24. Chapter Thirty-Four Dante
Chapter Thirty-Four: Dante
S unlight barged in uninvited, its rays like prying fingers through the half-drawn curtains. I blinked away sleep’s last stand, my senses sharpening to the midday quiet of the penthouse. The soft warmth of Jade beside me was a contrast to the chill of duty awaiting beyond these sheets. With a reluctant exhale, I reached for my phone, its screen too bright against the lingering fog of my thoughts.
“Morning already came and went, didn’t it?” I muttered to no one, slipping from bed with the stealth of shadows I knew too well. My bare feet found the cool tile of the living room.
I started pacing, feeling the pull of family—of blood stained in ways I couldn’t wash off. The phone felt heavy in my hand as I dialed the number that connected me to a world I both commanded and despised. I didn’t know if Marco would have his phone, so this was the easiest way to get in touch.
“Marco Moretti’s room,” I demanded, my voice steady despite the chaos brewing inside.
“Connecting you now,” the voice on the other end said before the line clicked and hissed like a fuse set ablaze.
“Hey, it’s me,” Marco’s voice crackled through, each syllable laced with a pain he tried to mask.
“You sound like hell warmed over,” I commented, jaw clenched tight enough to crush stone.
“Ah, just another day in paradise,” he quipped back, but the jest fell flat, landing with the weight of reality we both bore.
“How are you, really?”
“It’s fine. Manageable,” he claimed, obviously lying.
“Good,” I said, another lie bitter on my tongue. “I’ll swing by soon, alright? Just gotta sort some things out here first.”
“Sure, sure,” Marco replied, a hint of resignation bleeding through. “Just... don’t take your sweet time, Dante.”
“Of course.”
“There’s something else I need to ask you for,” he said. “I need you to tell Ma.”
“Ma doesn’t know yet?” I frowned, the weight of neglected duties settling on my shoulders. How had Dad not told her?
“I don’t think Dad has yet and I want to see her,” Marco continued, each word punching the air out of me.
“She’s going to freak out,” I warned him, already dreading the fallout.
“I know, but...I want to see her.”
“Of course,” I replied, a promise etching itself into my resolve. “I’ll go get her before I swing by.”
Steeling myself for the day ahead, I glanced at the clock—noon—and felt the demands of my dual lives pressing in. The room seemed smaller all of a sudden, the walls inching closer with expectations. But before I could face the outside world again, there was one thing I needed to do.
Something really important.
I strode back to the bedroom, my movements silent, a stark contrast to the emotional noise in my head. She lay there, still ensconced in the sheets, a serene figure amidst my turmoil. I lingered by the bottom of the bed, watching her for a moment in quiet contemplation.
“Jade,” I whispered, though she didn’t stir.
The city outside might be ruthless, the family business unforgiving, but here, in this moment, I allowed myself the illusion of tranquility. Soon, I’d have to shatter it, along with the delicate balance we’d so far manage to maintain.
But had we?
She had tried to leave.
I knew the gravity of what lay ahead; it was mirrored in the tightening of my chest, the silent vows I made to protect her from my reality.
“Jade, you can’t leave,” I rehearsed the words I’d soon have to say aloud. The words tasted like betrayal on my tongue, but I had to do this. There was no other way to make her understand.
Her dark hair lay splayed across the pillow, a sharp contrast to the crisp white of the linens. Jade slumbered on, her face etched with innocence. A part of me wanted to leave her to her dreams, where the harsh realities of my life couldn’t touch her.
But duty had a way of pulling me back, a relentless tug that wouldn’t ease until all was laid bare. Even the slight swell of her belly—a new life taking root—couldn’t postpone the inevitable. If anything, it only served to up the stakes.
I watched over her, a silent guardian wrestling with the dualities of my existence.
“Jade,” I said again, louder this time, willing her back to the waking world.
Her eyes fluttered open. “Hi?”
“Hi,” I said. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah, like, okay,” she replied, her voice soft and raspy from sleep. “What’s up?”
I lingered by the foot of the bed, feeling the weight of truth heavy on my shoulders. Jade sat up, her form barely covered by the thin cotton t-shirt and panties, a stark reminder of our intimacy just hours before. The room felt thick with unsaid words, with the reality that had crept into the shadows of our lives, lurking like an uninvited guest.
“We have to talk,” I stated, the urgency in my voice cutting through the silence.
She drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as if bracing for impact. Her eyes held a flicker of apprehension. She knew me well enough to sense the tremor in the fabric of our carefully constructed lies.
“About?” Her single word hung between us, a plea for the truth and a shield against it all at once.
“About us, about everything.” I paused, noticing how the slight furrow of her brow mirrored the gravity of what I was about to disclose. “Things are going to change, Jade.”
“Okay,” she breathed out, steeling herself. “Tell me.”
I stood there, every muscle coiled tight, feeling the weight of what I was about to do. The air in the room seemed to thicken as I watched Jade’s face, her eyes searching mine for something that I wasn’t sure I could give.
“Jade, you can’t leave,” I found myself blurting out, the words harsher than I intended.
“I know, but…”
“I know you tried to leave last night,” I said. “What if something had happened to you? What if one of the people who are after me or Marco had found you? I don’t know how to make you understand that you have to stay in this penthouse for your own protection. I can’t lose you. I can’t lose the baby.”
Her eyes widened at my revelation, the shock rippling through her figure like a tremor. The words hung in the air between us, stark under the midday light filtering through the blinds.
“I…this isn’t fair, Dante. I never asked to be involved in any of this.”
“A security camera caught you trying to leave the penthouse last night,” I confessed, the guilt gnawing at my insides. “I have people looking out for you, Jade, whether you like it or not.”
The silence that ensued was deafening, a chasm opening wide between us, threatening to swallow everything we had built. Her eyes fluttered shut as if trying to process the reality of her situation.
“You’ve been spying on me,” she accused, her voice barely above a whisper. Her eyes flickered open again, a well of emotions - betrayal, hurt, confusion - swirling within those depths.
“Of course I’ve been fucking spying on you! What are my options here? Let you try to run off so you can get shot?” I asked. “I don’t want to keep you prisoner. I would rather you were here because you want to be. But if you don’t want to protect yourself, then you should at least be interested in protecting my child.”
Her eyes met mine, a fire kindling within them. “Our child,” she corrected me, her voice quivering with an intensity that I had never seen before. “This isn’t just your child, Dante. This is our child we’re talking about. I have the baby’s best interest at heart.”
“I know you do,” I replied, the harsh timbre of my voice softening. The gap between us seemed to shrink, if only for a moment. “I know this isn’t...ideal. But it’s the reality we have to deal with.”
“I don’t want to stay here! I don’t want to be locked up for the rest of my pregnancy!”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Right. Well, obviously words aren’t going to be enough to make you understand. So I’m going to show you.”
“What are you going to show me?” she asked.
“I’m going to show you what I’m going to do if you disobey me again!” I exclaimed.
Jade’s eyes got wide and she stood up quickly.
She was going to try to escape.
But I also knew there was no place for her to go.
So when she started to run, I just let go.