Page 28 of Born a Queen

Chapter Sixteen

Raina examined herself in the mirror in her childhood bedroom at her parent’s farm. She looked pretty damn hot, if she did say so herself. She had flat ironed her hair until it was straight as a stick and sitting about halfway down her back. It was normally a wavy curly, but sometimes she liked the look of another style. It made her feel chic and different. Like a woman about to have a night on the town, even if the town had a population of only 3000 people.

They were going to a country bar; the only real bar in the area.

Raina was wearing a pair of tight black skinny jeans with rips in the thighs and knees. The jeans were about three years old, left behind from when she went to college. They still fit perfectly and gave her some extra confidence. Raina was small boned, small featured, short, and well, pretty much small all over. Including her ass. But somehow, through magic unknown to her, the jeans gave her a real ass, lifted up, and stuck it right out there. She couldn't wait until some cowboy filled his hands with it.

She also wore an off-the-shoulder red peasant blouse and a pair of genuine cowboy boots. She never really needed them, and to be completely honest, she had bought them for the country bar scene a few years ago. But they were gorgeous and she wasn't going to let their lack of authenticity stop them from shining. She loved them for their brown leather, heels, and rhinestones.

"You make that look good," Cass said, breezing into Raina's room and flopping down on the bed.

It was like old times and it made Raina smile with gratitude. It was like she never left. Everyone was treating her as though she'd only been gone on a vacation, not left for two years without a word.

"I know, right? Don't you love the boots?" Raina stuck her foot out for Cass to see.

"You've never touched a cow in your life, unless it came in burger form," Cass pointed out.

"Shush!" Raina laughed. "The boots don't know that."

Cass and Raina talked about what they were wearing, where they were going and who they might see there. Raina sat at her desk with a small mirror propped up against her lamp and applied her makeup. Raina rarely wore very much make up, though she liked the effect of making her features look more sophisticated. She put a bit more effort in for their evening out.

"I think Evan, Darcy and Dwayne are going to be out tonight. Darcy had a thing for you, didn't he?" Cass asked with fake innocence.

Raina didn't say anything. Yes, Darcy had had a thing for Raina and had never kept it much of the secret. At one point in her life, she'd indulged in a few fantasies about him. Of throwing his cowboy ass onto a hay bale and climbing on top of him. But she was smart enough to know that the reality probably wouldn’t match the fantasy. That big cowboy was best left locked up in fantasyland.

Being involved in the underworld, the way she'd been dragged into it, changed her perspective on everything. Darcy, the town she grew up in, the farmhouse, it all seemed so innocent to her now. It was like all those things were now a part of her childhood, neatly packaged and set aside to examine when she felt nostalgic. This place was no longer her reality, and like Alice in Wonderland, she couldn’t stay.

When Raina finished putting on her lip gloss, she pressed her lips together and turned to face Cass. "Time to go?" She stood up and twirled. She was truly very excited for a night on the town with old friends.

"Time to go." Cass stood and straightened her skirt. She wore a short black skirt with a black tank top emblazoned with a broken heart and the word ‘heartbreaker’ across it. On her feet were a pair of hot pink stilettos.

Heads turned when Cass and Raina entered the bar. It was so obvious that it was almost laughable. Raina looked at Cass and whispered, "Why are they staring at us?"

Raina had a healthy amount of self-confidence, something she’d built up over the years. She objectively knew she was a good-looking woman, but she’d never turned this many heads before by walking into a room.

Cass burst out laughing. "They're not looking at us, they're looking at you specifically. You disappeared straight off your university campus without a single word for two years, and suddenly you show back up again looking like a supermodel." Cass looked her up and down. "A really short supermodel."

Raina grinned and rolled her eyes. "Sure, thanks. Small town curiosity then."

They made their way to the back of the room, weaving around tables and heading past the bar to where Noah was waving at them from a table in the corner. Raina was grateful he thought to come out ahead of them and grab a table, because the room was crowded and she wasn't sure they'd have gotten a table otherwise. Noah already had a drink in front of him and next to his drink were two glasses of champagne.

Raina and Cass slid into their seats and thanked Noah for the drinks. They toasted and took a sip. Raina savoured the bubbles as they touched her tongue. This would be her only drink for the night. As always, she had to be very aware of everything she put in her body, but a glass of champagne with her two best friends was a necessity.

Cass picked up the conversation where they left off. "When you were taken away and no one knew where you were, we were frantic. Noah and I practically burned the university down searching for you. Your parents drove up and helped us. They were just as bewildered and frightened as we were, but for some reason they didn't want to go to the authorities."

Cass looked at Raina questioningly and Raina shifted in her chair. She knew why Joe and Diane wouldn't want to go to the police. They probably suspected the mafia connection was the reason for Raina's disappearance. They would have known that her life could've been even more in danger had they involved the police.

Curious, Raina asked, "And did they go to the police eventually?"

Noah gave her a strange look. "No, you contacted them two days after you went missing and told them where you were before they could make the decision to report you missing." At Raina’s blank look he continued, as if trying to prompt her. "You told them you needed time to yourself to figure things out. That you wanted to travel, that you felt bad for dropping out of University, which is why you took off without a word."

Raina sat with her mouth hanging open. It was quite a story and not a bit of it was true. But that wasn't what shocked her. Of course, her parents would have had to come up with something to appease her friends when Raina didn't come back. They would never understand why her parents wouldn't report her missing. What surprised Raina was the timeline. Two days after she’d gone missing. Who had contacted them and what had they said to her parents? Joe and Diane would've been frantic. Had someone taken that into consideration and attempted to reassure her parents?

Raina knew the answer to that. Mateo. He would have wanted to reassure her family; not only to keep them from going to the police, but because he would've known it would hurt Raina to know that her parents were upset. Raina knew this as well as she knew herself. Because she knew Mateo.

Unwilling to go down that path, Raina drained the rest of her champagne, giving herself a nice buzz. She grinned broadly at her two friends. "Who wants to dance?"

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