Page 61 of Ivory Obsession
I took a steadying breath, decision made. “Let’s do both.”
He gave my shoulder a reassuring pat, pulling his sterile gloves off with a snap. “Alright, I’ll have the nurse order your tests and we’ll get started. Get comfortable, Dr. Bentley. I have a feeling you’re going to be here for a good while.”
Dr. Alvarez’s prediction proved correct. The tests were time-consuming, the waiting heavy, pressing down on me with an intensity that seemed to consume all else. A technician rolled in with an ultrasound machine, positioning it next to my examination bed with the precision of years of practice. Her name tag read ‘Nancy’, and she smiled at me gently, aware of the tenseness that clung to me like a second skin.
“Hi, honey. Just breathe, okay? This is going to be a little cold on your skin.”
The cold gel sliding over my stomach sending tremors up my spine. I watched her eyes flicker over the monitor, her silence amplified by the steady hum of the machine.
The room shrank with every passing second, until there was only Nancy and me and the dull grey images flashing across the ultrasound screen. Numbers and data points blurred into a confusing jumble, my scientific mind scrambling to find answers where there were none.
Then, a sound cut through the discord - a tiny rhythm pulsing with life. A heartbeat. So fast, I almost couldn’t compute it.
The impact was immediate. It was a jolt of electricity, a free-fall, a seismic shift beneath my foundation. The world seemed to tilt on its axis, everything suddenly off-kilter.
“Is that...?” My voice tapered off into nothingness as Nancy nodded, her smile gentle, her eyes filled with a kindness that made the room feel less cold.
“Yes, honey. That’s your baby’s heartbeat.”
Chapter Twenty-Five: Jade
Iwas so fucking nervous.
I lingered outside Rothko’s, a Chinese fusion bistro-style restaurant Dante had recommended, my fingers threading through my dark hair in a futile attempt at calm. The city buzzed, its nightly symphony of horns and chatter wrapping around me. With a steadying breath that did little to ease the tightness in my chest, I pushed open the mahogany doors.
The place was a swath of lowlights and soft murmurs. A cocktail of charred meat and aged wine hit me as I scanned the room. There, in a shadowed corner, sat Dante, waving me over. Unruffled, he raised his bourbon to me, an unspoken welcome from across the room.
“Hey, you,” I managed, my voice betraying none of the chaos brewing beneath the surface. His smile didn’t reach those guarded eyes as I settled into the chair opposite him, the leather cool against my back.
He greeted me warmly, getting up to slide a chair away from the table for me. Soon, the waiter came to take our orders, which was the perfect distraction, since I needed to steel myself for what was about to come next.
The waiter had barely left our table when Dante leaned back, swirling the liquid amber in his glass. “You alright? You’ve been distant,” he said, the furrow of his brow betraying concern beneath the sheen of confidence.
“Just slammed at the lab,” I murmured, my voice steadier than I felt. It wasn’t entirely a lie; the lab was my life, after all. But tonight, it was a convenient shield.
I had to tell him, but…he was a complicated man, and if he wasn’t committed, then maybe I didn’t have to drag him into this at all. “Yeah,” I said. “I’m starving. Let’s eat.”
We talked about the food and our days as we ate. It was nice. This, I could get used to. If only I could figure out everything else.
But soon we were done…and it was clear that the thing I had been so nervous about had to happen, whether I wanted it to or not.
“Is everything to your satisfaction?” the waiter asked as he slipped our check onto the table alongside two fortune cookies.
“Perfect, thank you,” Dante replied with a nod, his attention never leaving me.
I cracked open my fortune cookie.
The slip inside said ‘Fortune favors the bold.’ How fitting. I tossed it aside, my gaze returning to Dante.
“Something wrong?” He asked, studying me with those piercing eyes that seemed to see every lie I’d ever told.
I took a shaky breath. “Dante...we need to talk.”
He raised his eyebrows.
My breath came out in a shaky exhale. I should have probably told him I was pregnant right then and there, but he wasn’t even my boyfriend. I needed to firm up some details before sharing. I looked into his eyes when I spoke. “When am I going to meet your family?”
Dante’s face hardened, the joviality that had danced in his eyes moments ago replaced by a cold edge. His jaw tightened as his fingers began to drum on the table, a rhythmic tap that was more a threat than a tune. “Why would you want to meet my family? I thought you wanted to keep things casual.”