They lived in a dangerous world, one where people like Desi and Mateo willingly threw themselves into some of the most dangerous situations imaginable. People they loved would die. It was a fact. But the loyalty and friendships they developed among members of their alliances forced them to avenge each other in a never-ending cycle of vendetta.
"You nearly took the life of my woman." Mateo stepped up to her, entering her space, unafraid as she lunged toward him, throwing her fists. He caught her wrist and slammed it back against the wall, scraping her knuckles on the concrete. "For that, your life is forfeit."
"I gladly give my life,” she snarled. “You destroyed everything I had to live for."
She spat at him, intending to hit his face with the bloody saliva. But they were standing too close together, so it missed and hit his shirt collar. Mateo didn't flinch and he didn’t move.
“So you decided to destroy the thing that I had to live for,” Mateo drawled.
She stared at him, her dark eyes hot coals of hate. Her anger was so palatable that Mateo was surprised by her next words. "If I have any regrets in all this, it’s that I targeted Raina instead of you. She’s more innocent of this world then I originally thought."
Mateo raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected Desi to unbend enough to admit such a thing. He thought some of her mixed feelings when it came to Raina probably came from the amount of time she spent one-on-one with Raina during the renovations. Raina was a difficult woman to hate.
Mateo switched gears, asking a question that had haunted him for weeks. “Were you in any way responsible for the death of my Mexican liaison and his family?”
Her face betrayed her before her words, her gaze dropping to the floor and her skin paling. As rage flooded his system, he had to check the urge not to punch her in the face and take her out right there.
“Yes,” she admitted. “Since you decimated the Garza cartel, I didn’t have the manpower I needed to come after you. I heard rumours of another family further east who despise the South American cartels. I teamed up with them and they went after your guy. It was a mistake. I don’t kill children. I dropped them, which is why I had to hit the mansion with only a couple guys for backup. The plan was to bring an army to your doorstep.”
Some of the rage left Mateo as she explained. He was surprised she was giving him the information so freely, but if she truly felt guilt over the incident, perhaps she was trying to cleanse her soul before death by confessing her part.
"If you think these words will move me to take it easy on you, then you’re mistaken."
Her eyes flared in anger and she reared back, struggling in his grip, her moment of self-reflection over.
“I don’t care what you think!” she screamed at him. “Get it the fuck over with. I want the peace only my grave will provide.”
Mateo gripped her chin. “Your death will be a long and agonizing one. Don’t dream of that grave just yet, bitch. We’re going to have some fun first.”
“Do you think you can make me scream?” she challenged, her eyes dark empty voids staring back at him. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so difficult to kill this woman.
“Count on it.”
She gave him a bloody grin. “Good, then the underworld will know I’m coming.”
Mateo didn't bother replying but turned and left the room reaching for the sanitary wipe his man handed him. He wiped the saliva off his collar and flicked the wipe into the garbage. He gave his man a penetrating look. "Prepare her for me."
Mateo had a method when he tortured his victims. He preferred them seated on a chair with their hands cuffed to the sides. There would be a strap around the neck keeping the head up so he could see the eyes as the life was slowly beaten from them.
Before they could move onto the next room, Giovanni cleared his throat, his thoughtful gaze on Desi’s cell. "I have a rather large favour to ask. Before you deny my request, hear me out and take your time with the decision."
Mateo frowned at Giovanni. "You’ve been a friend to us. I’m willing to grant a request."
Sotza crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed in thought, as though he suspected he knew what Giovanni would say. “What are you asking?”
Giovanni smiled grimly. "I guarantee this is a request you will not want to grant, and I can give you my word now that I will abide by your judgement on this." Mateo waved his guards back so their conversation would be private. "I want you to give me that woman. Desi."
Mateo's frown turned thunderous and he opened his mouth to immediately deny the request. Giovanni interrupted him. "I can promise that whatever you do to her, while extremely painful, will be short-lived. Unless you intend to allow her to live longer than a few days, her suffering will eventually end. Give her to me and I can promise that her suffering will continue through a lifetime."
The two men stared at each other while Sotza remained silent. Mateo was tempted to take Giovanni up on his offer, but he was hesitant. Yes, he wanted Desi to suffer for more than a few days. But it disturbed him, the idea that this man who befriended Raina was eager to get his hands on the Latina assassin. There were some things that Mateo could not condone. Yet, for men like them, morality was murky, an ever-changing thing that couldn’t be pinned down.
"Why do you want her?"
Giovanni's answer to the question would seal her fate.
"My wife… she died many years ago. Succumbing to a lifestyle that I forced her into. She was soft and sweet, not meant for mob living. I loved her too deeply to let her go. I am convinced, that it is my selfishness that eventually killed her." Giovanni gazed at the closed door to Desi's room. "That woman is fierce; she’s strong and she won’t die easily. Nor will her children. I want more than the one fuck-up offspring I managed to produce. I intend to leave a legacy behind in this world, children who are capable of taking over my holdings. She will make a fine mother." His light brown eyes landed back on Mateo, a hint of humour in their depths. "And I can promise you, she will suffer as I train her to become the perfect wife."
