I'd recognized him from my google searches.
Leonardo Donati, the terrifying man himself.
A woman in scrubs approached me, snapping me from my anxiety riddled thoughts, extending her hand. Her dark hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, and despite the late hour, her makeup was flawless. "I'm Sofia. I'll be taking your blood. You're sure about this?"
"Yes," I said without hesitation. "If it helps her, take it."
Sofia glanced at Grayson, something unspoken passing between them. "The odds of her having the same blood type..."
"Miraculous," he murmured, his green eyes—so like Meredith's—studying me with new interest. He nodded at me, a small smile touching his lips. "Thank you."
He turned back to Sofia, folding his arms as his jaw clenched, his smile falling. "I should be in there with her."
"They need to work without you and Leo fussing over her," Sofia said firmly, her tone suggesting this wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation. "That's why Leo can't be in there either. He's already terrorized half the nursing staff." She turned her attention back to me. "Let's get you ready."
I nodded. "Of course."
Sofia led me to a small room with a reclining chair. As she prepared the equipment, I stared at the ceiling, trying to process everything. I'd come here to learn about them and find out the truth about my father. Now I was giving my blood to save Meredith—the sister who seemingly had no idea I existed.
"This will pinch," Sofia warned before inserting the needle.
I barely felt it. Physical pain seemed distant compared to the emotional turmoil raging inside me.
"You work with Meredith, right? A new employee?" Sofia asked conversationally as my blood began flowing into the collection bag.
"Yes," I said, careful not to reveal too much. "In accounting." Had Jackson or Roman told them the truth? Of what I'd told them? Did they know anything yet?
"She mentioned you. Said you seemed like a good new employee with a bright future." Sofia's eyes never left the equipment, but I could feel her assessment.
I swallowed hard. "I didn't know that."
"There's a lot you probably don't know," Sofia said, her tone neutral but her meaning clear. She knew something wasn't right about me.
Roman entered before I could respond, carrying a bag of fast food and a Starbucks cup. "Jackson asked me to check on you and your friend and have some food brought in. Got her that drink she was talking about."
"Thank you," I said, genuinely touched by the thoughtfulness despite the circumstances.
Another man I didn't recognize appeared behind Roman, handing him a duffel bag, which Roman offered to me. "Some clothes from your apartment. We have a team there assisting the Malatesta cleanup crew with the... mess that was left behind."
The mess. The body. I swallowed hard, suddenly unsure if I ever wanted to go back to that apartment. The place where a man had died trying to stop Alfeo. The place where my life had exploded in my face.
"That's... thoughtful," I managed.
"It's what we do," Roman said simply. "Take care of our own."
But I wasn't their own. I was an impostor. A liar. An outsider. Just a bastard child trying to save her dying mother.
We were all silent for some time while Sofia finished drawing my blood, and then she pressed a cotton ball to the crook of my arm. "Hold this. Drink plenty of fluids, and no alcohol for twenty-four hours."
"Will it be enough?" I asked. "My blood?"
"It's a start," she said. "They're bringing in more from the blood bank, but having a direct donor helps. We'll get this right to her."
After she bandaged my arm, I was free to go. I felt slightly lightheaded as I stood, but managed to keep my balance.
"You should rest," Sofia advised. "There's a waiting room down the hall."
I nodded my thanks and made my way there, my steps slow and measured. The waiting room was nearly empty surprisingly, save for a few anxious looking people and my best friend.
