“I can see that,” I softly admit as he shifts the pickup into park. It didn’t take him long to drive to the doctor’s office. Lifting my gaze from my lap, I am met with the view of a one-story office building.
“I’ll be going with you,” he announces. “Let’s go.”
I don’t argue, not about this. I still very much belong to him, even though it doesn’t feel like I do. I want to be with him and he hasn’t forced me to do anything that I don’t want to do, but I’m only on day two of this relationship.
Once we are inside the office, I wrinkle my nose. It’s been so long since I’ve been to a doctor’s office. At the house, one came to see all of us girls, as far as I knew, he was contracted by the famiglia to take care of anything they needed taking care of medically.
The space is empty and I find it odd that there are no other people in the waiting room. Drago releases his light hold on my hand, leaving me in the middle of the room as he walks over to the glass partition. I can hear his voice, but I don’t listen to his words as I look around the empty space.
“Bella,” he calls out.
My head turns at the nickname, he grins, lifting his chin with a gesture to follow him. I don’t tell him that I despise the nickname Bella, instead, I just shuffle my feet toward him. He walks down the small hallway and turns left into the first room.
There is a nurse in the room already and she smiles toward him, biting her bottom lip as her eyes move up and down his body. I want to rip her hair out, plain and simple. I don’t. I clench my fists together so tight that I can feel my nails digging into my palm in an effort to refrain from throwing the bitch on the ground.
Drago clears his throat and I watch as her body jerks, then she gives him a come-hither smile, it’s fairly pathetic, she obviously hasn’t been trained in seduction, her skills are extremely lacking.
“Go ahead and disrobe, you can put this on,” she explains, patting a gown on the small bed. I watch as she slowly saunters out of the room and closes the door behind her with a click.
I don’t bother attempting to be modest. Quickly, I completely disrobe until I’m naked and reach for the gown, slipping it over my body. Once I’m ready, I climb up onto the table and sit, my head bent and my feet dangling.
“You good?” Drago’s voice asks.
Lifting my head, I look at him from across the room. “I’m good,” I nod.
“She was just flirting,” he explains.
My eyes search his face, then his beard, and his teeth as they show with his obvious smile. He thinks I’m jealous. I am, but that’s not why I haven’t really spoken to him. I actually just hate being at the doctor and I want it over with.
“I don’t care about her.” I shrug. His eyes widen, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he waits. “She was a terrible flirt. She needs lessons. I really just don’t want to be here, at all.”
He nods, standing as he closes the distance between us. I spread my legs to allow for his thighs and hips to fit between them. Lifting his hand, he cups my cheek, his thumb tracing my lips.
“You get hurt at a doctor?” he asks, his voice low and soothing.
“I find that every time I have been examined, it was right before or right after something traumatizing, therefore I really don’t like it much.”
Understanding crosses his features and I’m thankful that he doesn’t ask me to go into any type of detail. He dips his chin and presses his lips to mine in a light kiss. Then his mouth moves over to my ear.
“I’ll fuck you nice and hard tonight as your reward for being so fucking good here,” he whispers.
Reaching up, I take his shirt in both of my hands at his chest and fist the material.
“Drago,” I sigh.
He growls, his hands wrapping around the outside of my thighs before he slowly drags them up and pauses. The door opens and I hear the doctor clear his throat behind him. Unfortunately, he takes a step away from me and makes his way back to the chair.
The doctor’s brows rise when he sees me. I watch as he looks from me to Drago, then back to me obviously attempting to figure out our relationship and possibly the age difference.
“Miss…” He looks down at his chart, obviously flustered and having forgotten my name. “Ricci. How may I help you today?” he asks.
My blood runs cold at the name of Ricci. I know that Drago has lied about my last name for a reason, but it doesn’t make giving me my attacker’s last name, any easier to hear.
“My wife needs to be checked out. I want her off whatever birth control she’s on, I want a full workup on sexually transmitted diseases, and I want her examined,” Drago announces.
