Page 93 of Born a Queen

Sotza lifted his drink in a toast. "To lucrative cross-border alliances. You, me, Reyes and now Savino. Between the four of us, we’ll own a good chunk of this world."

Mateo lifted his glass and toasted to that.

They talked for most of the afternoon, Mateo updating Sotza on each of his Miami contacts and giving the older man a clear rundown on his activities. For his part, Sotza seemed impressed with Mateo’s persistence and ingenuity. Miami was not an easy city to lock down, but it was too lucrative to allow it to fall into the wrong hands.

Sotza made a couple of suggestions that Mateo paid close attention to. Though Mateo had acted as Sotza's second-in-command for two decades, the other man was a born and bred leader. He slept, ate, and breathed organized crime. This was why he was Mateo's mentor.

Mateo left the club feeling good about things. He was now kingpin in one of the most lucrative organized crime cities in the world. He had connections all over the world and was in the process of cementing new ones. The woman of his dreams waited at home for him. She might be angry, but he would always want to see her, want to spend time with her. It didn't matter if she was screaming curse words at him, he would treasure every syllable.

When Mateo got back to the mansion, he decided to give Raina more time to herself and opened the door to his office, smiling, as he did each time he entered. Drop cloths and dust were his new normal when it came to this room. At first, he didn't see her standing among the plastic protectors covering the bookshelves. But then she turned when she heard him, her intense blue eyes piercing him as she tilted her head to the side, her blond hair spilling across her shoulder.

"You're back early," she said softly.

He was usually home around suppertime.

"Finished my meeting and decided I wanted to come home. See how you’re doing.” His words were spoken with the careful deference of the man who knew he'd hurt his lover and didn't want to cause further damage.

She set the tape measure she'd been holding down on the edge of his desk and leaned her hip against the wood. She crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged. A protective gesture he’d come to recognize.

"I'm okay now."

Mateo stepped toward her, somewhat hesitantly. If she still needed space, he would give it to her. For a time. But she allowed his approach, not even a frown flickering her fine brows.

He didn't speak, sensing that she had something to tell him. After a few moments of gathering her thoughts she looked up at him. "Maybe you're right, maybe I shouldn't have babies. I feel strong, I feel tough and sometimes even invincible. When I'm not being shot at anyway." Her tone was wry, though he sensed the underlying seriousness. "But I want the chance to decide these things myself. I don't want to be told something as huge as that I won’t be allowed to give birth to a child. It's unfair. You have to see how unfair it is, Mateo."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, wrestling with his words and thoughts. He truly thought about simply apologizing and nothing more. He wouldn't reverse his vasectomy; that option wasn't on the table. But Raina deserved more than that. She deserved his entire truth even if it made her angry again.

"Yes, it's not fair to have decisions made about your own body. And I am sorry that you were hurt by this decision. But I would make the same choice all over again. What’s fair and what’s not doesn’t come into consideration when your health is on the line. Free will means nothing to me in the face of your continued survival. Do you understand?"

She nodded, still thoughtful. Not angry, which relaxed something inside him. He expected her fury, understood it even. Instead, she was attempting to see his side of things, though he refused to compromise.

"I do understand. And I think… I think that the way you love me is breathtaking." She stared at him, her eyes big blue pools of intelligence. "I may not agree with you. And I may actively take steps to defy you if we do have a similar disagreement in the future. But, for now, this isn't the thing that will break us."

Mateo's instincts screamed to life, telling him to lay down the law. He should deny her words, tell her that she will never be given the chance to defy him when it comes to her health. But he swallowed the words. He'd had enough truth for now, even though she would absolutely never be allowed to place herself in harm's way.

"What will break us?" he asked.

"I don't know." Her words were almost a whisper, they were wistful and hopeful at the same time.

Mateo closed the space between them, wrapping his hands around her waist and pulling her against his body for a hug. "The answer to that is nothing will break us. I won't let it happen."

She tipped her head back, her eyes shining and her lips stretching into a smile. He hadn't expected this from her, not today, maybe not for many days until she got over the shock of his earlier announcement.

"I won't let anything break us either." Her words were firm with conviction.

Mateo could do nothing other than kiss her. He lowered his head at the same time as lifting her up onto her toes, taking her lips in a kiss meant to convey all the feelings he couldn't express easily. Love, affection, awe, desire, admiration. This woman was the whole package and he was never going to let her go. They would grow old together, they would die together. He couldn't imagine a better life.

He deepened the kiss, his brain automatically searching for appropriate surfaces to lay her out on. He needed to seal this declaration with a solid fuck and he needed to do it now.

Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance. The whole world exploded around them in a deafening BOOM.

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