Page 45 of Ivory Legacy

“I’m giving it all back,” he interrupted, holding his hand up to stall any further protest from me.

I blinked at him, taken aback. “What?”

“Your job, your apartment,” he listed off on his fingers. “Your freedom.”

“Tell me,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “Tell me what you’re going to do.”

Dante let out a breath, his eyes fixed on the road. He glanced at me, a faint smile tracing his lips. “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked, holding my gaze. “I’m giving you your life back, Jade.”

“Cute. I meant for the case. How are you keeping the police and the FBI off BioHQ’s back? The RICO case against the Moretti family—it’s big news. And it won’t look good for BioHQ if they reinstate someone with...connections to it.”

Dante glanced at me, a faint grin playing on his lips. “Jade, I have a team of the best lawyers money can buy. They’re working on it, digging through the laws to find any avenue we can exploit.”

“But you are the connection,” I countered, my voice bare with frustration.

The streetlights cast a glow over his face, accentuating the intense look in his eyes. His jaw tightened and he was quiet for a moment before he responded. “That’s where it gets tricky.”

“Tricky? Dante, this is my life you’re playing with,” I snapped, my tone colder than I intended.

“Yes,” he said. “And our child’s life. So I want to give you all my stake in the company.”

I blinked, stunned into silence. The weight of his words hung in the air between us, heavy and potent as the blare of car horns from the traffic outside. “Give me... what?”

“Everything,” Dante said simply, his gaze never leaving the road ahead. “My shares in BioHQ. It’s the cleanest way to sever my connection with the company.”

“But... that’s your company...” I protested weakly, grappling with the enormity of his decision.

“Well,” he corrected with a small smile, “it was my company.”

“But...” I paused, trying to make sense of his declaration. “Why?”

His gaze flicked to me, a softness touching his dark eyes. “A secure future for you and our baby,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

I swallowed hard, the implications of his words weighing heavily on me. Despite the tension between us, despite our tangled past and the chaos swirling around us, Dante was offering an olive branch—a chance for stability, a lifeline in these stormy waters.

“Okay. Let’s say I take you up on this. Are you going to use BioHQ branded clinics for other…activities?”

He looked at me for a second. “That’s none of your concern.”

“Dante,” I started, my tone firm and unyielding. “If I’m to take your stake in the business, it becomes very much my concern.”

He sighed, running a hand through his dark locks. “Jade, the less you know about what may or may not have happened in the past, the better. The less you know about what happens in the future,the better. Let’s hope you never get called to testify, but if you do, you should probably know as little as possible.”

I frowned, annoyed at his deflection. “How can you expect me to accept such a proposal when you keep holding back information?”

Dante looked at me, his gaze softening. “I’m trying to protect you,” he explained, “and our child by ensuring that you always have plausible deniability.”

“Really?”

He nodded, his eyes never leaving mine. “That way, no one can ever accuse you of being involved in anything unsavory.”

A knot tightened in my stomach. “So what, I just turn a blind eye and hope for the best?”

“No,” Dante answered quickly, grasping my hand gently, “You run the company as you see fit, as ethically and brilliantly as I know only you can.”

“I’m not doing this.”

“Jade, cut it out. BioHQ operations are all above board. The revenue per year is set to exceed the GDP of some countries. There’s no need to dip into illegal activities.”

---