The doctor looks back to him, then to me in surprise. Probably just as shocked as I am that a husband would want the things he’s required. He doesn’t voice his concerns or observations though. Instead, he quietly goes about doing everything that Drago has demanded of him.
DRAGON
The doctor ignores the way that I watch his every move. His focus is on Bellarosa and nobody else, as it should be. He writes some things down, then reaches for Bellarosa’s arm. He looks over to me, then back to her.
“Did you know that you were on an implanted IUD?” he asks.
Bellarosa blinks, her eyes shifting from him to me, then back to him again. She shakes her head a couple of times before her chin dips and she focuses on her lap, again. The doctor looks over to me then does something to her arm that causes her to jump and hiss.
The doctor tosses a small bloody item down and it clinks as it hits the metal tray. “The tests for the STIs should be ready in a week’s time, everything else looks good. The birth control has been removed as well,” he explains.
I don’t say anything. The doctor leaves us a few moments later, and I continue to stay silent as Bellarosa dresses back in her clothes. My eyes shift to the small implant that was in her arm. “They put you on that?” I ask her.
She looks in the direction of the metal tray before she lifts her gaze back up to me. “A doctor came to us. He did examinations and prescribed whatever we needed when we needed it. I never asked questions,” she murmurs.
“Fucking Santoro,” I growl as I rise to my feet.
Bellarosa’s body jerks from my outburst. I watch as she finishes dressing and once her shoes are on her feet, I wrap my hand around her wrist and tug her behind me. I need fresh air, I need to breathe. We quickly make our way outside and I close my eyes as soon as the hot air hits me.
My phone alarm sounds and I jump, reaching for my device and turning it off. “I don’t have time to take you home before we pick up Kora,” I grumble.
“Drago,” she warns. Turning to face her, I look down into her frightened gaze. “I can’t do this, I can’t meet your child.” She shakes her head.
I snort, lifting my hand and wrapping my fingers around the back of her neck. “You don’t have a choice.”
“Yeah, I do,” she says, lifting her chin in what I can only describe as fucking gorgeous stubborn pride.
Taking one step toward her, feeling her small tits against my chest, I dip my chin a bit farther. My nose slides alongside her own, my lips so fucking close that I can practically taste hers. Her body trembles against mine. She’s so fucking small and fragile. I shouldn’t want to, but fuck, I can’t wait to break her.
“You don’t. I’m taking your choices away. You’re mine, Fragolina.”
She blinks, her mouth parting slightly, then she shakes her head once. “Drago,” she exhales.
I don’t kiss her lips the way I want, instead I move my mouth over to her ear. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I press my palms against her back enjoying the way her body trembles. I don’t know if it’s out of fear or desire, probably both, and that is sexy as fuck.
“Your choice is to submit to me, Bellarosa. Fuck me as if your life depends on it, because it does. Your choice is me and only me,” I inform her.
Taking a step back, my hands fall from her body and I reach for her
wrist. Wrapping my fingers around hers, I gently pull her behind me and begin to walk toward my pickup truck. I fucking hate having to drive the thing around so much, with not only Bellarosa but Kora as well, I need them in a cage.
She wisely doesn’t say anything else, she shouldn’t. She’s mine, for as long as I want her, for as long as I need her to be. She stowed away in my truck, she made her way from New York to Arizona and she wanted her freedom.
Bellarosa didn’t realize that she was delivering herself to the devil when she left the city. She thought that she was going to go on some grand adventure and she’d somehow come out free and on top.
I have fucking news for her, freedom is not free. It never has been and it never will be. She isn’t going fucking anywhere, not now that I’ve had a taste and I fucking like it.
“You’ll be the new babysitter in training if Kora asks,” I announce as soon as we’re both in my pickup truck.
Starting the engine, I shift the truck into reverse and begin to head toward the clubhouse to pick up Kora. Bellarosa doesn’t reply to my declaration. Sliding my eyes to the side, I notice that she’s staring out of the passenger window.
