Chapter 35

"What seems to be the problem here?" asked the doctor as he took out his instruments from his bag when he arrived in the room.

"She's been sick. She's been throwing up for a few days and her stomach hurts."

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Dr. Stevens quickly went to look Poppy over. Giving Roman the side eye, he grumbled, "I told you to be more careful. Was this a gunshot? Did your men try to patch her up, and she has an infection? Didn't you learn your lesson before?"

"What? No. That was like two years ago. I told you it was just a misjudgment on our part. This woman is really sick. Can't you see? Help her!"

"Ohh! My belly!" Poppy cried.

"Miss, have you eaten anything that was odd or had this issue before?"

"No. It hurts."

"I know," he said, feeling for a fever. "Any chance you're pregnant?"

"No. I don't even have a boyfriend."

The doctor looked up at Roman questioningly. "Did she forget she's getting married?"

With a shrug, Roman chuckled. "She says she's not Claudia. She's Poppy Fields."

Tate, standing behind him, noted, "She is Poppy. She's not lying."

"Roman, do you believe this girl? Could she be a look-alike or… twin maybe?"

"Twin? No." Poppy grunted. "I don't have any sisters."

"All right," the doctor said, as he touched her stomach and abs, "whatever you say."

"AHH!" she screamed as he touched her right side.

Rushing into action, the doctor stood at attention when he realized what was happening. "We must get this woman into emergency surgery now. I believe her appendix has ruptured."

"Appendix?" Roman said, suddenly on full alert. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Not unless we take care of this. She could die here, Roman. We need to get her to the hospital."

"No, absolutely not."

Standing his ground, the doctor stood toe-to-toe with the mafia leader. "Roman, I swore an oath. I won't let this woman die because of your ego. Now, if you care anything about her, let me do my damn job."

Pulling a pistol from the holster on his side, Roman pointed it at the doctor's forehead. "You don't move her. I won't go to prison for kidnapping. Do it here. We can help with the procedure."

"I don't have the equipment. I can't even perform this on my own. I need my staff."

"Call them. Get them here. They are all on my payroll, anyway. If she dies, so do you. Now get to work," he said as he cocked the pistol.

Even with a gun pointed between his eyes, the doctor wasn't going to budge. He had enough dealings with this crime family over the years to not let the threats faze him.

"Roman, I need to get her to my office at least. I can do it there, but it's risky."

"Fine. Get her in my limo. Move!"

His guard Tate quickly went to work, gently lifting Poppy from the bed. "Don't worry, sweet pea. It's going to be okay."

"Tate, I want my dad," she whimpered, barely able to lift her head. "I'm scared."

"I promise we'll find him. You just hang in there."

Watching Tate leave the room with Poppy, Roman turned back to the doctor, dropping the gun. "Please, Doc, save her. I can't lose anyone else. This is my fault. I should have called you sooner. I'm sorry about the gun."

Patting him on the shoulder, the doctor understood. Roman was still grieving Beau, and now had this woman's life resting in his hands. "It's not the first time you've threatened to shoot me. Let's just get her to my office before it's too late. And Roman?"

"Yeah?"

"She's not really Claudia, is she?"

"Doc, I don't think so. Can you do a blood test?"

"I guess I have to. You seem to have not thought to ask me to do that first. Maybe you wouldn't be in this mess right now if you had. And not to mention the fact that the poor girl would be home safe in her bed. You really dropped the ball on this, son. Your father would disapprove."

Rolling his eyes, Roman knew he screwed up. He should have done a lot of things to check on seeing if she was really Poppy, but he didn't. Claudia's lies blinded his judgment, but he wouldn't let it happen again.

Maybe it was Beau's death that had his head all messed up. He didn't make this sort of mistakes, but lately, it seemed like all he did was screw things up. Not anymore. Starting now, he set things right, but he'd do it with a clear head. No more going off half-cocked and missing all the clues that were right in front of him.

Picking up the phone, he called Anton as he headed to the limo following the doctor.

"Sorry, no time. I'll call you back."

"Asshole, don't you dare hang up on me! Tate told me everything. Get your ass to Indiana and that farm. Take my private plane or whatever you have to do. You better be back in Chicago by morning with news or your head will roll."

"Roman, I'm sorry. I didn't know she was sick."

"Anton, you screwed this up. I told you to investigate it."

"I know, but you had me doing all this stuff regarding Beau. I got overwhelmed. I thought she was lying and thought we could deal with it later."

"So did I, but now I'm not so sure. The fact is, you've been slacking and you need to get your head out of the greens and back to work. I think this is Poppy Fields, and if so, we have to find out why the hell she looks like Claudia Ricci's clone."

"On it. I won't mess up again."

"Be sure you don't, or you'll find yourself on the unemployment line. Don't make me fire my best friend."

Anton was silent over the phone for a moment before he muttered. "Bro, tell her I'm sorry. I'll make it up to her. I swear."

Hanging up, Roman rushed to the car, sliding in beside Poppy. "Driver, go!"

Turning to the woman who was in dire straits, he took a sad breath to calm his growing tension. He hated this. Claudia or Poppy, it didn't matter. He messed up, and now she could die because of his anger.

Looking up at him, mirroring his sad smile, Poppy reached for his hand. "It's okay, Mr. D'Amico. You didn't know. If I die, I just want you to know. You're the best kidnapper I ever had."

With a chuckle, he nodded. "You've had others?"

"No, but at least this one didn't really plan to kill me. And that kiss… It was nice."

"It was for me too, Claud--Poppy." Pulling her into his arms, Poppy closed her eyes. "It's all going to be okay. Rest. I'm going to take care of everything. Don't you worry."