Page 26 of Born a Queen

Chapter Fifteen

Twelve hours and one connection after her conversation with Giovanni and Raina was touching down in Pennsylvania, her home state. She thought coming back to Pennsylvania would give a sense of coming home. It had been over two years since she was kidnapped from her University campus and this was her first time back.

As she gazed out her window, she felt a sense of nostalgia, but not home. Maybe the home feelings would come back to her when she was back with her mom and dad, in their farmhouse. Or maybe she had outgrown her home. She grew up there, but she knew at a young age that she was adopted. It wasn't something that her mom and dad told her, because they would never want to hurt her, but more a deep-seated knowledge that she wasn't blood-related to them.

And while blood shouldn't matter, unfortunately, as Raina grew from a small child into her teens it came to matter to the Duncan family. At age nine, Raina was diagnosed with kidney failure. She went on dialysis for three years, and when she turned twelve, she was deemed old enough, or desperate enough, to receive a lifesaving transplant.

It wasn't until she had met Elvira, her birth mother, that she realized who the kidney donor had been. She'd seen the scar on her mother’s back; a scar that matched Raina’s.

If Joe and Diane have been able to donate a kidney to Raina, she was positive that they would've handed over every single kidney they had between the two of them. That was how much her adoptive parents loved her. And she loved them back. Wholeheartedly, unreservedly and without question. Even when Raina found out that they were also mob-affiliated, it hadn't changed the way she felt about them. They were her parents and that would never change.

Sometimes Raina felt a slight sense of guilt that she couldn't give them exactly what they wanted in a child. Not that they ever told her otherwise, but she knew, deep down, that they'd wanted a daughter a little more like them. One with both feet and a brain planted in reality. A child that didn't long to explore the world and everything in it. A child that wouldn't use her intelligence for illegal gain.

From the moment Raina learned that forging documents was a thing, she'd been in whole hog. Something about the fine detail, the subterfuge and outsmarting the authorities called to her when she worked. It was something she didn't want to lose and tried to work on as often as she could. Something that she tried to keep from Joe and Diane, but she suspected she failed.

Raina was deep in thought when the plane finally taxied to a halt. She snapped back to attention when the people all around her began to stand, stretch and reach for the overhead bins. Raina waited until it was her turn to disembark before she stood, grabbed her purse from under the seat in front of her and her overnight bag from the bin above. Her back jolted in pain as she reached up, reminding her of her recent injury.

It felt so strange being back in the United States, back at the airport where she’d taken her very first flight as a child. They’d flown to Philadelphia for her kidney consultations. Raina had loved going to the big city. She’d felt important and special.

Raina followed the lineup of people ahead of her off the airplane, into the airwalk and through the airport towards arrivals.

Raina hadn't told anyone that she was coming, just in case something happened to her plans. Like Mateo somehow finding and stopping her. So she was completely unprepared for the sight of her loved ones when she walked through the sliding frosted doors. When they caught sight of her, they made an unholy amount of noise, drawing attention from the people around them.

Raina grinned from ear to ear and threw herself at her parents. They enveloped her completely between the two of them. They were both taller and wider than her, so it wasn't a difficult thing to do. After a long family hug, then separate hugs for each of her parents, Raina turned to her two best friends, Cass and Noah.

Cass squealed and squeezed Raina so hard that she had to fight for air. Cass’s long curly brown hair surrounded them in a cloud. The second Cass let go, Noah snatched Raina off her feet swung her around, crushing her in a bear hug. She yelped as her back twinged but didn’t demand he put her down. It felt good getting a Noah hug. This was how Noah had always greeted her and Cass when he hadn't seen them in a while.

She squeezed him extra hard and then let go. She studied him for a second, admiring the way his features seem to be growing out of their youthful roundness. He was a man and a good-looking one at that.

"How did you know I was coming?" Raina asked happily, her arms around Cass and Noah as she turned back to her parents.

Joe took Raina's overnight bag while Diane answered her question. "Mateo told us," she said as if that explained everything.

Raina blinked and tried to make sense of what her mother had said. Since when were her parents on a first name basis with Sotza’s second-in-command?

They made their way toward the baggage claim and as they walked, Diane answered her unspoken question. "The night that we left with you from Venezuela in the helicopter, he was following close behind. It was very shortly after we put you on a plane to Beijing that he… met with us."

Diane cast a glance toward Cass and Noah. Cass was watching Raina and her parents carefully, as though she sensed that she had missed something very important in Raina's life. Diane was being careful as she talked, making it sound as though Mateo was simply a family friend instead of the man who probably confronted and terrorized her parents. A shiver ran through her.

"But he didn't follow me to Beijing?" Raina asked thoughtfully.

"I think Mateo saw the wisdom in allowing you to follow your plan of travelling the world. You were too young for a boyfriend… of his age." Joe spoke this time, his voice less tearful than Diane's. Raina studied him carefully. Though he seemed happy to have her back, he also seemed different. Aged somehow.

Raina's heart broke as she realized the impact of the last few years on her family and friends. Cass and Noah had probably been given some kind of story about her travelling the world. It was a miracle they even still cared enough about her to show up at the airport given she hadn't been able to speak to them. She'd essentially been in hiding. She hadn't really spoken to anyone except her birth mother, who had assured her that she was passing on messages to Joe and Diane. While Raina had been enjoying her time exploring city after city, country after country, her friends and family had been suffering.

She would have to find a way to make it up to them. But for now, she was exhausted and truly happy to be home.

They collected her bags and made their way out of the airport, driving back toward the farm, which was about forty-five minutes away. They dropped Cass and Noah off at their home in the town closest to the farm. The three of them agreed that they would see each other the next day. Then Raina watched with curiosity as the other two made their way inside the same apartment building. Was something going on between them? Maybe they were roommates? Maybe they had separate apartments in the same building? The apartment building wasn't a place that Raina had ever visited before. It made sense that Cass and Noah would move out from home. Both were the same age as her, twenty-one.

As Raina, Joe and Diane drove out toward the farm, Raina was able to speak freely. She spoke with enthusiasm of all the places she visited, all the things she’d done. They were an avid audience and some of Joe's heaviness seem to lift as she spoke, as he realized that Raina hadn’t been suffering, that she had been safe and happy while away from them.

"It's so wonderful to hear you speak of your adventures. Of course, we always knew where you were. Mateo kept us updated every step of the way. In fact, he would call at least once a week. It helped, knowing that someone like him was keeping an eye on you," Diane said with a smile and an obvious soft spot for a hardened killer.

Raina was stunned. Not only had Mateo known about Beijing, but, as Giovanni had suggested, it was starting to sound like he'd known where she was the entire time she was gone. She’d had no reason to look over her shoulder constantly as she travelled because he'd been with her every step of the way. Maybe not physically, although she'd bet money that he had people on her.

While a part of her had suspected, actually knowing how close he was the entire time pissed her off. She’d never really been free. She'd only been given a couple more feet of leash. He could've picked her up at any time. And why the fuck was he talking to her parents once a week?

"He's not a good person, mom. He's dangerous and you should keep your distance from him," she snapped, glaring out the window as they pulled into the farmyard.

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