Page 97 of Ivory Crown

As buildings and neon signs whizzed past us, I realized how much Dante Moretti—a man trapped in the crosshairs of a life he didn't choose—had become intertwined with my world.

It wasn’t just about the baby. It was about me…about us.

And now, here I was racing through the night clinging to the hope that I could pull him back from the precipice. Because if I lost Dante, it wasn't just about losing a man ensnared by his family's dark legacy; it was about losing the man who made me see beyond my lab—the man who showed me shades of gray in a world I thought was black and white. It was about losing the father of my child.

And damn it all if I wasn't ready to fight tooth and nail to save him.

The clinic burst into view. As our vehicle lurched to a stop, figures in scrubs descended upon us, a well-rehearsed dance of urgency and precision. Doors flew open before the engine's growl had faded, and Dante was swept from my grasp, hoisted onto a gurney that seemed far too flimsy to bear the weight of the situation.

"Stay with me," I hissed under my breath, knowing full well he couldn't hear me over the clamor of medical commands.

I trailed behind them, my eyes fixed on the receding figure of Dante as they wheeled him through automatic doors. My heart hammered against my ribs, each beat echoing my harrowing helplessness. This was a world away from the sterility and order of my lab—the variables here were life and death, not controlled experiments.

"Will they save him?" The question left my lips before I could think better of it, directed at Rodriguez who had been a shadow at my side since we'd left the scene.

He looked at me, his gaze somber, harboring secrets I wasn't sure I wanted to unravel. There was an understanding in his eyes, a silent acknowledgement of stakes higher than I'd ever imagined myself partaking in.

"Jade, they're the best," Rodriguez finally said, his voice low but firm. "If anyone can save him, it's them."

But it was what he didn't say that echoed loudest in my ears—a cost for Dante's life, a price tag dangling from his hospital bracelet that I knew instinctively had nothing to do with money. Whatever it was, I felt its weight settle on my shoulders, cold and heavy as Dante's hand had been. And I understood, with a clarity that cut through the fog of fear, that saving Dante was more than a battle against his physical wounds—it was a war waged in shadows and silence, one that might just claim more than I was prepared to lose.

“We need to talk about what happens when he’s out of the woods,” Rodriguez said.

I didn’t know where Ellie was. I thought she had gone to the bathroom, but I wasn’t sure.

“He’s going to be fine, right?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Look, he’s probably going to be fine. And when he does, he’s probably going to leave this place in handcuffs.”

“What? No,” I said. “Look, I can’t…I can’t think about this right now. But he’s going to go home. We’re sorting everything out, it’s…”

I had no idea what to say. I was so worried about him, how could I convince this man that this wasn’t the time for this talk?

“There’s a way for him to go home,” Rodriguez said. “But it’s up to you, Jade.”

I looked him up and down. “What?”

"Only if you agree to work with us," Rodriguez added, his voice slicing through the momentary calm that had settled over me.

My heart seized. The deal was a devil's bargain—working with law enforcement meant infiltrating the very darkness I'd avoided my entire life, and yet, Dante's life hung in the balance, tipping the scales.

If this meant he would have his freedom…

“But won’t you just use whatever you get from me to try and build a case against him?” I asked. “How does that help him? How does it help me?”

“We’re not interested in Dante Moretti,” he said. “I mean, we are interested in Dante, sure, but we’re more interested in the Moretti operation. We’re particularly interested in why the Moretti crime family has decided to invest in biotechnology.”

“Okay…”

“So you help us, and we let him leave,” he said. “And when it comes time to indict syndicate members, I’ll make sure the DA is lenient with him.”

I scoffed. “He could be dying! How can we be talking about this when he could be dying?”

"Believe me, I understand," Rodriguez said. His voice held a note of sincerity that made my doubts falter. "Right now, all you want to do is see him pull through... so do we. But you also need to think about what happens after that. Because unless we find a way to untangle him from this mess, he might survive today only to end up in a cell tomorrow."

Something twisted in my gut at his words. I looked down at my hands, stained with Dante's blood, the chilling reality sinking in. This was it—the moment where everything lept onto the scales; the balance between Dante's life and the very thing he'd spent his entire life fighting against.

“You’re asking me to betray Dante,” I muttered darkly. "You're asking me to become a mole."

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