Before they could speak again, they heard a commotion in the hall leading to the front door of the club. Giovanni snapped his fingers at his man and pointed. He left to go check.
"Mateo," Raina guessed.
"Indeed." Giovanni picked up his drink and calmly took a sip, his dark eyes on the door where Mateo would soon emerge.
Giovanni's man came striding back to their table. His shoulders were rigid, his eyes were down, his hands were clasped. Interesting. Raina didn't have a ton of experience with mafia men, but she found it noteworthy that the minions of the big guys acted differently. Sotza's men feared and respected him, but the way they spoke around him, it was more relaxed, as though there was a certain kind of equality. Giovanni’s men, on the other hand, took their deference to him to the extreme.
Giovanni's men made it clear that there was no equality. They didn't speak their minds around him, they didn't share thoughts that weren't in complete agreement with Giovanni and they were clearly meant to be seen instead of heard unless Giovanni needed something from them.
"Speak," Giovanni said to his man with a wave of his hand.
"They refuse to give up their weapons," the man grunted.
Giovanni thought about it for a couple of seconds, turning the problem over in his mind. He turned to Raina. "What do you think, my dear? Do you believe that Gutierrez and his people will shoot up my club?"
Raina blew out a breath and thought about it. This question, her answer, it was a big responsibility. Did she tell Giovanni that Mateo would mean him no harm? What if she was wrong? She had seen Mateo's reflexes, had fought with him physically, she knew at least some of what he was capable of and she suspected there was so much more. Or did she tell Giovanni that his men should disarm Mateo's?
A shudder rippled through her at that last thought. She imagined if Giovanni's men tried touching Mateo there would be a bloodbath. She turned her gaze up to Giovanni's waiting one and said, her voice slow and thoughtful, "As you know, Mateo is a very dangerous man. I have seen nothing to dispute this in the time that I've spent with him. However, it’s my impression that he’s also a thoughtful man. He doesn’t pull his gun unless he means it and he doesn't attack people without a reason. I believe you have nothing to fear." She paused, tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "I'm not entirely sure how these negotiations will go. I'm not sure what he'll do if you say something that he doesn't like."
Giovanni nodded. "You make some good points." He turned to his man. "Let the man in already, I've had enough waiting. They may keep their weapons, but make sure you and your men are close. Don't get jumpy, don't pull a weapon unless you have my go-ahead."
Raina felt a little sick at that. She didn't want anyone pulling any more weapons. She'd already been shot once. And that was the most violence she'd experienced in her short life so far. She was desperately hoping that they could have a nice sit-down brunch together and have a civilized chat about her future.
Mateo didn't wait for either his men or Giovanni's, he quickly strode toward their table. Ignoring Giovanni entirely, Mateo rounded the table to where Raina was sitting. He dropped to his knee next to her and took her hand in a hard grip.
"Tell me you’re okay." His voice was an agitated growl. And though his appearance was immaculate, there was a wild look in his eyes that she'd never seen before.
At first, Raina was so surprised she couldn't speak. What was he doing? How could he put himself in such a vulnerable position right next to a potential enemy? All of Giovanni's men were at his back, their hands twitching towards their holsters as they tried to figure out what Mateo was doing with her. Did he actually care this much? That he might put himself in danger over her?
"I'm fine," she said quietly for his ears alone. He continued to have that wild look. She placed her hand on top of his where he gripped her and squeezed. "Really, Mateo, I feel fine. Giovanni has been treating me like a queen."
Mateo’s shoulders stiffened at her use of Giovanni's name, but he didn't chastise her for it. "Your wound?" he persisted.
"Honestly, I’m fine," she said insistently, glancing around at the people surrounding them, embarrassment colouring her cheeks. She was just as tough as the rest of them, but Mateo was treating her as though she was a delicate doll.
"She is in near perfect health," Giovanni said, his voice jovial with an edge of curiosity. His dark eyes lingered on her lap where Mateo's hand clasped hers. "My personal physician saw to her and made sure that she will have no lasting ill effects from her wound."
