Page 3 of Born a Queen

Chapter Two

“Fucking stupid,” Mateo muttered darkly.

Raina gritted her teeth and sat as still as she could while he worked to patch her up. She’d woken up in a room she didn’t recognize. It was filled with empty cages and smelled like antiseptic. Mateo explained to her that he brought her to an animal hospital that was closed for the night. He couldn’t risk taking her to a regular hospital, not with the Italian Cosa Nostra hot on their heels.

“My people are looking for ways to get us out of the country. Airspace is being carefully monitored, as are trains and buses. The family you chose to cross have their fingers in everything.” His voice was devoid of emotion, but she could feel the accusation and anger swirling around him.

“I didn’t choose to cross anyone.” She flinched as he pressed an alcohol-soaked gauze pad to the wound on her back. She was sitting on a metal exam table, leaning forward with her back to Mateo. He’d pushed her shirt up. “I was ordered to work on documents for Antonio Savino. Not my fault the asshole didn’t want any loose ends.”

His hand dropped to squeeze her hip. “Watch your fucking language, Raina.”

She twisted around to look at him with a laugh. “You watch yours, gangster.”

Mateo’s sharp gaze softened. He reached up and pushed Raina’s pink glasses up her nose. “I forgot to say happy birthday,” he said softly.

Raina’s smile faded as her heart fluttered at his unexpected touch. “I was sort of passed out. It’s not a big deal.”

“Yes, it is,” he said seriously, then got back to work.

It felt good to be near Mateo again. It was as though the years faded and they were back in Sotza’s garden together in Venezuela, Raina trying to read a book while Mateo stalked and bullied her. Tried to get her to go back inside where he deemed it was safer.

Two years ago, Sotza had ordered Mateo to kidnap Raina and bring her to Venezuela to meet her birth mother, Elvira. As much as Raina had resented being taken against her will, she didn't actually hate her time there. In fact, she loved a lot of it. Venezuela was beautiful. Sotza's mansion was high up in the mountains; practically a natural fortress. She definitely wanted to go back someday.

But not today. Not tomorrow, and not anytime soon. She was enjoying life too much. As nice as it was to see Mateo again, she wasn’t ready to go back to that life permanently.

Raina suspected that Mateo wanted permanent. He was older than her, he was looking to settle. He was far more serious. And when he looked at her... he stole her breath. He made her heart pound. He terrified her. The things that he wanted from her were not things that she was willing to give him yet. She didn't want a home, a family and babies. She didn’t want the mafia.

Maybe one day, but not today.

Yes, Italy might have been a mistake. It would have been a fatal mistake if Mateo hadn't stepped in. But that didn't mean the rest of her time on the run had been a mistake; she'd had so many new experiences and made wonderful memories. She'd visited the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, gone dancing in Edinburgh, met a hacker in Jakarta and learned some awesome new digital printing techniques that would keep her up to date with her forging business. She wasn't willing to give that up. Not yet.

“You been taking your medications properly?” The question was so unexpected, spoken in a gruff tone of voice, that she almost asked him what he meant. Then she realized he was talking about her immunosuppressants; her antirejection drugs from the kidney transplant she’d had when she was twelve.

She pulled her purse closer and nodded. “Yes, I never forget them.”

He gave her a piercing look. “Be sure that you don’t.”

Her temper flared. “Don’t treat me like a child, Mateo. I’m well aware of the sacrifice made to me by my mother. I wouldn’t be alive if she hadn’t donated her kidney.”

“Wasn’t talking about your mother. I care that you survive, and you need that kidney to survive. You only have one functioning kidney left, you need to be more careful. Stop being so reckless with your health. The bullet could’ve easily taken out the kidney, killed you.”

She twisted on the table to glare down at him where he’d pulled a chair up to the table to work on her. “Thanks for the reminder, I nearly forgot.”

He tilted his head until his eyes met hers. They were a beautiful velvet brown, but serious. “You won’t be given the opportunity to endanger yourself again.”

Raina didn’t respond. Mateo was convinced she didn’t take her health seriously. She wouldn’t convince him otherwise until he saw her taking care of herself, taking her pills regularly, eating healthy foods, exercising. But that wasn’t in the cards, at least not right now.

"How do you plan on getting us out of here?" she asked.

Not that she actually intended to go with him, but talking to him, having him talk to her, distracted her from the pain.

When she had woken up, he told her that he managed to pull the bullet out while she was passed out. Thank the fucking gods, because the patch job on her bullet wound hurt so bad, she couldn't imagine anyone digging around inside while she was awake.

Raina was used to pain. She had gone through some of the most painful treatments of her life as a child. Pretty much anything else, including a gunshot wound, was child's play compared to a kidney transplant.

"We'll probably drive out," he said. "Then take an airplane from a neighboring country. It’s the only way I can think of to get you out safely without the Italians coming after us."

She smiled to herself, looking down at the table that she was sitting on. She tapped her fingernail against the stainless steel. "Yes, my safety. It's the most important thing, isn't it," she said drily.

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