Mateo gave it a few minutes thought, but his mind had been made up almost immediately after Giovanni finished speaking. Though it was a difficult decision to leave Desi alive, Giovanni's proposal was the perfect solution. Mateo would not have to torture and kill her. Giovanni would do to her things that she hated, things that Mateo didn't have time for or the desire. Turning a woman like Desi into a Stepford wife was the perfect revenge. She would hate every moment.
First, he had to make sure his mentor was on board with the idea. Desi had personally attacked him in Venezuela while helping Garza. “What do you think?”
Sotza stood, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes on the ground as he thought. He raised his head and pinned Giovanni with a serious look. “I will require your word that she doesn’t leave your Italian property except in a body bag. You take responsibility for the woman. If she escapes, or you allow her off the property, we will come after you both.”
“That is a fair demand,” Giovanni agreed. He turned his attention to Mateo. “And you?”
"She's all yours but we’ll have to discuss details. I don't like the idea of that woman breathing in the same world as Raina. I need to know how you intend to keep her properly secured."
“I’ll get you a plan before I leave here with her. You have my word that this woman will remain in my keeping. She’ll never be given the opportunity to become a threat again.”
“Good enough.”
The two men shook and Mateo re-entered Desi’s room. She was now secured to a chair, her hands cuffed and her neck strapped. She glared daggers at the men, her malevolent gaze moving to each of them.
“What now?” she demanded.
Mateo knelt on the floor next to Desi, pulling his knife from the pocket of his jeans. He flicked the blade open, locking it in place.
She moved her head to stare down at him. Mateo put the blade against the pointer finger of her right hand; the most likely to be her trigger finger.
“Your lif
e has been spared,” he told her, then sliced the finger off in one clean cut.
To her credit, Desi didn’t even whimper. Her face paled and her lips quivered. Involuntary tears shone in her eyes.
Mateo stood, tossed her finger on the table and strode to the door.
“Take care of your slave,” he said to Giovanni, slipping past the other man and heading down the hall toward Angela’s cell.
Sotza walked with Mateo, but waited outside the room, tacitly giving Mateo space to deal with a woman who had been his friend.
Mateo's conversation with Angela was surprisingly brief. She turned as he entered the door. Angela hadn't been secured. She was allowed loose in her cell. Her face was puffy from crying and her lip was bloody. Someone had punched her. If Mateo had to guess, he would say Vee.
"You betrayed me." The chill in his voice frosted the air in the room.
"It's not what you think." Tears filled her eyes.
Mateo grabbed her by the neck and shoved her into the nearest wall squeezing hard enough that she gasped for air. She didn't fight him though, her arms hung loose her sides. Her gaze was on his shoulder where a bandage was visible through the collar of his shirt. A throb of pain hit him reminding him that the bone had sustained a fracture.
"Then tell me exactly what happened. Speak quickly and don't leave out any details."
For good measure Mateo pulled his switchblade, still shiny with Desi’s blood and set it against her throat over top of her pulse point. One wrong word and he was going to drain her.
She swallowed, closed her eyes and nodded as though gathering herself. Then, she opened her eyes and began speaking, swiftly and purposefully. "I didn't betray you. At least, not on purpose. You asked me to supervise the installation of the bolthole door and input the correct code once the panel was in. I did exactly as you asked, only there was a problem. Something electronic. I couldn't input the code. I had to call in a tech guy to help. And there's only one that I trusted."
"Thomas." Mateo's voice came out in a growl.
Angela's words rang true. He had requested that she input the code, making her, him and Raina the only three people on the grounds that had access to the bunker. But Angela had a weakness. Though she was a security expert, she was not a technology expert. Thomas had always been Mateo's man for IT stuff. He was a trusted member of their team, having worked with both of them for several years in Venezuela before moving with them to Miami. Hell, he'd even had Mateo's back in Italy. It was a shock to learn that he'd been the one to betray them.
"I tried to keep the code away from him, even knowing that you trusted him implicitly." Her voice rose with upset. "But he insisted that he had to enter the code himself. Something to do with whatever glitch the panel was experiencing. I don't know if he caused the tech problem on purpose in order to get his hands on the code, or if he took advantage of an opportunity."
Mateo didn't know either, but he would find out as soon as he got his hands on Thomas. It was a relief knowing Angela hadn't actually betrayed him. He dropped his hand from her throat and allowed her to move away from the wall.
"You should've told me he knew the code. This was a major fuck up that could've ended in both mine and Raina's deaths."
Angela nodded, tears spilling over and trailing down her cheeks. She sniffled and used the back of her hand to swipe at them. She didn't look like the badass mafioso woman he had become used to. Then again, Mateo probably didn't look all that fierce either after the beating his body had taken.
"I willingly accept your punishment, whether you take my life, my finger or whatever else will make this right. You’ve been so generous to me that I'm devastated I was part of this. I deserve whatever comes my way.” She shuffled her feet and stared at the floor, her tears dripping onto the cement.