Mateo stood slowly, his entire body tense. Raina held her breath. He stared down at her, his dark eyes piercing through flesh and bones and thoughts.
Whenever he did that, whenever he looked at her with such an intense gaze, she felt like she could divine his thoughts. Blood, sex and violence. She gave a slight shake of her head, silently telling him she truly was fine.
His shoulders seemed to relax a fraction. No one else around them would've seen the interaction, it had been so fast and intimate. No one would know that she had silently called off the bloodbath that he would've instigated on her behalf, had Giovanni hurt her in any way.
Mateo sat on Raina's other side, his body shifting in a way that very subtly blocked her from view of the club. A woman plopped herself down into the chair next to Mateo. At first, Raina thought the woman belonged to Giovanni. But body language and the way she was dressed told Raina otherwise. This one was Mateo's.
Raina studied her with the cool air of indifference on the outside and raging jealousy on the inside. The woman was beautiful, with dark serious eyes, hair falling in soft waves around her shoulders and a small compact body with more curves than Raina could ever hope to grow.
Raina knew that she was being unreasonable, that her jealousy was unwarranted. She had no real claim on Mateo, despite his obsession with her. She’d never given him any indication that she felt the same. The irrational side of Raina wanted to stamp her ownership all over the wild Venezuelan gangster.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me." Mateo’s eyes were on Giovanni as he spoke.
Considering the smoldering cauldron of violent intentions buried beneath a fancy suit and bland expression, Raina was impressed that Mateo was keeping such a polite front.
Before Giovanni could answer, Raina's curiosity got the better of her. She stuck her hand out toward the woman. "Raina Duncan. And you?"
The other woman looked momentarily startled but then seemed to gather herself. She looked at Raina as though seeing her for the first time, and for all Raina knew maybe this was the first time. The woman shook her hand, a firm quick jerk before she let it go.
"Angela Santiago.” She seemed to hesitate, then she added, "I work for Mateo and your father."
Raina pursed her lips and nodded thoughtfully. She was impressed. She hadn't realized that the Latino macho men who made up the Venezuelan underworld would allow a woman such a position. Perhaps Sotza, or Mateo, or both, were more forward-thinking than she’d given them credit for. While she certainly didn’t approve of the way they procured wives, she liked the idea that they worked with women.
"Pleased to meet you," Raina said politely, some of her jealousy melting away.
Angela nodded, her eyes drifting away from the table to scan the club. Raina wondered if Angela was a bodyguard. She was small but she dressed badass in denim, leather and heavy boots.
A slight tension rippled through the occupants of the table as they all fell silent for a few seconds. The seriousness of this meeting was starting to set in. Dangerous people sharing a table in a club owned by one of the most powerful men in the world.
Raina wondered who held more power, Giovanni or Sotza? Mateo, acting in Sotza's stead, was just as powerful as his boss. Raina recalled a conversation that she had with him when she was living in the mountain compound in Venezuela for that brief month. His words still struck a chord of apprehension within her. He'd said to her, "No man is my master."
A person only had to
spend a matter of minutes with Mateo to see the coiled strength within, the leashed violence, the intelligence and the terrifying determination. Mateo knew exactly who he was and where he was going in life. This is why the idea of spending the rest of her life with a man like that, a man who was already married to the mob, felt too frightening for her to contemplate.
She would admit to being attracted to him. Who wouldn't? On the surface, he was everything a woman could want; good-looking, wealthy, self-confident. But underneath, he was dark. And while Raina had come to terms with the fact that she would inevitably be drawn into the mafia life by who she was, who she was born to, she wasn't yet ready to accept an arranged marriage.
She glanced over at Giovanni who wanted her to marry his son. No, she wasn't interested in marriage with any of the options she was currently faced with.
"Business," Mateo said in a cool voice letting the occupants of the table note that he was impatient to get the upcoming negotiations over with.
