Page 43 of Ivory Obsession
“No, I have a problem with him,” she replied. “Not with it. I absolutely think you should be getting laid.”
“He’s really good in bed, Ellie,” I said. “Like…really good, okay? So just back off.”
“Fine,” Ellie conceded reluctantly. “But if things get... messier, promise you’ll tell me?”
“Promise,” I lied smoothly, because in truth, I had no idea what I’d do if—or when—things with Dante Moretti escalated beyond a minor diversion.
“I know you’re gorgeous,” Ellie said. “But with a man like that, don’t you ever worry he’s going to have an ulterior motive?”
I opened my mouth to answer when she looked down at her vibrating watch. “Shit,” she said. “I’m doing a guest lecture today, and they just told me it’s going to be in person instead of online. I need to go get ready for that. Don’t forget what I said, okay?”
I nodded, watching as she stood up. “You think they’d tell you this kind of shit well in advance,” she said. “Idiots.”
I nodded. “Couldn’t agree more.”
The moment Ellie left, I exhaled a sigh I didn’t realize I’d been holding. Alone with my thoughts, the seed of doubt Ellie planted began to sprout. Could Dante’s presence in my life ripple out further than I anticipated? The man had resources and connections that ran deep—too deep for someone like me to fathom fully.
But maybe he could be the key in helping me protect all this research. I made my way back to the lab after I was done with my breakfast and paused by my desk, my fingers drumming against the cool metal surface as I reconsidered every interaction with him. Each smile, each touch, each word exchanged—was there a hidden meaning I’d missed? I knew how to analyze data, to look beyond the obvious for patterns and anomalies, but deciphering Dante Moretti required a different kind of scrutiny.
“Damn it, Ellie,” I groaned under my breath. Her intuition was annoyingly on point at times, and now the possibility that Dante could somehow influence my career, or worse, my personal safety, loomed over me like a dark cloud.
Was he using me for something? It didn’t seem like he was but…he was out of my league. He could’ve had an actress–a smart one, like one who went to an Ivy and was the most gorgeous woman in the world–with him, rather than me.
But he didn’t. At least I didn’t think so. He seemed to want me, and only me, as far as I knew. Though we hadn’t really discussed being exclusive yet.
“Focus on the work, Jade,” I reminded myself, trying to push away the growing unease. Dante was just a man—a complicated, dangerous, irresistibly charming man—but still, just a man. How much power could he truly wield over my life?
…More than I wanted to admit.
Fuck.
“Distraction or not, we’re going to have to set some boundaries,” I heard myself say, steeling myself for whatever confrontation lay ahead. It was time to make it clear to Dante—and perhaps more importantly, to myself—that my work came first, and no one, not even a man as enigmatic as Dante Moretti, could compromise that.
But I needed to think on it for a bit, so I dove back into the work I needed to do that day. After Dr. White had called me to his office, my entire day had been less productive than I wanted it to be.
It didn’t take long before I was working. I adjusted the microscope, my gaze locked on the slide beneath the lens. Cells danced across my field of vision, each a tiny universe unto itself. It was here, in the complexities of biological life, where I found solace from the chaos that seemed to have erupted in my life.
My phone buzzed again. I glanced at it, irritation pricking at my focus. Dante’s name flashed on the screen once more—a siren call I was determined to ignore. My thumb hovered over the ‘silent’ button before pressing it decisively. Silence enveloped the lab, broken only by the familiar hum of machines and the sound of one of my colleagues chattering in a different lab.
“Back to work,” I muttered to myself, feeling the gratifying sense of control as I pipetted a reagent into a series of wells. The task demanded precision, and I welcomed its requirement for my undivided attention. Each droplet fell in a rhythmic sequence—my counter-melody to the chaos trying to seep into the sanctity of my lab.
The experiments laid out before me were my world, my battleground. As much as Dante’s presence loomed large, he had no dominion here. This was my realm, where I called the shots, dictated the pace, and sought answers to questions he probably never even pondered.
“Dr. Bentley, the results won’t change if you glare at them harder,” I chastised myself, smiling wryly at the intensity of my own focus. It wasn’t just about proving Ellie wrong or putting Dante in his place—it was about the thrill of discovery, the passion for knowledge, and the unrelenting drive to push the boundaries of science.
Let him wait, I thought, a smirk playing on my lips. If Dante Moretti wanted to play a game of patience, he was up against a master. After all, good science took time, and so did unraveling the enigma of a man who thought he could unsettle me with a few persistent texts.
As the day wore on, focusing got more difficult. I took a break after a while, leaning against the cool glass of the lab window, staring at the rain pelting down on the sidewalks. It was a gray wash of a day, the kind that made everything else seem sharper—even my thoughts.
“Ellie thinks you’re playing with fire, Jade,” I murmured to myself, my voice barely audible above the drumming rain. It was true; part of me was drawn to Dante Moretti like a moth to a flame. That allure, that danger—it shouldn’t have been enticing, not for someone like me.
I shook my head, trying to shake off the image of him—immaculate suit, smug smile. But it wasn’t just the danger, was it? There was something about him that I couldn’t quite figure out, something that piqued my scientific curiosity. And damn it, Ellie had seen right through me when I pretended otherwise.
“Focus, Bentley,” I chided, turning away from the window. My experiments were waiting, but the pull of personal life was getting harder to ignore.
By late afternoon, as the last of the daylight surrendered to evening, I knew what I had to do. The boundary between work and whatever was happening with Dante needed to be crystal clear. I had too much at stake—my research was my life’s work, and I couldn’t afford any distractions or compromises.
But if Dante and I were going to get into business together, then I needed to cover my bases. Dr. White and the board members couldn’t see him as scary, but rather a legitimate person that was interested in my research without trying to take over.