Queen’s Move: Book Two of The Queens

by Slater, Nikita

  He was back within seconds, holding a needle, some thread and a bottle of peroxide. He set everything on the counter and began rolling up his sleeves, his dark eyes on her face. Though his expression remained impassive she saw the concern in those velvety depths. He approached her, ran his fingers lightly down her injured arm. Then he lifted the arm, one hand on her wrist, the other on the elbow. He made her bend it and lay it across her stomach so he would have easy access to the wound.

  “Do you want a drink, cariño?” he asked in a low voice. “It’s the only pain killer we have that will work quickly.”

  She shook her head, eyes glued to his face. “I don’t drink.”

  His face softened a little as he moved away to roll up his sleeves and wash his hands. “You are having a very bad day. I think you can be forgiven a shot of something to ease the pain.”

  She held his gaze. “I don’t drink, Isaac. Ever.”

  “Si, I hear you, cariño,” he agreed. “Then never again shall I offer.”

  “Gracias,” she said, giving him a faint smile.

  He pulled one of the tall kitchen stools up next to her. He gave her a pointed look, as though to say, This will hurt. I don’t want to do it, but we don’t have a choice. Then he bent over her. His head low, near her face. She respected him more for not actually uttering the words.

  She took deep breaths as he cleansed the area, his movements quick and precise and he ran the cloth through the jagged flesh. She closed her eyes as pain hit her, followed close by dizziness. She breathed in his scent, concentrating on trying to identify the elements and why she liked them so much. He always smelled good to her and today was no different. He smelled like sweat, probably the exertion of hunting Nico’s men. He also smelled spicy, like cigar smoke and woods. He must’ve had a quick smoke after she wandered down to the beach. He didn’t like smoking around her. There was also just a hint of a cinnamon from the candies he liked to suck on while he was working.

  “You smell good,” she whispered, opening her eyes. His head was so close to her face that she could see the grey scattered through the dark strands of his hair. The subtle sign of age only made him that much hotter.

  “You smell good too, amor,” he said without looking up. “Taste good too.”

  Vee blushed as the memory of him going down on her only a few feet away hit her. He’d touched things in her that no one else had bothered to try. Literally and figuratively.

  He set the needle against the edge of her wound. She gritted her teeth as he began sewing the flesh together, his movements sure and steady. The breath whooshed out of her in a long hiss. She slapped the palm of her other hand against the opposite side of the counter as pain engulfed her. Tears leaked slowly from her eyelids, now squeezed tightly shut. Sotza didn’t pause, just continued to stab the needle through her flesh, pulling it back together, working fast and efficient.

  “Talk to me, Vee,” he finally said, his voice cool but strained.

  “Wh-what do you want me to say?” she gasped out.

  He paused for a second, thinking. “Tell me about your daughter. Did you always keep track of her?”

  “Always,” Vee replied immediately. She pressed her hand over her eyes to block out the lights flashing in her vision and talked to him. “From the moment she left my womb, I tracked her every move. W-wanted to make sure she had the life I’d envisioned for her. A happy, healthy family… a normal childhood. All the opportunities she deserved.”

  “You didn’t give her money,” he noted, a hint of curiosity in his voice, but no censor. “You could’ve paid her way through University, but you chose not to.”

  “She needed to learn some things herself,” Vee replied. “Stand on her own two feet and all that. She did an excellent job of financing her own education without my help or the help of her adopted parents. If she’d struggled I would have stepped in.”

  “You parented her from afar,” he said with admiration.

  “I suppose you could call it that. I did the best that I could without being directly involved.” Vee knew he wanted to keep her talking, keep her focused on something other than his movements. She sighed in relief when she felt the brush of his knuckles against her arm as he tied off the last stitch and leaned back.

  “You gave that child everything you could,” he noted quietly. “Including a part of yourself. You are the definition of sacrifice, my dear.”

  Vee tipped her head to the side, which took real effort given the exhaustion swamping her, and looked at him. “You know about the kidney?”

  He didn’t smile exactly, but the corners of his eyes and mouth crinkled. “I know everything there is to know about you, Elvira. Which means I know everything about your daughter.”