"Drinks first," Giovanni insisted.
As if out of nowhere, a woman stepped up to the table with a tray. She lowered it with professionalism, not rattling the drinks. Though no one at the table had ordered, except for Giovanni prior to the Mateo’s arrival, the waitress placed specific drinks in front of Mateo and Angela.
Mateo raised a brow and glanced down his drink. "Gin," he observed, a slight edge of sarcasm to his voice.
"With a twist of lime." Though the drink itself was innocuous, Giovanni wanted everyone at the table to know that he’d done his research. He was prepared for this conversation. And he was in control.
Angela shrugged her shoulders, rolled her eyes, picked up her drink and slammed it. She set the glass down on the table with a clunk and said, "Good drink."
Raina was starting to like this Angela chick. She had attitude and if anyone could appreciate a decent attitude it was Raina.
"Now, business." Giovanni's voice held no more warmth.
"Sotza wants his daughter back immediately, unharmed." Mateo’s voice dripped with ice. "Thanks to your imbecile of a son, I'll be handing her over with a hole in her. How do you suggest we rectify this situation?"
Raina sucked in a breath at Mateo's aggression, but Giovanni did nothing except nod. "My son has certainly made a bad move with this young lady. I regret that she came to harm within my city. Had I known she was here, I would have made sure that her stay was more pleasant."
"I insist that you release Raina to me and allow us safe passage out of your territory." Mateo's voice held aggression. He wasn't here to negotiate; he was here to make demands.
Having spent some time with Giovanni, Raina didn't believe that threats were the way to go. She felt tension running through the older man and worried that he might try to set his bodyguards on Mateo. If it came down to a fight, she wasn't sure who she was more worried about, Giovanni’s men or Mateo.
She placed a hand on Giovanni's arm and gave him a slight squeeze. She turned her gaze to Mateo. "Signore Savino has been nothing but kind to me. Please, as a personal favour, keep the conversation as pleasant as possible."
She held Mateo's gaze, and eventually saw a slight softening in the deep brown depths. She knew it was for her sake alone and her heart stuttered over the meaning of it. The power she could wield with this man… if only she would allow him into her life.
Mateo bowed his head toward her and looked at Giovanni. "I apologize if I come across as short. I’m eager to reunite Raina with her family. Her mother has been beside herself with concern when she found out about the shooting."
"My mother knows?" Raina gasped in dismay.
She hadn't spent a lot of time with Vee in Venezuela but in the short amount of time that they'd spent together Raina had learned how completely and unreservedly protective her mother was of her. It was a disaster, Vee knowing that Raina had been hurt. It threw the entire Italian episode into a more sinister light. If Vee felt that Mateo couldn’t get Raina back, she wouldn’t hesitate to call in favours. To ask her husband to come after the people that had hurt her daughter.
Raina turned to Giovanni. "If my mother knows about the shooting, then that means Sotza is involved. Your son is in grave danger."
Giovanni nodded and patted her hand where it lay on his arm. "I had guessed as much when you showed up in this club demanding to see me. My son is in a safe place, I’m not worried for his safety at the moment. I had hoped we could find a way through this mess that might preserve his life.”
Raina finally realized exactly why Giovanni had decided that she should marry his son. He believed that in making her his daughter-in-law, he was providing his son with immunity from Sotza's wrath. Though Raina didn't know Sotza very well, she knew enough to understand that if someone hurt her, it didn't matter what their relation was. He would kill them as easily as he would kill a stranger, perhaps even easier.
"You’re in luck," Mateo drawled, watching the mini drama from across the table. "Sotza is trusting me with these negotiations. He believes that I will find a way to return Raina to her family, punish those that hurt her and keep the peace between our organizations."
Raina rather thought that was an impossible list to reconcile, but she admired Mateo’s self-confidence. He certainly believed himself capable.
"And how do you suggest punishing the perpetrator of Raina’s injury without going to war?" Giovanni asked.
