Page 1 of Ivory Crown

Chapter One: Jade

Iwas Dante’s prisoner. And I had no idea how I was going to get out.

Sunlight barged in like an unwelcome informant, slicing through the gaps in the curtains and dragging me back to the world of the waking. I blinked against its glare, feeling the silk sheets twisted around my legs—a luxury that mocked rather than comforted. I was in Dante Moretti’s penthouse, a place as lavish as it was imprisoning.

I’d been here before…under much different circumstances. I had been here because I wanted to.

“Damn,” I muttered, pressing my palms into my eyes, trying to rub away the grogginess. Memories of last night came at me hard and fast—Dante’s iron grip on my arm, the cold night air rushing past as he hauled me from my own doorstep, his voice a low growl telling me it was for my own good.

My head throbbed with a persistent ache, the aftermath of whatever cocktail of stress and fear had knocked me out cold. Or had he drugged me? No, Dante played many games, but he preferred his pawns conscious and aware.

At least…I hoped so.

Fuck.

The knot in my stomach tightened. I really didn’t know anything about this man, did I?

I looked around for my phone, but I knew it was hopeless. There was no chance I was going to have it here, not with the way Dante had dragged me away from my apartment.

“Prisoner” wasn’t a word I ever thought would apply to me. A biotechnologist, yes. An unwilling guest in a mafia lord’s high-rise fortress? Not so much. But here I was, staring up at a ceiling that felt too close, walls that seemed to lean in with silent threats.

Escape, the thought pulsed in my brain, urgent and wild. But even as it took root, I knew better. Dante Moretti didn’t take “no” for an answer–clearly. I hadn’t even wanted to tell him I was pregnant…but I should have heeded Ellie’s warnings. I should have ran earlier.

“Damn you, Dante,” I said to the empty room, knowing full well that the man who’d put me here believed he was saving my life. But in saving me, he’d stolen something else—my freedom, my control, my choice.

And I couldn’t decide which was worse—the throbbing in my head or the tightening in my chest that came with knowing I was trapped in a golden cage, courtesy of the one man who was both my protector and my captor.

Or…the way my body reacted. Tingled. Wanted him.

I didn’t have much time to think about it.

The door creaked open, and the subtle clink of fine china against silver announced his arrival before I even saw him. There he stood, Dante Moretti, bearing a tray that seemed straight out of a five-star hotel’s kitchen. The smell of fresh pastries, berries, and rich coffee wafted over to me, stirring a hunger I didn’t want to acknowledge.

“Good morning,” he said.

I picked up my head to look at him.

He sighed. “I understand if you’re angry, but I brought you some food and I thought you might enjoy…”

I shook my head, looking away from him and crossing my arms over my chest. Like a child, I thought. A useless, powerless child.

“Please eat, Jade,” he said, his voice a smooth baritone that contrasted sharply with the hardness I knew lay beneath. He approached, setting the tray down on the bedside table—a tableau of breakfast perfection that felt like another layer of my imprisonment.

I eyed the food, then met his gaze, seeing the concern there. For me? Or for the life we’d inadvertently created? His eyes held a plea, one that spoke of more than just nourishment for my body. It was an olive branch extended in a war I never signed up for.

“Fine,” I relented with a sigh, not quite ready to give him the satisfaction of seeing me submit completely. But as I reached for a berry, letting its tartness burst against my tongue, I couldn’t help but wonder if every bite was another tie binding me to this man—this life—that I never asked for.

Dante watched me, a silent guardian whose presence filled the room. And as much as I wanted to resist, to fight against the invisible chains that tethered me to this place, part of me knew that defiance came with its own set of dangers.

Clearly this man was unhinged. I just didn’t want to find out exactly how unhinged he was.

For my sake, and for my baby’s sake.

So I ate, each mouthful an unspoken truce in this strange standoff between us. And with each bite, I could feel the balance of power shifting, teetering on a knife’s edge where anything could happen.

“Thank you,” he said softly.

I nodded, looking away from him.

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