Page 24 of Ivory Legacy

One option I hadn’t wanted to use, but they were the only people I hadn’t ghosted. And they had nothing to do with the Morettis or NYC or anything like that. I would just go back home, and figure things out from there.

I had tried to make a go of it on my own and it was brutal.

But I had a family. Sure, they would probably be a little judgy–my dad more than my mom–but ultimately, they were a safe place to land. I knew that.

I gripped the phone like a lifeline, my thumb hovering over the final digit of my parents’ number. They’d take me back, no questions asked; they’d love that, actually. But it felt likesurrender, a white flag raised against the relentless siege of independence I’d fought so hard to maintain.

“Dammit,” I muttered, the tremor in my hand betraying the turmoil inside. The cold device seemed to grow heavier with each second of hesitation. Going home meant admitting defeat, letting go of the life I’d built brick by painstaking brick.

Just as resolve began to crystallize, the shrill ring of the doorbell sliced through the silence, startling me into stillness. My heart jackhammered against my ribcage as I set the phone down, unfinished call hanging like an omen.

“Who on earth...?” I mumbled under my breath, padding across the hardwood floor to the door.

None of my coworkers came here. Not a single soul from my old life knew I was here.

No one should have been knocking on my door.

Peeking through the peephole, my breath hitched. Dante.

Just standing there, as if materialized from the foggy cloak of a dream—or a nightmare.

And before I could think it through, I was opening the door.

Chapter Twelve: Jade

Iyanked the door open, mustering my most unwelcoming frown. “Dante, what the—“ But before I could lob another word his way, there he stood, all imposing height and broad shoulders, eclipsing the weak winter sun that tried to sneak past him into the apartment.

“How did you find me?”

“Is that really what we need to talk about right now?”

“Yes!” I said, trying to stop the tears welling up in my eyes. I didn’t know how I felt about him being here. There was a part of me that was incredibly relieved; of course, I knew he’d woken up after the gunshot he’d taken for me, but I didn’t know if he was okay.

And there he stood: every inch Dante Moretti, his shoulders set back, that expression on his face that made it seem like he knew he could stop traffic.

But then he crumbled.

Just for a second.

And I really thought about letting him in. Until I realized he was the reason I was in this position in the first place and I started to get angry again.

“You tell me or I close this door and call the police.”

“Jade, I saw you leaving St. Mary’s.” His voice bulldozed over my simmering annoyance. “We need to talk. It’s urgent.”

My skepticism clung to me like the coat I hadn’t bothered to remove yet, heavy and uncomfortable. “Urgent?” I echoed, arms crossed as if they could shield me from whatever mess Dante was dragging up the stairs of my Harbor Cove refuge. “You can’t just follow me around—“

“Please.” The single plea held more weight than I expected, and for a second, it seemed to cost him, etching a grimace across his face that hinted at pain he wouldn’t dare show in full.

The grimace that contorted Dante’s handsome face sent a jolt through me, erasing the remnants of my indignation. It was a silent echo of the past, a reminder of blood-stained shirts and whispered promises in the dark. “I can explain,” he said, his voice a low rumble of urgency. “Just let me in.”

There it was again—that look which always seemed to precede chaos. His presence at my doorstep was like a crack in my carefully constructed world, threatening to let the darkness seep through. I hesitated, my mind’s eye flashing to the last time I’dseen him, pale and close to death. That memory had haunted me, lurking in the shadows of my meticulous life.

“Jade.” His use of my name felt like both a plea and a command, resonating with a vulnerability I knew he despised showing. Dante Moretti wasn’t a man who pleaded.

“Fine,” I finally said, stepping aside with a reluctant sigh, allowing him entry into my Harbor Cove sanctuary. The winter light that struggled through the clouds seemed to hesitate too, as if unsure about this breach of my solitude.

As Dante crossed the threshold, I couldn’t help but notice how he filled the space—like an indomitable force, yet somehow fragile in his determination. It was in these moments, these cracks in his armor, that I glimpsed the man behind the mafia prince façade, and my heart clenched at the sight.

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