"You will be required to hand him over to us as a sign of good faith and justice." Mateo said it as though it was the most natural thing in the world.
Raina's gaze swiveled back to Giovanni. Giovanni brought his hand down on the table, not hard enough to knock over drinks, but with enough force to emphasize his point. "Of course, you know that I will never hand over my only child. This is a ridiculous suggestion and if you continue to insist on the impossible then these negotiations will end."
Mateo shifted his shoulders slightly, not quite a shrug, but enough to give the impression of carelessness. "You’ll do as you think best. But once Raina is safely away, we will go to war with you and that war will not end until I have your son’s head in the box and on its way back to Venezuela where her mother will gleefully receive it."
"No!" Giovanni snapped. "You will not come into my club, in my city and make such demands. You will show me respect or I will have you all killed and sent back to Venezuela in pieces."
Giovanni moved his arm away from Raina's touch, showing her that he was including her in that last statement. Her mouth went dry and her heart sank.
What was Mateo doing? Why was he setting the older man off, unbalancing him? She had to believe that there was some rhyme or reason to this madness. The Mateo that she knew always had a strategy and she suspected this was no different. She just wished that she was in on it.
Mateo didn't speak again after Giovanni's threat. He let it hang there, as though showing everyone in the room that he was in control and Giovanni was being ruled by his emotions. Clever. Raina thought perhaps Mateo was trying to undermine Giovanni in front of his people. At least half a dozen men stood off to the side pretending not to listen.
As if coming to the same realization, Giovanni looked at Mateo speculatively. His voice was back to its normal tone as he said, "Perhaps we come to another agreement, one that will be mutually beneficial to both of our organizations."
Mateo shook his head. "You have nothing that we’re interested in. Business is good in the Americas and the Butcher wants no more partners." Raina thought that he dropped Sotza's nickname on purpose, especially coming on the heels of Giovanni's chilling threat.
"I’m not suggesting a partnership, more of a merger. A marriage, between our two children, our two houses." Giovanni looked proud of himself for coming up with the solution. He didn't see Mateo stiffen in his seat, his hand twitching against his glass. "Our two organizations are extremely powerful on their own, if we merge then we could be unstoppable. We would have half the world at our fingertips. It is not a thing to be taken lightly."
Giovanni ignored Mateo's denial. "Of course, you’ll need to take my proposal to your boss. I am confident that he will see the sense in it."
"I have no need to take your proposal anywhere. It won’t leave this table. Raina is engaged to another and no amount of negotiating will change this."
Giovanni looked at Raina in surprise. "She told me nothing of this when we spoke last night." His voice was chiding.
Raina gritted her teeth. Was now a good time to speak, set the record straight? Was a woman actually engaged if she had no intention of marrying the man? Perhaps she should get up excuse herself, go to the washroom and slip out. It had worked in the animal clinic; it could work in the nightclub.
There is a slight lift to Mateo's lips. "The young lady is taking her time in reconciling herself to the idea of marriage."
Raina had no choice but to roll her eyes at that. "Sure, it's the marriage I object to," she said sarcastically.
"And who exactly is the lucky groom?" Giovanni asked thoughtfully.
"Me," Mateo said simply.
"Of course," Giovanni said. He shrugged his shoulders in a negligent manner. "A natural pairing that will tie up an empire nicely."
Giovanni echoed Raina's earlier thoughts. The trapped feeling that she got whenever she thought about being forced to live out her life as a mafia wife.
"I have become attached to this young lady. I will, of course, hand her over unharmed. But I must insist on one more night with her. The idea of a young person in the house again gives me comfort."
"Absolutely not," Mateo said quickly. “I’m not leaving here without her.”
Raina looked from one man to the other. She didn’t really want to stay with Giovanni for one more night in his creepy old mansion, but she also didn't want to deal with Mateo, who would put her on instant lockdown and have her every move watched. She’d have a better chance of slipping away from the high-security mansion then her would-be fiancé.
Born a Queen (The Queens Book 3) Page 6