I should talk to her. I should ease her worries, but I don’t. I’m not that man, never have been. She can think whatever she wants, she’ll see soon enough that she likes being mine. I’ll protect her and soon she’ll be mine in a way where she will never be able to leave.
Driving in silence, I can’t help but wonder if I’m making a big fucking mistake. I probably am. Riccis are not known for their stability or sound choices in people of the opposite sex, and although my father left the famiglia at a young age, their blood still ran through him just as much as it runs through me.
The clubhouse comes into view and I find my parking spot up front, shifting the truck into park and killing the engine. Climbing out of the truck, I slam my door and head over to Bellarosa’s side. She already has the door open and is standing next to it by the time that I arrive.
Wrapping my hand around hers, I begin to walk toward the front door. She’s stiff beside me, but she doesn’t protest my moves. Once we’re inside, my eyes search for Kora. I find her sitting next to Esther, Wolfe’s Old Lady. They are smiling at one another and Kora giggles, the sweet sound reaching my ears almost immediately.
Esther is here, I look down at my watch and grunt, noticing the time. She probably brought her here for me because I was too fucking late to pick her up at the Boys and Girls Club. I’m usually pretty good about being there on time, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen and Esther, as a favor to Wolfe, takes care of her for me.
“Dragon,” she hisses as soon as she’s close.
“Here to pick up Kora. She ready?” I ask, ignoring her irritation.
Esther crosses her arms beneath her tits, pushing them up and out, making it fucking impossible to concentrate on her pissed off mood.
“Wolfe told me,” she explains as if that’s supposed to mean something. I nod, unsure of what she wants me to say to her. “I’m sorry. I’m sure that you’re a nice girl,” she says, lacking actual fucking sympathy with her tone. “But Dragon, you cannot think to bring this stranger into your house, with Kora? Especially after all that was Journee.”
Narrowing my eyes, I ignore the small gasp that escapes Bellarosa’s lips from Esther’s words. “You’re skating on thin ice, Esther,” I warn.
She snorts, obviously no longer intimidated by me now that she’s an Old Lady. She takes a step closer, tilting her head back to look into my eyes. She’s trying to tell me something through her gaze, but I don’t give enough of a fuck about what she thinks to decipher it.
Esther sighs, breaking eye contact with me. “Just think about what you’re doing. What you’re bringing here with her.”
“I know all too well,” I point out.
She shifts her gaze back to me and she shakes her head once. “I don’t think that you do. Learn from the past, Dragon,” she urges.
I snort, holding out my hand for Kora who is slowly, cautiously approaching us. She knows what grownups arguing looks like, she knows when to tread lightly.
Maybe she shouldn’t at her age, fuck, I’m sure there’s a hell of a lot she shouldn’t know at her age, but she does and that’s fucking life. Kids in this life grow up fast, but they grow up fucking smart.
Turning from Esther, I ignore her bullshit. She doesn’t know what Bellarosa really is to me, she doesn’t know shit. If she did, she’d want her gone for a totally different reason than what she’s claiming. I don’t care. She doesn’t have to like the woman in my bed, but she will show her respect. They all fucking will.
Tomorrow night, going out with Bellarosa, will be a true test of Esther’s dedication and loyalty to this club.
Chapter Twelve
BELLAROSA
I bite my bottom lip so hard that I taste blood. Closing my eyes, I wonder what could be next. Running away from New York, being claimed by this dangerous, frightening, yet sexy man and now being somewhat of a mother figure to his child. I am so lost.
In the search for my freedom, I have found the complete opposite. If I thought that I was a prisoner in the life that I had before, I had no idea what that word truly meant. Drago doesn’t allow me out of his sight and he has no plans to do so anytime soon, he’s made that perfectly clear.
“Go ahead and take a bath and I’ll start your dinner,” he gruffly orders Kora as soon as we walk into the house.