  She gazed up at him, trying to summon anger at the way he’d interfered in her life, jacked her daughter’s life too. But she couldn’t. He was mafia, right to the marrow of his bones. He would always go his own path, ensure his success no matter how he got there. Vee understood, because she’d lived in that world her entire life. She was mafia too. The only difference between them was that she’d nurtured a person along the way, even if it was from afar. It gave her a different perspective on life. Softened her. In a way, Raina had saved Vee’s life over and over again. Because as long as that child survived, Vee would do everything in her power to survive herself, to ensure the girl’s future.

  “Almost done,” he announced. “Except this.” He poured the disinfectant on her wound. Vee yelped and tried to roll away from him. He slapped a hand down on her belly and forcibly held her still holding her injured arm with his other hand so she wouldn’t tear the stitches.

  “You could have warned me!” she gasped angrily, settling back on the counter. She pushed a hand up into her hair, gripping the strands as the pain faded.

  “Lo siento,” he mumbled leaning over her.

  “You aren’t sorry you sadistic asshole,” she growled.

  He chuckled. “I just need to wrap it now, cariño. We’re almost there.” The warmth in his voice flowed over her like honey. Now that the pain was fading her skin felt hypersensitive to his every touch. The intimacy of the situation was getting to her.

  “Just get it done.”

  “Si,” he said and began wrapping the wound. “Is there anything you wish to know about me?”

  Vee was about to demand he knock it off with all the chatter when something surfaced. Something she’d been wondering but hadn’t found an opportunity to ask him. “Sure,” she said in a clipped voice. “How old are you? And while we’re on the topic of your age, why haven’t you ever married before? Seems odd, someone in your position should want a succession plan.”

  She couldn’t see his face, but she suspected he was amused by her questions. “I’m forty-seven, ten years older than you,” he said easily. “And I never married…” he lifted his head, dark eyes pinning her where she lay, “… because I hadn’t yet met you.”

  “Romantic,” she grunted sarcastically and then yelped as he tightened her bandage and stood.

  He looked down at her, his expression becoming serious. “I’m a practical man, Vee. I didn’t want a woman that would merely warm my bed, grace my arm and my table, would stand behind me, ignorant of the world we live in. I wanted a woman that knew her mind. A woman with vision and the intelligence to match. I wanted you, Elvira. I’ve been waiting for you my entire life.”

  She stared at him, the breath catching in her throat. Then she reached up with her good hand and captured him around the neck, pulling him down until his face hovered over hers. He let her have her moment. “Don’t call me Elvira,” she whispered, but there was no heat to her tone. Inside she was melting at his words. The man was nearly impossible to resist. “Kiss me, Isaac.”

  He did. Leaning down to give her one of his perfect kisses. Moulding his lips to hers, exploring her lips with his. The kiss was chaste, yet passionate. It held a wealth of feeling without being a precursor to more. Sotza would never allow it. Not while sh
e was freshly hurt. She was beginning to understand that about him. His code of ethics. He would always protect Vee. From him, from herself, from everyone.

  He leaned back, still staring down at her, his dark eyes nearly black. He touched her bandage with the lightest of caresses. “I am sorry I wasn’t there for you. More sorry than you can know that I wasn’t there to stop this from happening.”

  She shook her head, trying to banish the tone of self-castigation from his tone. “You couldn’t have known.”

  “I should have known!” he growled. “It was my responsibility to keep you safe, to ensure that my men are loyal. I failed you, Vee.”

  “No, you didn’t,” she said, lifting her hand to touch his cheek. Her fingers were still bloody from when she’d clutched her wound, but it didn’t matter. Sotza had her blood smeared all over the front of his shirt. Proof that he’d been rattled while caring for her, despite his seeming calm. The Gentleman Butcher never spilled blood on himself. “We don’t know why John turned, why he gave us up to the Mexicans. You have always had impeccable instincts. Don’t doubt yourself now… we can’t afford it.”

