demanding that she never say a man's name to him? How did a person do that? Was she supposed to avoid interacting with men forever? She figured that was about the only way that she would never speak another man's name.
"That's ridiculous," she said, somewhat unnecessarily since everyone in the vicinity knew that it was ridiculous.
"You let him touch you. You let them both touch you. You. Are. Mine." He emphasized each of the last three words by smacking his hand into the vehicle next to her head. She blinked up at him in surprise. Her heart was hammering in her chest. A combination of fear and lust sent her adrenaline soaring. "The only man that gets to touch you is me. Remember that. Because the next man that touches you does not get the allowances that these men did. The next man who touches you dies."
Before she could respond, before she could tell him that he was being ridiculous, he yanked her up the vehicle until her feet were dangling off the ground and he swooped in for a life altering kiss.
Chapter Nineteen
Mateo broke the kiss and, in one smooth move, swung Raina away from the vehicle far enough that he could open the rear passenger door and lift her inside. Raina was so stunned by the kiss that she barely noticed as he pulled the seat belt around her and latched it, his shoulder brushing hers as he leaned across her body.
"Where are we…?" Raina started to ask, but Mateo slammed the door on her question and strode around to the other side of the vehicle.
She watched curiously as he had a conversation with two of his men before climbing in the back with her, slamming his door shut and buckling his own seatbelt. Two of his men got in the front while the rest made their way to the rear vehicle.
"Where are you taking me?" Raina tried to hide the fear in her voice.
Mateo always had a rhyme and reason for everything he did, but when she didn't know what that was, he came across as unpredictable. Raina didn't like unpredictable. And now she was completely at his mercy. She doubted he would give her another opportunity to run away.
"Home," he said shortly.
The vehicle began moving, taking a left out of the bar parking lot and onto the highway, away from the direction that would take her back to the farm.
"Not the farm, I'm guessing?”
"Not the farm," he confirmed.
"Can you please give me a little more?" she demanded, her voice rising. "Are we driving, are we taking an airplane, a train, a bus? And where exactly is this home that you're taking me to? Venezuela?"
Mateo turned to look at her, his deep chocolatey eyes gleaming in the darkness. "Not Venezuela."
Raina was bewildered. If they weren't going to Venezuela, then where were they going? For some reason Mateo was being even shorter with her than usual. Almost purposefully evasive.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you hiding something from me?"
He looked at her for a while, as though really seeing inside her head. Some of the tension released from his body and he relaxed against his seat. He sighed deeply and ran a hand over his face. He looked tired. Like really, really tired. As though he hadn't slept in weeks.
A stab of guilt pierced her. He hadn't slept because he'd been following her around Italy and then following her back to America as she ran away from him, playing a silly game. Though she had a valid reason for not wanting to go with him, she still cared about his well-being.
"You need to get some sleep," she murmured.
He shrugged. "I'll sleep when I'm dead."
She smirked. "Warren Zevon. Now tell me what you're keeping from me."
“Warren who?” Mateo gave her a strange look.
“Singer songwriter. The first person to write the lyric, ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead’.”
Mateo’s lips twitched in amusement. “And you know this because?”
Raina shrugged and tried not to return his semi-smile. She was trying to be mad at him, trying to grill him on their destination. “Because I spent two years of my childhood in hospitals and my dad distracted me with movie and music trivia.”
“And you remember everything you hear?” He seemed genuinely curious, as if charmed by learning this new facet of Raina he hadn’t known before.
“Only the random stuff,” she countered.
Raina thought maybe Mateo was avoiding the previous topic. There was something up and it was making him edgy and evasive. Mateo was always on high alert, but this was different. He seemed distracted instead of his usual hyper focused.
She was surprised when he started speaking of his own volition without having to be prompted again. "Your stepfather is giving me Miami."
Raina thought she must not have heard him right. "Sotza is giving you a city? Like a whole city? Is that even possible?"
Mateo looked over at her, his lip still curled in a half smile. "Yeah, he's giving me a city."
"Are you being sarcastic?" Raina demanded.
