Page 55 of Born a Queen

Chapter Thirty

Later that night, Raina was sound asleep in her bedroom when the door was flung open. She blinked rapidly and shielded her eyes from the sudden glare of light coming in from the hallway. She pushed herself up in bed and stared toward the door squinting at the blurry person who interrupted her beauty sleep.

"Mateo?" she asked sleepily, covering a yawn.

"It's me," he confirmed, striding toward her bed, taking hold of the edge of her comforter and dragging it off her. "Get up, you're coming with me."

His voice was serious, his demeanor foreboding and closed off. What was going on? It must be something awful for him to wake her up this way.

As she climbed out of bed, Mateo strode to her closet, jerked the door open and disappeared inside.

"Hey!" she yelped, wobbling to her feet and taking a couple of steps after him.

She didn't want him rifling through her stuff, particularly the lingerie and other delicates. They hadn’t established that kind of relationship yet and until they did, she didn't want him looking at the things she wore beneath her clothes.

Before she could follow him into the closet and scold him, he came back out and tossed a bundle at her. "Put these on, meet me downstairs.”

"Are you going tell me what's going on?" she yelled after him as he quickly exited the room. She could hear his shoes tapping against the marble as he made his way rapidly down the hall toward the stairway.

She made a face, shoved her glasses on and began dressing in a pair of baggy sweatpants, a stretchy tank top and an oversized hoodie that zipped up the front. She pulled on a pair of sweat socks and running shoes and then took off after Mateo, curiosity driving her steps down to the main floor.

She was positive that if they were in a life or death situation that Mateo wouldn’t have left her alone. He would've stayed with her while she changed, and he would've protected her as they left the mansion. No, this was something else, and she was dying to know what.

She nearly crashed into him as she hurtled down the marble steps to the main floor, leaping off the last two steps and landing flat on her feet. She gasped as a hand gripped her arm to steady her. She looked up into Mateo's deadly serious face. His eyes were shuttered, cold as the grave. His face was devoid of all expression. This was scary Mateo.

She took a step back and got another good look at him. Holy shit, was that blood on his clothes? She wanted to ask him, but he took hold of her wrist and walked her toward the back of the house. He was so fast that if she didn't keep up, she was positive he would drag her.

What the hell was going on?

He walked straight through the back door and into the yard, toward the outdoor gym. Once they were on the workout mats Mateo dropped her wrist, kicked off his shoes and reached for his shirt, dragging it over his head. He stood in front of her wearing only a pair of pants and a leather belt. His chiseled chest was only somewhat visible in the dim lighting of the backyard, but she squinted, trying to trace every detail.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" she asked him, hands on her hips.

He ignored her question and growled, "Take your shoes off, get into position."

Raina thought about it. The rebel in her wanted to argue, to demand what he was thinking, waking her up in the middle of the night and forcing her into the back yard for a fighting session. But the other part of her, the woman who was gradually becoming attached to the man standing across from her, urged her to do as he said.

For one thing, the faster she took off her shoes and got into position, the faster she could get her hands on that bare chest, even if it was a quick feel as he dropped her to the mat. But the other reason she was more inclined to obey, was the look on his face. Though it was completely blank, she sensed an underlying turmoil. Something was hurting him, something that he didn't know how to process. He was dealing by dragging her into the yard in the middle of the night.

She kicked off her running shoes, tossing them to the side of the mat and then reached for the zip on her hoodie. Though the night was somewhat cool, she would warm up quickly once they got started.

Mateo was merciless. He attacked, he punched, he kicked, he threw her across the open space. As she hit the mat for the third time and rolled until she hit the grass, Mateo strode over loomed over her. He wasn't even breathing hard, but he wore a thunderous expression. He was angry that she couldn't fight back the way he wanted her to.

He reached down and gripped both of her arms, lifting her up so high that her feet left the ground before he set her back down. "Again," he demanded, taking a few steps back and lifting his arms in an aggressive position.

She shook her head, rubbing her shoulder where it had been jarred by her last fall. "I need a break, Mateo," she begged him. "I need some water."

There was a catch in her voice. She felt like she was going to cry. The Mateo that she'd been sparring with all week had been gentle, fun, patient. He’d been teaching her different defensive techniques, but he'd made it clear that sparring was also an excuse to get his hands on her. He hadn't hurt her. Now, he wasn’t playing around. He hit her hard and yelled at her when she didn't properly defend herself.

She turned away so he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes and reached for the mini fridge that sat out next to the workout area. She pulled a bottle of water out and uncapped it.

Mateo came up alongside her and after she'd finished gulping down half the water, he took it from her hands, drained it and tossed the empty bottle over his shoulder. He took her arm and pulled her back onto the mat.

"Again," he said firmly.

Once more, Raina was forced to defend herself as Mateo came at her, taking hold of her arms, her hair, her waist and throwing her. He would aim punches and kicks at her while she was down, forcing her to roll away or kick up at him. She used every technique that he, Danny and Angela had taught her, every technique she learned in self-defense classes at university. It still wasn't enough. He countered every move she made almost before she made it and then he showed her why she needed to defend herself.

She knew that Mateo was stronger and more skilled than her, but she'd never imagined that he could be this brutal. And she knew, that even though he was hitting her hard, he was still pulling his punches. She suspected that if he really hit her full force that he would be shattering her bones. The thought that he had that kind of power made her shudder in fear. It was one thing suspecting that someone you cared about could do something horrible to you, it was quite another to see it firsthand.

---