Page 66 of Born a Queen

Chapter Thirty-Six

The next day, after spending most of the morning working on a new commission for papers for an American diplomat whose lover was a foreign national spy, Raina decided to go for a relaxing swim. Between hosting both of her mothers and engaging in a weird mating dance with Mateo, Raina was ready for some down time.

She loved Vee and Diane, but both women, each in their own way, were exhausting. All Diane had wanted to do was talk wedding, wedding, wedding. Raina was not a wedding person. Though her own wedding engaged her more than other people's, she still wasn't willing to put in a lot of effort. Raina was a hardcore introvert, she had little desire to be around crowds of people that she barely knew, especially as the center of attention.

Vee had been exhausting in a different way. Vee was born and bred to the mafia, which created a kind of edge. She expected the worst and she was cynical, almost to a fault. She was always looking for conspiracies and angles.

Raina admired her birth mother, and in some ways, they were very much alike. Both mother and daughter were shrewd, sharp and intelligent. They also had big hearts. It was a strange combination that was likely what got both women into trouble time and time again. They were sneaky, worked on the wrong side of the law, but they were also loyal and compassionate.

That’s where the similarities ended. Vee’s experiences had made her cynical and distrusting. She was suspicious of most everyone, especially men and she didn't keep her thoughts to herself. Sometimes Raina thought that when Vee looked at Mateo, she was seeing her first husband, Tony Montana. The man who had beaten, degraded, and nearly killed her.

Raina decided she wanted a swim and headed to her room to change. Ten minutes later, she emerged wearing a white bathing suit with a gold clasp between the breasts and one on each hip, a light blue bathing suit robe and flip-flops. She made her way back through the mansion, admiring some of the changes along the way. It was starting to feel like home.

After finding out about Daniela, Raina had re-renovated many of the styles that Daniela had chosen. Raina's new interior designer was on board with this, even if he found it strange that they were repainting freshly painted rooms. He favoured a bolder style over the modern whites and creams that Daniela had been choosing for Raina. Raina found that she enjoyed some of the brighter accents more than she would have thought.

At the pool, she dropped her robe and tossed it carelessly across a lounge chair. She kicked off her sandals, stepped up to the edge of the pool and dove into the clear blue water. The pool was heated so the water temperature was perfect; not too hot, not too cold. Raina powered through twenty laps, counting them in her head as she touched the edge of the pool. Each lap helped to ease some of the tension from her body. Her mothers were gone and the imposter interior designer was no longer in the mansion. Her forgery work was taking off and things with Mateo were going well. Raina had nothing to worry about.

After finishing her laps, Raina rolled over onto her back and floated, staring up at the clear blue sky dotted with fluffy, cotton ball clouds.

Because her ears were half underwater, she didn't hear Mateo approach and didn't know how long he'd been standing watching her before she spotted him. She rolled her head to the side and saw his big body blotting out the sun. She swam lazily over to him a happy smile on her face. He watched her, the gleam of a predator in his eyes.

"You're home early," she said huskily as she approached the edge of the pool where he was standing. "Break your quota of kneecaps for the day, gangster?"

He flashed her a quick grin, unable to help himself. Raina noticed that Mateo and most of the criminal type guys she'd been around rarely smiled. As though their go-to expression was deadly, serious, frozen in stone. Although Mateo seemed to have nailed the expression, he still showed his softer side once in a while.

"Something like that," he said, crouching next to the edge of the pool.

Raina had an immature impulse to yank him into the water, expensive suit and all. She was relatively certain he wouldn't get overly angry with her and might even find humour in the situation. But she reined in the urge. Maybe one day she’d give it a try.

He ran his finger down her cheek and tilted her chin. He lazily scanned her features and then dipped his gaze to her small breasts where they were tightly encased in the low-cut bathing suit. "Wanted to see you."

Raina grinned up at him. "Yeah? Why?"

"Want to show you something." He reached down for her, making it obvious that he was going to pull her out of the pool.

Raina clutched the sleeves of his suit jacket as he gripped her underneath her arms and pulled her straight up from the pool, going from his crouch to standing position and setting her on her feet in front of him. Water poured off her, wetting the front of his suit and shoes. Maybe she should've pulled him into the pool; apparently he didn’t mind getting wet.

"What do you want to show me?" she asked with a lift of her brow. "New puppy? Diamonds? The head of imposter Daniela on a platter?"

She almost regretted her last sentence when darkness replaced his pleasant expression. He shook his head. "We haven't been able to locate her yet."

The ‘yet’ in that sentence was significant. Raina had no doubt that he meant it. It wasn't a matter of if they found Daniela, it was a matter of when. Raina hoped the other woman had a damn good excuse for her subterfuge, because if she didn't, her head really would go on a platter.

"Follow me," he said, taking her hand. He allowed her to pull on her robe and flip-flops before leading her away from the pool.

"Where are we going?" she asked curiously, shivering when he ran his thumb down the inside of her hand, subconsciously rubbing her as they walked. She loved the feel of his hands on her.

"To the bunker." His tone was strange; dark but excited.

Of all the places he might want to take her, she definitely wasn't expecting him to say the bunker. "Why do you want to take me down there? You demanded I never set foot in there again without your permission."

"Consider this my permission."

Raina frowned as they rounded the pool house, walking away from where she knew the entrance to the bunker lay. "This isn't the right way."

He inclined his head toward her and said mysteriously, "You aren't the only one who's been renovating this place."

Raina halted in her tracks and gasped in surprise as she was confronted with a concrete wall with a door in it in the middle of her lawn. Where had this come from?

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