  He took her hand in his, which was also bloody, and brought it to his lips, kissing her fingers. “You will never again be harmed under my watch, Vee. This is a promise.”

  She smiled up at him. “And I promise to defend you as well.” She held his gaze allowing the moment to flow between them, before adding, “Unless I’m the one attacking you. Then you’re on your own, esposo.”

  He laughed. A spontaneous laugh that made her heart stutter. He helped her sit up, one hand around her back while the other still held hers. Dizziness rushed through her again and he placed a hand on her shoulder, holding her still. “Give yourself a minute to recover. You lost more blood than I am comfortable with.”

  “There’s an amount that you would be comfortable with?” she said cheekily. Vee dipped her head and looked down at the bandage. “You did a good job,” she observed. Then she felt the need to point out, “Though we both know this wound could be a lot worse. You shattered Desi’s hand.”

  His eyes became flint and his features hardened into the mask she was becoming used to. “I slowed her down. She is a formidable enemy. Now she will need time to recover, learn to use her other hand with equal efficiency.”

  Vee stiffened at the casual cruelty in his words. She supposed she should thank the gods that he’d decided he wanted her, that they would be on the same side. Otherwise she might be the one with a useless hand… or worse. She was about to reply when a shout came from the front entrance. Vee twisted around to look over her shoulder while reaching for the gun. Sotza scooped it up before she could lay a finger on the weapon and then wrapped an arm around her waist, yanking her off the counter. He shoved her to the floor and crouched beside her. She was about to snap at him for leaving her weaponless when he reached down and pulled a gun from his ankle holster. Flipping the safety off he handed it to her.

  Vee took the gun from him, stared at it for a moment and then looked over at him. “I think I love you,” she said.

  Heat flooded her face. She hadn’t meant to say that! But everything about their time in the kitchen had prompted her to utter the words. He’d taken care of her, asked about Raina, apologized for not protecting her, and then given her a weapon to protect herself. It pulled something from deep within her.

  He flashed a quick grin, pinched her chin between his thumb and finger and dropped a quick hard kiss on her lips. “I have loved you from the moment I set eyes on you, Vee. Every minute since has confirmed and deepened my feelings.” Her mouth fell open and she stared at him incredulously as he shouted, “If you aren’t Mateo, then whomever you are, you better pray.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  It was Mateo that came through the door, followed by ten of Sotza’s men. Vee was shocked at how fast Sotza’s second responded to their situation. It had been maybe two hours since the attack had begun, though it felt like much longer. As his men covered entrances and prepared for the couple to leave the island, he explained that when neither John or Juan made their regular hourly contact with the mainland he mobilized immediately. They were in the air and headed over probably minutes after the island was hit.

  Sotza seemed to take Mateo’s preparations for granted, simply nodding his head while listening. Vee was both impressed and grateful. She hugged Mateo and thanked him for showing up. It was a few minutes too late to save her from being shot, but she was still grateful. She had been nervous about leaving the house, just her and Sotza. They would’ve been vulnerable with Vee being injured and Sotza alone to handle any threat that came their way.

  As they sped toward the mainland in two boats, Vee felt much better about their situation. She was able to relax, to succumb to the haze of pain that radiated from her arm into her shoulder and across her chest. Now that she was safe the pain didn’t bother her that much. It wasn’t any worse than some of the things she’d experienced in the past, and she knew she would survive the scratch to her upper arm. She would walk away with a cool scar as a trophy. She breathed in the fresh salty air, letting it centre her.

  “I suppose you won’t take pain meds?” Sotza murmured from behind her. He was sitting with his back against the bench while she was laying half on top of him with her back against his chest. His arms were wrapped tightly around her.

  “No,” she agreed, glancing up at him. “I won’t.”

  “You would if I insisted,” he said, frowning down at her, considering. “There is such thing as taking your anti-mind-altering-drug crusade too far. If I have to step in, I will.”

  “You won’t,” she said confidently. “You trust my judgement. If I couldn’t cope, I would say something.”

