Page 18 of Born a Queen

Whenever he did that, whenever he looked at her with such an intense gaze, she felt like she could divine his thoughts. Blood, sex and violence. She gave a slight shake of her head, silently telling him she truly was fine.

His shoulders seemed to relax a fraction. No one else around them would've seen the interaction, it had been so fast and intimate. No one would know that she had silently called off the bloodbath that he would've instigated on her behalf, had Giovanni hurt her in any way.

Mateo sat on Raina's other side, his body shifting in a way that very subtly blocked her from view of the club. A woman plopped herself down into the chair next to Mateo. At first, Raina thought the woman belonged to Giovanni. But body language and the way she was dressed told Raina otherwise. This one was Mateo's.

Raina studied her with the cool air of indifference on the outside and raging jealousy on the inside. The woman was beautiful, with dark serious eyes, hair falling in soft waves around her shoulders and a small compact body with more curves than Raina could ever hope to grow.

Raina knew that she was being unreasonable, that her jealousy was unwarranted. She had no real claim on Mateo, despite his obsession with her. She’d never given him any indication that she felt the same. The irrational side of Raina wanted to stamp her ownership all over the wild Venezuelan gangster.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me." Mateo’s eyes were on Giovanni as he spoke.

Considering the smoldering cauldron of violent intentions buried beneath a fancy suit and bland expression, Raina was impressed that Mateo was keeping such a polite front.

Before Giovanni could answer, Raina's curiosity got the better of her. She stuck her hand out toward the woman. "Raina Duncan. And you?"

The other woman looked momentarily startled but then seemed to gather herself. She looked at Raina as though seeing her for the first time, and for all Raina knew maybe this was the first time. The woman shook her hand, a firm quick jerk before she let it go.

"Angela Santiago.” She seemed to hesitate, then she added, "I work for Mateo and your father."

Raina pursed her lips and nodded thoughtfully. She was impressed. She hadn't realized that the Latino macho men who made up the Venezuelan underworld would allow a woman such a position. Perhaps Sotza, or Mateo, or both, were more forward-thinking than she’d given them credit for. While she certainly didn’t approve of the way they procured wives, she liked the idea that they worked with women.

"Pleased to meet you," Raina said politely, some of her jealousy melting away.

Angela nodded, her eyes drifting away from the table to scan the club. Raina wondered if Angela was a bodyguard. She was small but she dressed badass in denim, leather and heavy boots.

A slight tension rippled through the occupants of the table as they all fell silent for a few seconds. The seriousness of this meeting was starting to set in. Dangerous people sharing a table in a club owned by one of the most powerful men in the world.

Raina wondered who held more power, Giovanni or Sotza? Mateo, acting in Sotza's stead, was just as powerful as his boss. Raina recalled a conversation that she had with him when she was living in the mountain compound in Venezuela for that brief month. His words still struck a chord of apprehension within her. He'd said to her, "No man is my master."

A person only had to spend a matter of minutes with Mateo to see the coiled strength within, the leashed violence, the intelligence and the terrifying determination. Mateo knew exactly who he was and where he was going in life. This is why the idea of spending the rest of her life with a man like that, a man who was already married to the mob, felt too frightening for her to contemplate.

She would admit to being attracted to him. Who wouldn't? On the surface, he was everything a woman could want; good-looking, wealthy, self-confident. But underneath, he was dark. And while Raina had come to terms with the fact that she would inevitably be drawn into the mafia life by who she was, who she was born to, she wasn't yet ready to accept an arranged marriage.

She glanced over at Giovanni who wanted her to marry his son. No, she wasn't interested in marriage with any of the options she was currently faced with.

"Business," Mateo said in a cool voice letting the occupants of the table note that he was impatient to get the upcoming negotiations over with.

"Drinks first," Giovanni insisted.

As if out of nowhere, a woman stepped up to the table with a tray. She lowered it with professionalism, not rattling the drinks. Though no one at the table had ordered, except for Giovanni prior to the Mateo’s arrival, the waitress placed specific drinks in front of Mateo and Angela.

Mateo raised a brow and glanced down his drink. "Gin," he observed, a slight edge of sarcasm to his voice.

"With a twist of lime." Though the drink itself was innocuous, Giovanni wanted everyone at the table to know that he’d done his research. He was prepared for this conversation. And he was in control.

Angela shrugged her shoulders, rolled her eyes, picked up her drink and slammed it. She set the glass down on the table with a clunk and said, "Good drink."

Raina was starting to like this Angela chick. She had attitude and if anyone could appreciate a decent attitude it was Raina.

"Now, business." Giovanni's voice held no more warmth.

"Sotza wants his daughter back immediately, unharmed." Mateo’s voice dripped with ice. "Thanks to your imbecile of a son, I'll be handing her over with a hole in her. How do you suggest we rectify this situation?"

Raina sucked in a breath at Mateo's aggression, but Giovanni did nothing except nod. "My son has certainly made a bad move with this young lady. I regret that she came to harm within my city. Had I known she was here, I would have made sure that her stay was more pleasant."

"I insist that you release Raina to me and allow us safe passage out of your territory." Mateo's voice held aggression. He wasn't here to negotiate; he was here to make demands.

Having spent some time with Giovanni, Raina didn't believe that threats were the way to go. She felt tension running through the older man and worried that he might try to set his bodyguards on Mateo. If it came down to a fight, she wasn't sure who she was more worried about, Giovanni’s men or Mateo.

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