Page 13 of Born a Queen

Raina trailed after him thinking about the strange things he'd said. Why wouldn't she feel pain like anyone else? No matter how tough a person is, pretty much everyone felt pain. Had he been testing her? Testing her resilience?

Raina gave herself a mental shake. She was overthinking this. He’d already stated his intentions and she didn't think it mattered whether or not she was fainting or gritting her teeth and bearing the pain, he still wanted her for a daughter-in-law.

Strangely though, she was starting to soften towards the older man. He seemed lonely and somewhat out of touch. Brutal probably, though she hadn't seen any first-hand evidence. She wondered how she would be feeling right about now if he'd told her she would marry him rather than his son. Neither was a great option, but the older gentleman was far more palatable then his weasel spawn.

After showing her into his office, he went to his desk and picked up a pill bottle. He shook a couple pills out into his hand and gave them to her. She looked at his hand with narrowed eyes. It probably wasn't smart to take drugs from someone she didn't trust. And right now, Savino was on the far end of her spectrum of trust.

He caught on to her hesitation. "The doctor left these for you last night. I forgot to send them up to your room. I assure you they are simply a strong dose of ibuprofen, for your pain. He says he can bring more if you need them."

Raina shook off her skepticism, reminding herself he had plenty of other opportunities to drug or kill her. She took the pills and swallowed them dry, a skill she’d picked up in her early years of kidney failure when she had to swallow many pills and got impatient with waiting for water. "I don't think I'll need any more." She gave him a smirk. "I'm a tough little creature."

He flashed her a quick smile and then arranged his face back into business mode. "I will have some proper clothes sent to your room. I'd intended to do that before you got up, but you were out of bed earlier than expected. I’ll show you our pantry while we wait for the clothing to arrive. After, we will attend a meeting."

"With your son?" she asked hesitantly, trying to keep the worry from her voice.

Giovanni shook his head. "No, Mateo Gutierrez. We will meet with him and discuss your future."

For a few seconds it felt as though all of the air was sucked out of the room. Elation crashed into terror and sizzled right through her body making her hair stand on end. Mateo was coming for her, exactly as she knew he would. Once more her flight instinct kicked in and it was everything she could do not to run. She didn't think she would make it far with both Mateo and Giovanni hot on her heels. How the hell was she supposed to get out of this?

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