Page 42 of Born a Queen

Casey was also mob royalty, having grown up the daughter of a man high up in the organization. After a terrible incident, where her entire family had been killed in a mob hit, she’d been married off to the man who had killed her family and forced to live in the home that Raina now inhabited.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Casey asked, concerned for her best friend’s only child. “Miami is a vicious place to live when you’re involved in the underworld scene.”

“I don’t have much choice,” Raina told her. “My… fiancé is taking over and he wants me here with him.” Raina hesitated in calling Mateo her fiancé when he hadn’t actually proposed to her and she hadn’t actually agreed to marry him, but she didn’t know what else to call him. Boyfriend seemed like a weak word for what Mateo wanted.

“Well, I suppose I can understand that. Love has a way of making us do stupid things.”

Raina didn’t correct Casey about the love thing. She sure as shit wasn’t in love with Mateo, but she didn’t want to argue the matter, or make Casey even more concerned about her well-being. Instead, they discussed the people Raina needed to see and places she needed to visit in order to make connections in the East Coast hub city. Raina was impressed with the plethora of information Casey gave her.

When Raina hesitantly brought up the house and her redecoration plans, Casey was enthusiastically on board, much to Raina’s relief. If Casey had objected, then Raina wouldn’t have touched the mansion.

“Please tell me you’ll bulldoze the office. I fucking hated that place,” Casey said, a dark tone lacing her voice.

Raina didn’t know what happened to Casey in the office, but she was more than ready to agree. “I haven’t been in there yet, but I promise to gut the place when I get my hands on it.”

“Oh good!” Casey said happily, and Raina could hear her clap her hands. “Tell me everything you plan on doing. I always wanted to get my hands on the place, but Ignacio, my late husband, may he never rest in peace, wouldn’t let me touch anything.”

They swapped decorating notes and tips and Raina promised to start a Pinterest board so she could update Casey on all her ideas and Casey could remotely take part in the renovation.

By the time they hung up Raina was smiling and feeling more relaxed than she had in days. Maybe weeks, or even months. Though she didn’t want to live pinned under the heavy thumb of her family, she felt safer and more secure than she had in a while.

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