  “Hmm, indeed, I do trust your judgment in most things. But not necessarily with your own health. Do not forget, cariño, I have seen you do some pretty reckless things. On more than one occasion you put the health and safety of others before yourself. That’s not something I will allow you to do under my care.”

  She frowned, disliking the direction the conversation was going in, but settled back against him, refusing to engage further. She suspected that they would eventually clash over his dominant attitude. Probably sooner rather than later. She was a strong woman and, though sometimes stressful, she’d thoroughly enjoyed the past year of independence. She hadn’t needed or wanted a man in her life. Although, now that she was married to Sotza, she was discovering a few perks.

  She shifted in his lap as her body reacted to his closeness, his scent, melting a little inside. She curled up on her side, toward him, her forehead pressed against his flat belly. His arm curved over her back, holding her in place and providing comfort. Her eyes closed as she allowed herself to succumb to the exhaustion that was slowly creeping through her. The warmth of the sun seeped into her back and legs, cradling her in comfort as she drifted into sleep.

  She woke up with a start as she was lifted in the air. She lurched against Sotza’s chest and gripped his arms. “Go back to sleep, mi amor,” he said against the top of her head, careful not to jar her arm as he stepped from the boat. “We’re a few hours from being home. Relax and let me take care of you.”

  “Okay,” she said with a yawn and, for the first time in her life, went back to sleep feeling safe in the knowledge that she wouldn’t be hurt. Sotza would keep her safe.

  She managed to sleep through the entire car ride back to Caracas and the transfer to the private plane. When she woke they were flying low over the mountainous jungle region that held Sotza’s empire nestled within. She looked blearily at her new husband, checking to make sure he was next to her. She shouldn’t have doubted it. He was watching her, his gaze a mixture of concern and possession. She glanced away, a little unnerved.

  When they landed, Vee had barely disembarked when a small, blond tornado came rushing toward them. Vee watched in amusement and awe as Raina lit into Mateo.

  “What the fuck was that!?” she yelled at him, pok
ing him in the chest as she spoke. “One minute you’re harassing me in the garden and the next you light out like your pants are on fire, taking half the security in this place with you. If you’re going to act like the fucking country is exploding you need to tell me what’s happening so I don’t pace this mausoleum sick with worry!”

  “Whoa, chica!” Mateo said throwing his hands up in surprise. There was a smug look about him though, like he was pleased with Raina’s dramatic reaction to his withdrawal from the estate.

  Raina glanced around, caught sight of Vee and flung herself toward her mother. “Mom!” she cried.

  Sotza intercepted her before she could touch Vee. “No, child. She’s been injured. You need to calm yourself.”

  Rather than calming down her eyes grew round and filled with tears. “What happened?” she demanded.

  “She was shot when we were attacked,” he explained.

  Vee sighed and rolled her eyes as Raina’s face turned stark white and she clutched at the arm Sotza held up to bar her from grabbing hold of her mother. Clearly the man did not understand children. His policy of bald truthfulness was going to send someone over the edge. Vee shoved an elbow into his side causing him to grunt and wrapped her good arm around Raina, gathering her close. Raina hugged Vee around the waist, careful not to press too tight.

  “You’re okay?” she asked, her voice wobbling.

  “Of course,” Vee assured her. They separated and walked toward the vehicles, Raina on one side of Vee and Sotza on the other. Mateo and his men fell in protectively around the family. Raina slipped her hand into Vee’s, holding tight to her mother.

  Vee’s heart ached at the attention. They had grown steadily closer in the week moving up to the wedding, but this display of affection was new. Raina’s concern was welcome, but still strange. Vee wasn’t used to having so many people care about her welfare. Of course, Danny had cared, but she’d been his boss. If she fell than so did he. She wondered what’d happened to Danny, if he and his family were okay. She was hesitant to bring Sotza’s attention to her former second-in-command. She didn’t want him to decide to clean up that loose end. Though, in her brief time with him, it’d become clear that Sotza was meticulous when it came to planning and detail. He would not have forgotten about Danny Russo and his connection to Vee. Perhaps in a few days she would broach the subject. See if she might call Danny. For now, she would just navigate the choppy waters of her new marriage.