Mateo thought about it and then collapsed into one of the metal chairs behind him, elbow on his knee, his head in his hand. "Between you and me I haven’t the desire or energy to hurt you. And I suspect Raina will set the mansion on fire if I try to send you away. When she finds out that you’re innocent of betrayal, she’ll advocate for you until I have no choice but to allow you to stay. There will be some changes though. I can no longer allow you to remain as head of security."
"I understand." Her voice was soft but hopeful. "I'll do anything you ask."
Mateo rubbed the back of his neck, thinking for a few minutes. "I'll have to check with Raina, but how does personal bodyguard to my wife sound? You’ll have to take a step down in terms of security, but I think you'll both be happy with the solution."
Angela threw herself on her knees in front of Mateo and clasped his hand, not bothering to check the tears that were streaming down her face. "Thank you, thank you. I’ll never again give you reason to doubt me."
Mateo placed a hand on her head, patting her gently. "I know."
Chapter Fifty-Four
Thomas was located at the dockyard, attempting to use the getaway that Desi had originally arranged for them. Finding him there, actively attempting to leave to city hammered the final nail in his coffin. Unlike Angela, Thomas had guilt written all over him. Mateo had treated the guy like a brother. He’d allowed him into his home, entrusted him with his most valuable possession, Raina.
Sotza, Mateo and a half dozen of their people confronted Thomas at the dockyard. Thomas’ reason for betraying the family had been greed. Money and position within Desi’s cartel; the cartel she’d intended to resurrect from the ashes of her dead boyfriend. A motive that infuriated Mateo like nothing else. Though they were all mobsters, there was a code. A code that Thomas had broken. He betrayed his mob family for the sake of a better position.
Mateo didn’t bother dragging the man home to his torture shed but allowed his fury free rein right there in the dockyard, next to the boat Thomas and Desi were going to use to escape. He painted the docks red until he was satisfied. Until Thomas was no longer recognizable.
Mateo and Sotza walked away from the dockyard, leaving the body behind for everyone to see. Thomas would be a statement to the Miami underworld; betrayal would not be tolerated.
Raina paced the bedroom, waiting for Mateo to come back. He’d been gone for hours and she was worried about him. What if his wound reopened and he bled out? He certainly wasn't taking very good care of himself.
He had a broken collarbone, yet he refused to put it in a sling before going to visit his captives. He told her that he couldn't look weak. Like when he forced her to go to the clubs with him, pretended that all was well and that they hadn't been beaten to hell and back.
Raina was on another lap around the room when the door was flung open, smacking against the wall. Mateo stood there for see few seconds staring at her, then his expression gradually went from worry to anger.
"I looked everywhere for you. I can't have you missing right now. You need to be where I can see you."
Raina frowned at him and then bit her lip to keep herself from pointing out that if he'd allowed her to go to the bunker with him as she wanted, he would've known exactly where she was.
Instead, she said calmly, "I've been right here in my bedroom all along. Yours was blown up, so I came back here."
"You should've had someone come tell me where you'd be."
Raina could understand why Mateo might be grumpy. He was probably exhausted; he was hurting, and he was dealing with the betrayal of a good friend. But still, she couldn't allow him to think that he could snap at her anytime he wanted. "Exactly how many places did you have to search for me before coming here?"
His dark eyes narrowed on her and he took a menacing step forward. "I will beat the sass right out of you if you keep it up."
Raina bit back a grin. At the moment, he was about as capable of beating her up as she was of beating him. "Are you afraid to answer the question? How many rooms did you check before you came to this one?"
He gripped her by the back of the neck and dragged her into his chest, bending to place a hard, stinging kiss on her lips.
He moved back far enough to give her a wry look. "I checked the family room, then I came here."
She laughed. "So basically, you searched the entire mansion for me. I definitely see why you're upset about this."
He released her and stepped back to sink wearily onto the bed. "Remind me to beat you as soon as I'm feeling better."
Raina dropped to her knees in front of him and reached up to unbutton his shirt, careful not to jar his injuries as she slid each button through the hole.
"When you're able to spar again, I'll be the first one lining up for you." Her eyes were shining with humour.
She felt a great deal of love for the man in front of her. She didn't know how it had come to this. How she’d gone from first hating him to tolerating him to now. She was so in love with him that she couldn't imagine her existence without him. It would be empty, meaningless. She needed him and he needed her.
Once the buttons were open, she reached up and gently slid the material off his broad shoulders. Mateo lifted each arm as she tugged the cuffs from his wrists. Then her hands dropped to his belt. His hand landed on top of hers.
"I'll do this part." His lip curled in a partial smile. "Remember, dead man with a boner?"
Raina lifted her hands up in surrender and backed off, laughing. While he worked on pulling his pants off Raina got herself ready for bed. She washed her face and hands, brushed her teeth and hair and pulled on a short night gown. Once he was settled, she crawled into the bed next to him, careful to snuggle against his good side. He held her close and dropped his head to hers, inhaling her scent and kissing the fine strands of hair.
"Thank you." His deep voice penetrated the darkness of the bedroom.
She tipped her head up to look at him, her eyes tracing the shadows on his face, visible in the dim light coming through the window. "Thank you for what?"
Born a Queen (The Queens Book 3) Page 30
