Page 78 of I Would Beg For You

“Yes, you did. You reached him before me. Look at him. Do you recognize him?”

I squint at the man. Marco had been pretty, like he could join any boy band and be their leading man whether he knew how to sing or not because he had the attractive looks to lure all the girls. He’s a man now, but still cute in a devastatingly handsome way.

I turn to Valentino and nod, too spent to say anything. What the hell is going on?

Valentino caresses my cheekbone with his thumb. “The woman over there is Marco’s mamma. She’s a nurse, and she’s been looking after you.”

I tense as he says ‘nurse’ and try to recoil, but he won’t let me. Still, peering at her, I can see the striking resemblance between mother and son.

“She’s going to come over and take the IV out, okay?”

I gulp.

“Do you trust me, Naomi?” he asks, voice low in that tone I always found so alluring and compelling.

I nod.

“I need you to say it, cara.”

“Yes,” I force out.

He nods. “Good.”

My breath lodges into my throat when the woman, Renata, draws closer and sits on the edge of the bed. She retrieves a med kit from the bedside table, then her gentle hands are on the back of my left hand, a wet swab letting her peel away the clear adhesive tape without it tearing my skin. I wince when she dislodges the cannula in my vein and pulls it out. A drop of blood forms, and she quickly presses it with a gauze and Band-Aid to secure it in place.

“There, piccola,” she tells me with a wide smile.

I’m suddenly ashamed of the way I behaved with her earlier. In my defense, I didn’t know who she was, but still.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “For being rude before.”

She smiles even wider and rubs a hand on my forearm. “It’s alright, amore. Are you hungry?”

I don’t think I can stand the idea of food, but my stomach growls right then.

Renata laughs. “I’ll bring up some broth, si?”

“Please,” Valentino says as she leaves, Marco in tow.

Left alone with him, I’m suddenly reeling. It’s like I’m in a no man’s land, in some liminal space on the edges of two worlds I didn’t even know existed before.

“What…what happened?” I ask.

My heart is hammering away, yet with every second that passes, there’s a clarity seeping inside my every cell demanding to know what was going on. Aside from those debilitating flashes assailing me when I saw the IV, the last thing I recall is being at a rally in Essex County and feeling very off that day, not able to put my finger on what had me so out of sorts.

“You should eat something first.”

A nagging feeling sneaks in. I glance at my now IV-free hand. I can still feel the little tube inside my vein.

What if I’m imagining all this? What if—

“Are you real?” I ask.

I yelp when Valentino pinches my arm.

“What’d you do that for?”

He shrugs and smiles. “You felt it, right? So, you’re not dreaming.”

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