Page 22 of Brightness

I shake my head. “No.”

She ticks something on her clipboard. “Excellent. Did Mr. DeLuca have you drink some fluids on the way up here so you’re well-hydrated?”

“Yes. I was told to drink half a gallon of water before I arrived. It’s why I had to stop to pee so much.”

Larah chuckles as she ticks whatever the hell she’s ticking off on her paperwork. “Now, I have to ask the following questions, Ivy, so bear with me…”

I nod, taking a deep breath to try and calm my nerves.

“Do you have high or low blood pressure?”

“Not that I’m aware.”

“Do you have or have you ever come into contact with HIV, hepatitis, or viruses of the like?”

I widen my eyes. “No. God, no!”

“I know these questions are invasive, Ivy, but you’re doing great. Almost there…” She smiles. “Are you or is there a chance you could be pregnant?”

Heat flushes over my face as I sink in on myself. I’ve never been ashamed of my virtue, but for some reason, hearing it out loud in this setting makes me realize how much I’ve been missing out on. There’s no real reason I haven’t had sex. I just haven’t found the right guy to give myself over to. I haven’t found anyone worthy enough for me to give them my body. Maybe by doing that, I’m holding myself back from experiencing life, from experiencing all the things a twenty-one-year-old should be experiencing.

“Ivy?”

I snap my head back to the woman. “Shit, sorry! I got distracted. No. No chance I could be pregnant.”

Tony inhales deeply, like this fills him with immense pleasure, even though—assuming nothing has changed since he ordered my abduction—he should already know this fact.

The woman’s kind eyes meet mine. “Then we’re good to go. The process we’re about to do is called a red blood cell extraction. Hemoglobin, a protein within red blood cells, delivers oxygen from the lungs to every part of the body. It’s a basic transfusion… we’re just going to take some of your blood, test it for any concerns, then provide it to Mia as an infusion.” I follow along, understanding what she’s saying from the small amount of medical training I had before I was abducted from Cuba. “This entire process takes around an hour or so. You may experience some mild side effects like chills, tingling, or light-headedness. So please, inform me right away if you feel anything like that.”

I expel a long breath through my mouth as I let it all sink in.

Tony steps up to my side and reaches for my hand. “Signora, thank you for coming here of your own volition. I will never be sorry that I purchased you and had you taken from your home, because I need that blood in your veins. However, you are a decent woman, and I will give you one chance to walk away before I change my mind.”

My eyes widen. “You’ll let me leave? Even though it’s detrimental to Mia?”

Amalia scowls, folding her arms over her chest. “Antonio, what are you doing?”

Tony exhales. “There is a caveat, but I won’t tell you what it is before you make your decision. Stay of your own free will, or leave. It is your choice.”

“I don’t know what your so-called caveat is, Tony, but I’m sure it’s not good. Regardless, I’m not walking away from Mia. I am doing this.”

Tony smiles, then signals to the medical team.

They start fluttering around, setting everything up.

“Excellent. I know you and Eva suffered when you were taken. That you suffered, I regret. But you seem to have found your feet in Tampa.”

When I think about the bunker-style clubhouse, the brothers, the club girls, and everyone there who makes it my home, warmth floods through me. I have never felt like I belong somewhere more in my life.

“The clubhouse is my home now. I can’t imagine my sister and I being anywhere else.”

Tony gestures to the bed.

With anxious steps, I walk over and sit, and a cocky expression lights his face.

“It’s a good thing you chose to stay, then, because my caveat would have been to take your sister instead.”

Chapter Six

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