Page 30 of Born a Queen

"Dance?" Darcy asked her.

Raina looked at Noah and then toward Cass who was watching them with curiosity, her lips tilted up in a grin because she knew that her friend was getting hit on. Noah nodded toward Darcy and his boys and then said to Raina, "Whatever you want to do, I'll be at the table with Cass."

After Raina agreed to dance, Noah left her in Darcy's care. A fast-paced country beat dictated their first dance. They two-stepped energetically, laughing and talking about nothing. It was noisy and Raina was starting to feel out of breath from dancing half the night. She relaxed and allowed Darcy to swing her around in his strong embrace.

When they finished the dance, she attempted to go back to her table, but Darcy grabbed her hand to stop her. "Hey, don't go leaving me yet. I don't want to lose you for another two years. Dance with me again."

He didn't really ask her, but assumed he had her consent. Raina didn't want to make a fuss since she was having a good time, so she melted into his arms for the next dance, a love ballad. They swayed together to Taylor Swift's Lover.

Mateo would have a fit if he saw another man touching her. Every time they saw each other, the atmosphere was fraught with emotion and he made it clear that he didn't want her near his men unless it was purely business. He'd been that way right from the start, right from the moment he took her from her University campus to Venezuela.

"So, where'd you go for those two years?" Darcy asked, demand in his tone.

Raina didn't like the way he asked the question, as though he was entitled to an answer. It was really none of his business; they'd never been an item. He'd been too much of a playboy and Raina was two years behind him in school. Though he'd noticed her, neither had ever acted on any kind of romance. Story of Raina's life, all fun and fantasies, no action.

"Travelling." She didn't give him more. She didn't want him thinking that she owed him something.

He didn't take the hint. "Travelling where?"

Raina sighed. She would either have to potentially offend him and tell him to back off or find a way to answer his question that didn't include talking about her bullet wound, her family connections, or any other assorted information that might come up that he shouldn't know.

"I went to a lot of different places. I started in Venezuela." Though not willingly, she thought silently. "Then I flew overseas, into Amsterdam. I travelled around Europe, then London, Glasgow, Edinburgh. Then, Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Australia. And then I finished in Italy."

The look of supreme male confidence melted into something close to jealousy. "That's a lot of places. Did you have fun?"

Raina felt impatient at the questions. They were pointless. Did she have fun? Of course she had fun. She travelled the world, something that most people wanted to do but couldn’t find either the time or the money. She was in a position where she’d been able to do something incredible with her time. She was lucky.

But something was stopping her from sharing her experiences with Darcy. Maybe because she knew he didn't actually care about the answers.

"Yeah, it was mostly fun." Except for getting shot and causing a great big mess in Italy.

Darcy hauled her closer until Raina's breasts pressed against his chest. Though she was all good with a little light flirtation, she sensed that Darcy was in this for a one-night stand. Maybe more. She tried to ease back in his arms, but he tightened his hold and didn't let her go. She was about to demand that he stop dancing so close to her when he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"I've missed you. I gotta be honest, I came out tonight because I heard you were back in town. Knew I'd see you out and about eventually. You’re a girl that knows how to have a good time."

Raina wrinkled her nose. She didn't like the connotation behind that. Maybe he meant it innocently, but she suspected he was insulting her. Treating her like she might be easy, might give up the goods because he thought a woman who travelled the world was a woman with experience. Which was her business if she was. Of course, she never really had the opportunity to whore it up, but either way, it didn't mean he got to speak that way to her.

She was about to open her mouth and tell him so when he was forcibly torn away from her. One minute, Darcy was standing in front of her, leering and making inappropriate comments, and the next he was flying backwards so hard that he hit a table, which flew out from under him and smashed into another table.

Miraculously, no one seemed to be injured. Except for maybe Darcy, or at least his pride. He was picking his way out of broken glass and table and gradually climbing to his feet a look of dazed bewilderment on his face.

Raina looked around wondering how he'd managed to fling himself backward so hard, when she discovered the answer standing right next to her. A towering, rage-filled, or so he looked, Mateo was staring down at her like she was going to be his next victim. She took a quick step back before he could fling her into a table too, but he caught her arm and held her still.

"Got you," he said, sinister promise in his deep tone.

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