He glanced around the room and then shook his head. "You can wait until we get to the hotel."
"I have to pee right now, Mateo. I've had to go for a while, but, well, the hole in my back sort of took precedence."
His face hardened but he glanced around the room again then opened the clinic door and growled to one of his men, “We’ll be right out, get the car started."
Taking her arm in a firm grip he walked through the clinic, mindful not to jostle her too much. He found the bathroom door, pushed it open and looked inside.
"You expecting to find shooters in the toilet?" she asked sarcastically.
"I haven't stayed alive this long by getting lazy." He opened the door wider for her to go in and then closed the door behind her.
Raina turned the water on so he wouldn't be able to hear through the door. She surreptitiously locked the door, careful to slide the bolt as slowly as possible so it wouldn't click and alert him to what she was doing. She breathed a sigh of relief. There was a decent sized window in the bathroom, most likely because no one expected a person to crawl through it in an animal clinic. She was about to test that theory.
But first, she really did have to pee. She did her business quickly, washed her hands in the running water and grabbed her purse. She slid the window open as delicately and quietly as possible while still trying to be speedy.
It was a bitch crawling through that window with a gunshot wound. She tried to do it without pulling any stitches, but a sharp pain went through her ribcage when she was forced to drop a few feet from the window to the ground. She hit hard and almost lost her balance but managed to catch hold of the side of the building. She gasped in pain and reached around to touch her back. She brought her fingers up in front of her face, but it was too dark to see if there was any fresh blood. Hopefully she hadn't torn the stitches.
She glanced around and didn't see anyone nearby. All of Mateo’s men were at the front of the building waiting for them. No one expected her to try to escape.
She melted into the shadows, running as quickly as possible while trying to be invisible to anyone who looked. As she left the scene, her quick brain came up with a few possibilities of what she could do next. Staying in Italy wasn't an option. But leaving Italy was going to be really difficult on her own with the Italian mafia after her.
One very stupid plan kept popping into her head as she mulled over the possibilities. Perhaps it was time to finally use her stepfather's name, show the Italians why it was a colossal mistake to fuck with a Sotza.
Chapter Three
“This is a bad idea,” Raina muttered to herself. “This is such a bad idea and I’m definitely going to get myself shot… again.”
She didn't have a choice though; she was going to have to dig deep, find her guts and find a way into this nightclub.
The nightclub, Banditos, was an exclusive invitation-only social establishment. And Raina did not have an invitation. However, she did need to speak to the man who owned the club along with half the city. The father of the man who tried to have her killed.
Raina forced her shoulders back and stood straighter. Pain shot through her back and abdomen and she nearly bent over in agony. She reached out blindly, using the wall of the alley next to the nightclub to steady herself. She took long deep breaths, in through her nose and out through her mouth, until the waves of dizziness passed. She had no choice, she had to go inside. She straightened her jacket and ran her fingers through her hair, combing it first and then fluffing it, trying to give herself a sexier appearance.
Though she felt like a corpse warmed up, she figured she could still pull off sexy. She was young, she was confident, and she was determined.
She approached the doorman. "I need to meet with Signore Savino please."
The bouncer eyed her up with interest, but his cold dark gaze was shuttered. His massive body blocked the doorway, making it impossible for her to dart around him.
"Better get out of here," the bouncer said with a wave of his hand. "The boss likes blondes and you’re too delicate for what he'd have in mind."
Raina was insulted that the bouncer assumed she couldn't take care of herself. She might look delicate but in reality, she was hell on wheels. Just ask her parents. Any of them.
"Tell him Raina…" she hesitated. She'd never invoked this name before. She loved her adopted parents and she was more than happy to have the last name Duncan. But Duncan wasn't going to get her into an establishment like this. "Tell him Raina Sotza is here."
"You don't hear real well, do you – " The bouncer started to speak and then stopped himself, thinking for a few seconds. "The Butcher? That Sotza?"
"My stepfather," she said truthfully. The fact was it didn't matter if Sotza was her birth father or her stepfather, any relation of Sotza’s had automatic protection.
The bouncer's eyes bulged as he took her in, connecting enough dots to realize exactly who she was. Sotza’s relationship with Vee Montana had rocked the underworld. Two titans, first colliding, then falling in love and rising up to rule the Venezuelan cartel had caused waves the world over.
"Please follow me," the bouncer said formally.
He led her through the entrance and down a hall, his big body blocking her view. They reached a door on the other end, which was blocked by another very large man. Her bouncer said a few words to the other one, jerking his thumb back towards the entrance door, indicating the man should go take over. Then he led her through the nightclub itself. A beautiful and gaudy piece of art that must’ve cost a fortune to build and decorate. Although, if the crowd was anything to go by, the nightclub likely brought in plenty of revenue. Maybe it doubled as a front for Savino’s other operations.
As Raina was looking around with curiosity, her eyes caught on someone she feared she would see there. Antonio Savino. The moment her eyes landed on him, he looked up and caught sight of her. His face reflected shock for a few seconds, then anger. Raina took a step closer to the uncertain protection of the bouncer as Antonio hurtled toward them.
“You!” he snarled, trying to shove past the bouncer to get at her.
“Surprised to see me?” she asked tauntingly.
She tried not to look as pale as she felt. If he didn’t know she’d been injured in the attack, she didn’t want him to find out.
“I’m going to fucking – ” he started to threaten her, but the bouncer stepped between them.
“I’m taking her to meet with your father.”
The look on Antonio’s face was almost worth the gunshot wound in her back. Part terror and part impotent rage.
Antonio turned to the bouncer and growled in a low voice, “Give her to me. She’s an ex-girlfriend. I’ll take care of her and make sure she doesn’t come back to cause more trouble.”
The bouncer wasn’t fazed at all. Maybe he was used to dealing with Antonio. “I’m taking her to see your father. If you want her, you can negotiate with him.” He took Raina’s arm and walked away, dismissing Antonio. Raina decided that this moment was one of the most satisfying in her life.
As they approached the chained off VIP area, her personal bouncer said, "Stay here," and pointed at a spot on the floor, then strode away. Raina glanced at the spot, amused. Did he actually expect her to stand exactly where he put her? Raina trailed after him, though she gave him a wide berth. After all he was a very large man and she had plenty to lose.