Page 57 of Ivory Crown
Her dark hair lay splayed across the pillow, a sharp contrast to the crisp white of the linens. Jade slumbered on, her face etched with innocence. A part of me wanted to leave her to her dreams, where the harsh realities of my life couldn’t touch her.
But duty had a way of pulling me back, a relentless tug that wouldn’t ease until all was laid bare. Even the slight swell of her belly—a new life taking root—couldn’t postpone the inevitable. If anything, it only served to up the stakes.
I watched over her, a silent guardian wrestling with the dualities of my existence.
“Jade,” I said again, louder this time, willing her back to the waking world.
Her eyes fluttered open. “Hi?”
“Hi,” I said. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah, like, okay,” she replied, her voice soft and raspy from sleep. “What’s up?”
I lingered by the foot of the bed, feeling the weight of truth heavy on my shoulders. Jade sat up, her form barely covered by the thin cotton t-shirt and panties, a stark reminder of our intimacy just hours before. The room felt thick with unsaid words, with the reality that had crept into the shadows of our lives, lurking like an uninvited guest.
“We have to talk,” I stated, the urgency in my voice cutting through the silence.
She drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as if bracing for impact. Her eyes held a flicker of apprehension. She knew me well enough to sense the tremor in the fabric of our carefully constructed lies.
“About?” Her single word hung between us, a plea for the truth and a shield against it all at once.
“About us, about everything.” I paused, noticing how the slight furrow of her brow mirrored the gravity of what I was about to disclose. “Things are going to change, Jade.”
“Okay,” she breathed out, steeling herself. “Tell me.”
I stood there, every muscle coiled tight, feeling the weight of what I was about to do. The air in the room seemed to thicken as I watched Jade’s face, her eyes searching mine for something that I wasn’t sure I could give.
“Jade, you can’t leave,” I found myself blurting out, the words harsher than I intended.
“I know, but…”
“I know you tried to leave last night,” I said. “What if something had happened to you? What if one of the people who are after me or Marco had found you? I don’t know how to make you understand that you have to stay in this penthouse for your own protection. I can’t lose you. I can’t lose the baby.”
Her eyes widened at my revelation, the shock rippling through her figure like a tremor. The words hung in the air between us, stark under the midday light filtering through the blinds.
“I…this isn’t fair, Dante. I never asked to be involved in any of this.”
“A security camera caught you trying to leave the penthouse last night,” I confessed, the guilt gnawing at my insides. “I have people looking out for you, Jade, whether you like it or not.”
The silence that ensued was deafening, a chasm opening wide between us, threatening to swallow everything we had built. Her eyes fluttered shut as if trying to process the reality of her situation.
“You’ve been spying on me,” she accused, her voice barely above a whisper. Her eyes flickered open again, a well of emotions - betrayal, hurt, confusion - swirling within those depths.
“Of course I’ve been fucking spying on you! What are my options here? Let you try to run off so you can get shot?” I asked. “I don’t want to keep you prisoner. I would rather you were here because you want to be. But if you don’t want to protect yourself, then you should at least be interested in protecting my child.”
Her eyes met mine, a fire kindling within them. “Our child,” she corrected me, her voice quivering with an intensity that I had never seen before. “This isn’t just your child, Dante. This is our child we’re talking about. I have the baby’s best interest at heart.”
“I know you do,” I replied, the harsh timbre of my voice softening. The gap between us seemed to shrink, if only for a moment. “I know this isn’t...ideal. But it’s the reality we have to deal with.”
“I don’t want to stay here! I don’t want to be locked up for the rest of my pregnancy!”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Right. Well, obviously words aren’t going to be enough to make you understand. So I’m going to show you.”
“What are you going to show me?” she asked.
“I’m going to show you what I’m going to do if you disobey me again!” I exclaimed.
Jade’s eyes got wide and she stood up quickly.