She looks up at me, frowning, then over to her father for a split second before she turns and runs off toward the hallway.
“You bite your lip and bruise yourself, I’ll spank your ass,” Drago says, his voice deep and gruff.
Immediately releasing my lip, I slide my tongue across, grimacing at the fact that I’ve probably already bruised it. Dragon’s gray eyes darken a touch as he stares at my now swollen bottom lip, then shakes his head once and turns his back to me.
“Kitchen,” he demands.
Following him, I wonder if this is what it will always be like. Probably so. I will always be forced to stay one step behind, to be at his beck and call, to be owned and controlled.
Part of me wishes that I would have stayed in Brooklyn, that I would have agreed to be traded to the Russians. Part of me can’t imagine being with anyone else but Drago ever again.
I hate my own inner push and pull. I think that it is probably the worst feeling ever. Unsure of my own choices in life and wondering if I made the complete wrong decision. If I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life. It’s too late for me to go back to New York, it’s too late for me in general.
Dragon can’t untouch me, I can’t unfeel the way he makes me come. I can’t deny that no matter what, nothing has ever felt so right as the way he does inside of me. Even if that means that I continue to feel like I’m locked in a cage for someone else’s pleasures. Even if it means that he’ll bind me to him in a way where my choices are completely stripped from me for the rest of my life.
“Why did you demand the doctor take me off of birth control?” I ask as soon as we’re alone in the kitchen.
Drago is bent over, the fridge door open. He slowly straightens, closing the door with a package of what looks like beef in his hand as he turns around. His eyes roam over my face, his expression completely unreadable beneath his thick beard.
“Why do you think?” he asks slowly.
I bite the inside of my cheek, my eyes dipping to my feet, then back up to meet his. “You want me pregnant, but I don’t understand why.”
He nods, turning slightly and tossing the meat on the counter before he takes a step back, resting his ass against the edge and crossing his arms over his broad chest. I lick my lips, my eyes traveling to his thick, muscular waist, then back up to his intense gray eyes.
“You want to spread for my club?” he asks. I shake my head, pressing my lips together. “You are either my woman or you spread. My club is not a safe haven. It is not a place that offers protection jus
t because. There are places like that, my club isn’t one of them. Rules are made, and although some people think that they’re made to be broken, in my world if they’re broken, people die.”
“Who dies?” I chance asking.
His eyes narrow, then he pushes off of the edge of the counter and stomps toward me. “Brothers, women, kids. You name it. People die when the rules of this world, of your world, are broken,” he explains.
Inhaling deeply, I lift my shaky hand, wrapping it around the back of his neck. My fingers slide through the strands of his hair and I hold on to him. He dips his chin but makes no other move to touch his mouth to mine or even move near me.
“I’m not ready to bring a baby into this world, Drago. I will be yours, anyway that you want me, but don’t make me have a baby.”
He tilts his head to the side, staying quiet, too quiet as his gaze consumes me. “You’re going to think I’m a bastard, but I don’t really give a fuck,” he murmurs.
His feet take another step closer to me, then another until his body is just centimeters away from mine. I can feel his warmth. I fight my desire to hold him, to wrap my arms around him and press my chest against his.
Drago lifts his arm, his finger extends and he slides it down the side of my face, along my hairline until he reaches my jaw. His eyes trail his fingers’ path and only stop when both have reached my mouth. His finger traces my lips. Automatically I part them and wait for him to slip the digit inside. He doesn’t.
“Everything that I do, it’s for a reason. There is no explanation needed, just know that when you carry my baby, there is a purpose to it.”
“Drago,” I breathe.
He shakes his head once to stop me from continuing. “You’re mine, Bellarosa. You do as I say, when I say, the way that I say, without question. You want some freedoms? You’ll earn them.” His fingers slip around to the back of my neck and he squeezes me. “You’ll earn them by doing everything I require of you, without question.”
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