"No, chica, I'm not. Sotza is handing over the reins to the Miami underworld. He's done with the chaos of the past several years. He wants someone in command who can be strong and decisive, someone who will put down any competitors or challenges. He wants me to take over."
Raina didn't know how to react. On the one hand she was shocked. Could a person just hand over his city to another person? That didn't seem right. But then again, she didn't know everything there was to know about the mafia and how they worked. Maybe they did hand cities over to each other like gifts. It sounded like they also stole cities from each other too.
On the other hand, Mateo was the perfect choice to bring order to a chaotic situation. He was ruthless, brutal and brilliant. He was methodical and patient when required. He knew how to play the long game.
"But doesn't Sotza want to keep you with him?" she asked, curious how it would work. Could Mateo still be second-in-command to Sotza while living and working in Miami? She didn't think so.
Mateo confirmed her last thought with his next sentence. "I believe that Sotza would keep me with him in Venezuela if he could, but Miami is a sensitive issue. It's the gateway for most product; the chaos will weaken trade where routes are already established. Sotza understands that there must be sacrifice in this business. I’m needed in Miami."
Mateo’s quiet confidence in his ability to follow through on Sotza’s command, to bring an entire city under control, sent a zing of attraction through her. Mateo knew what he wanted and he went after it.
"He must trust you a lot," she murmured thoughtfully. She never really thought about it, but of course Sotza would trust Mateo. Mateo would've had plenty of opportunity to betray Sotzao over the years if that had been his intention. He'd probably proven his loyalty over and over again.
When Mateo didn't respond to her last comment, Raina asked, "What about me? Where do I fit in?"
"You’re with me," Mateo said with quiet finality.
"But what does that mean? Stop giving me such cryptic answers and tell me what the heck is going on."
Raina was beginning to feel frustrated. In romance novels, the heroines always adored the strong silent type. Raina was beginning to see exactly how frustrating strong and silent could be. She would much prefer if the man used his words.
He flashed her a quick smile, as though he found her annoyance cute. He would find it much less cute when she found something to bash him over the head with.
"What that means is you're with me; you will always be with me. Going forward you belong to me. If I’m in Pennsylvania, then you’re in Pennsylvania. If I am in Venezuela, then you’re in Venezuela. If I’m in Miami, then you are also in Miami." His voice was firm but with an edge.
"But… if you’re going to be the new… what? The new boss of Miami? Like Sotza is in Venezuela?" At his nod she continued. "But then, what
does that make me?"
"My wife," he said, his tone brooking no argument.
His wife.
She'd known that he wanted to marry her, but she’d been treating the idea like some distant dream that she might eventually have to face but wasn’t in a hurry to reach. Something she could get out of or that she might have a choice in. But now, in the back of this vehicle, heading towards a future in Miami with this man, she realized that her destiny was about to be written for her.
"So you're going to be the new boss of Miami and I am going to be your wife." It was as though saying the words out loud helped to solidify the concept.
She wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for from Mateo. She supposed she wanted some kind of acknowledgement that this was a big deal. That marrying the boss of Miami was as terrifying a thing as she thought it was.
"You are as good as my wife already. We’ll get the paper and have the ceremony, but you’ll stand with me as I take over the city." He said it with quiet authority.
"I’m scared." Her heart was starting to hammer with anxiety.
She was a long way from that young and eager University freshman who’d worried about nothing more than an overdue English paper. She never aspired to be the wife of a mob boss, never imagined it was a thing, except maybe on TV and in movies.
He looked at her, his expression filled with something she couldn't quite pin down. Pity? Satisfaction? The two emotions were opposite, yet that’s what she read on his face. As though everything were falling into place for him and he couldn't be happier, but he knew the sacrifices Raina would have to make to stand by his side.
He picked her hand up and kissed the knuckles, sending her heart soaring. "Nothing will touch you so long as I’m alive."
Chapter Twenty
Raina wanted to ask about her parents, demand that Mateo take her back to say goodbye to them. But she knew he would refuse and since Mateo had been in touch with her parents for the past two years, she suspected he would update them on this new development. If not, then she would call them when she landed in Miami. She was relatively certain that Cass would call them and let them know what happened at the bar.
Born a Queen (The Queens Book 3) Page 10
