Page 55 of Queen's Move

Raina nodded hesitantly, clearly uncomfortable. She helped her mother tie Rodrigo with his hands behind his back. Vee was efficient in knot work and was able to tie him quickly and tightly.

“Let’s go, they’re waiting for us,” she said pulling Raina to her feet.

After securing Rodrigo, they pushed the door to the shack open and ran back out into the rain. Vee gripped Raina’s arm and made a beeline for the helicopter which was just finishing its landing. She didn’t want it to have to wait. She wanted it to take off immediately. She rushed toward it, grateful when she saw the side door open and a person crouch in the doorway, beckoning them.

When they were within feet of the chopper a female voice shouted, “Raina!” Vee grinned as Diane Duncan hurled herself out of the door, into the rain and on top of her daughter. “Oh god, Raina, I was so worried!”

The older woman sobbed as she gripped her adopted daughter.

“Mom?” Raina asked, completely shocked and mystified at how her sweet old mom was standing on the tarmac of a notorious mob boss. “What are you doing here?”

Diane looked up, her eyes meeting Vee’s. “Elvira,” she said softly, reaching out to pull Vee in for a strong hug. Vee wrapped her arms around the other woman, hugging her back, tears forming in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Diane,” she said, her voice catching with emotion. “I thought I did a good enough job of protecting her…”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Joe’s gruff voice reached them through the rain as he stepped from the helicopter, enveloping Raina in a tight hug, holding her close to his chest. “We always knew there was a possibility she could get pulled in, one way or the other. You did everything you could to make sure she lived happily.”

Vee nodded, unable to speak, tears mingling with the rain. She reached out blindly, gripping Raina, who was sobbing in the arms of her dad. Vee needed the connection. Needed to experience the wonder of touching the child she created, the child she’d given up to these people who loved her just as much as Vee ever could.

“You… you know each other?” Raina asked pulling away from her dad and swiping at the tears leaking from beneath her glasses with the back of her arm. It was a useless gesture as she was immediately soaked.

“Yes,” Diane said, beckoning them toward the helicopter. “We’ve known Elvira almost since she was a child. In fact, we consider her as much a daughter as you are.”

“Diane…” Vee said softly, climbing in behind the others, into the dry warmth of the helicopter. She glanced worriedly behind her and turned to Raina gripping her arms. “We helped each other when we were at our most desperate. Diane and Joe wanted out of the mob life and I needed to hide a baby. They were low level enough that they could disappear with a little help.”

“She gave us everything she had,” Diane said fondly. “Enough money to start over in a part of the country that no one would think to look for us.”

“I had access to records, things that might make them traceable. So I was able to destroy anything that would make them a target. No one thought I was smart enough to understand or care about such things.” She looked out the window squinting into the darkness again. “But your parents can explain all that, you need to go.”

“What?” Raina asked, her voice high-pitched. “No, you need to tell me more! I don’t understand.”

Vee shook her head and tried to step out the door. Raina tackled her in a surprisingly tight hug. “No!” she yelled, her arms tight around Vee’s neck. She could feel the girl’s hot tears against her skin. Her own forlorn tears made paths down her cheeks. “You’re my parent too, I can’t let you go, not after I’ve just found you.”

Vee allowed the hug for as long as she could, a few precious seconds, and then she pushed her daughter away. She took Raina’s face in her hands, memorizing it, the features that matched hers so exactly but also had a life of their own. “He will never stop looking for me, Raina,” she explained, hardening her words so she could push them past the lump in her throat. “I need you to go so I can breathe easy again. I need to know that you’re free. And I need to be with my husband. One day our needs will meet and so will we. Until then, go, and be happy… for me.”

“But mom…” Raina sobbed unabashedly. Diane reached out and held Raina’s shoulders.

“I love you, Raina.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Almost as soon as the helicopter took off Vee was surrounded by Sotza’s men. Mateo strode toward her, his anger almost a living thing. He took her gun and threw it at one of his men. He snatched her neck and dragged her toward him, nearly lifting her off her feet. Rain streaked his face, dripping off his clenched jaw.

“Where is she?” he snarled.

She stared at him, willing her heart to slow. She wasn’t in danger. Mateo wouldn’t hurt her. Not only because she was the wife to his boss, but because she was the mother of his love. She knew he cared deeply about her daughter. It didn’t matter though. Mateo was mafia and Raina was not.

Instead of answering his question, she said softly, for his ears only, “You need to let me go, Mateo. Before Sotza sees. We both know he won’t react well to anyone else touching me. I don’t want to be responsible for what happens to you.”

He surprised her by tightening his fingers just a fraction, threateningly. Then he shoved her away. “If you don’t wanna tell me where she went then you’ll tell him. I guarantee it.”

He ordered two of his men to take her up to the house while he turned and strode to the control shack. She hoped Rodrigo would be ok. Not from the shot she gave him, he would definitely survive that tiny nick. No, she worried he wouldn’t survive Mateo if the man decided to take his frustrations out on the guard who had failed in his job.

Vee walked through the rain, setting the pace between the two men. She wanted out of the rain, but she certainly wasn’t going to rush toward her own reckoning. They took a car this time, which she was grateful for. She didn’t particulalry want to walk back through the deluge.

She had no idea what she would find when she entered Sotza’s office. She remembered the last time she’d angered him, the way he attacked her after, asserted his dominance. Since their time in his flower garden he’d been treating her with more respect, giving her the tools she needed to stand at his side without fear. Now, she worried that this action, helping Raina escape, would set their relationship back.

The front door opened and she stepped through into the estate foyer. Heat rushed at her and she basked in the warmth as it penetrated the dripping layers she wore. Adriana, the evening maid, rushed toward her with a towel clutched in her hands. She wrapped it around Vee’s shoulders and walked swiftly toward the stairs, her arm firmly around the Señora. Vee raised a brow at Adriana’s almost affectionate behaviour. While Vee had been polite to the staff, she hadn’t taken any pains to get to know them. She was first and foremost a businesswoman. She didn’t really care about cooking or cleaning and left house tasks to the housekeeper and her staff.

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