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Chapter Twenty-One: Dante

H e didn’t say where home was.

The city’s heartbeat throbbed through the car’s floor as Dante navigated the congested streets of Manhattan. I watched the buildings slide past, their windows reflecting back a mosaic of the early afternoon sun and shadow.

I noticed he wasn’t going to his place. He was going to mine.

I looked at him, sighing. “Hey, I don’t think we should go to my apartment,” I said. “I’m pretty sure the landlord leased it out to someone else at this point.”

“Yeah, about your lease,” Dante started, his voice cutting through the muted sounds of traffic seeping into the cabin. “I hope you’re not thinking someone else has moved into your place.”

My fingers paused mid-twirl in a lock of my dark hair. “I mean, it’s been months, Dante. My landlord’s not the type to let an apartment in NYC sit empty.” I glanced at him sideways, trying to read his expression.

He kept his eyes on the road, but the corner of his mouth twitched upward. “No need to worry about that. I’ve been taking care of the lease.”

“You’ve...what?” The words tumbled out before I could catch them.

“Paid it. All this time.” His tone was matter-of-fact, as if discussing the weather rather than dropping a bombshell.

“Why would you do that?” The question came out sharper than I intended, laced with disbelief.

“Two reasons.” He merged into another lane, his movements precise and controlled. “First, I wanted you to have a place to return to, if you ever decided to come back.”

“And the second?”

“Selfish, really.” He finally turned to look at me, dark eyes locking onto mine. “There was always a chance I’d see you again. If you showed up there.”

His admission hovered in the air between us, a silent acknowledgment of the unspoken threads tethering us together despite our tangled history. It was care masked as strategy, concern cloaked in self-interest, and it left my thoughts spinning like leaves caught in the relentless New York wind.

“I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable,” he said. “But you’re right. Your landlord wasn’t going to just let your apartment sit there.”

I bit back the instinct to argue and shifted in my seat, the leather creaking under me. “But you’re not that sorry for stalking me? That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“Clearly,” Dante said, his gaze still fixed on the congested streets ahead, “it worked out.” His voice was a low rumble, the kind of sound that had a way of settling deep in my stomach.

“Stalking is a crime, you know.” Despite the severity of the topic, my words came out more amused than accusatory.

He laughed, his hand on my knee. “Are you going to turn me in, Jade?”

“No, I think you’ve got enough legal troubles as it is,” I retorted, the ghost of a smirk lingering on my lips. My eyes dropped to his hand on my knee, the warmth from his touch seeping through the fabric of my jeans.

“Speaking of which...” He started, reclaiming his hand and bringing both back onto the steering wheel. “I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”

My heart hitched in my chest. The silence that followed his words hung heavy in the air like a premonition, a signal flare warning me of incoming danger.

“Your job at BioHQ,” Dante finally broke the silence, “is safe...as long as I have a stake in it.”

“Thanks?” I said, unsure of whether to feel grateful or not.

“Look,” Dante continued, his voice softening a notch, “I’m not about to stand in the way of your ambition. Not now, not ever.”

“Good.” I turned to face him fully, meeting his dark eyes with determination etched into every line of my face. “Because I’m not giving it up. Not for you, not for anyone.”

“Wouldn’t dream of asking you to.” He nodded once, sharply, as if sealing an unspoken pact between us.

The sudden rush of relief was quickly followed by confusion. “Wait, the RICO case… won’t it force BioHQ to shut down?”

His lips thinned into a line, an unmistakable sign that he was thinking. He turned back to the road, his gaze flitting between the buildings as he considered his response.

“No,” he said after a few beats of silence. “There are... legal loopholes.”

I crossed my arms. “Such as?”

He glanced at me, his eyes unreadable. “Does it matter?”

I sighed, pressing my fingers to the bridge of my nose. “You always do this, Dante. Twisting words, keeping things just vague enough—“

“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.”

“But it doesn’t yet, right? That’s why we needed funding. That’s why we needed the Morettis in the first place.”

“The funding was necessary for the growth,” Dante argued, his voice steady and firm. “We required resources for development, research, patents...BioHQ would never be on the path it is today without that initial investment.”

“This is an insane idea,” I said.

“Yeah, well, it’s this or marriage,” he replied. “So what do you say, Jade? Will you be the CEO of BioHQ or Mrs. Moretti?”

“Those can’t be my only choices.”

He tutted. “If you want your child to be safe, I’m afraid they are.”

The weight of Dante’s ultimatum settled heavily in my stomach, the pulsating rhythm of the city outside echoing my racing heart. I clutched at the edge of the seat, a mixture of fear, anger, and confusion clouding my thoughts.

“I don’t even know how to respond to that,” I muttered, turning away from his intense gaze.

“Take your time,” Dante said, his voice holding an unexpected gentleness. “I’m not rushing you. But you should know…no one touches wives. It’s…different. We have a code, and I know this might be hard to believe, but we follow it.”

He pulled into a parking spot in front of my building and turned off the engine, leaving us in a tense silence. The city lights shone around us, painting a surreal tableau of night shadows against the dashboard.

“But you’d still be involved in the... family business,” I managed to choke out.

“I’d do my best to distance myself from it,” Dante responded, his eyes meeting mine in the neon glow. “For you and our child.”

“You told me you’d leave this life behind.”

“And I meant every word,” he replied. “But I told you to give me time. I need to protect you before I can make that move. I need to protect you and our son. You understand that, right?”

I swallowed hard, my gaze dropping to the leather wheel in his hands. The road outside was slick with recent rain, drops painting the pavement with a garish sheen of neon light reflecting off city billboards and store signs. I glanced up at the building we were parked in front of - my old apartment complex - its lights warm and inviting.

“Do you still have the key?” Dante asked suddenly, breaking the silence that hung between us.

Startled, I nodded, retrieving the lanyard from my purse. The little metal object felt unnaturally heavy in my palm.

“Go up,” he suggested softly. “Take a look around. See if you can imagine yourself there again.”

“And what about you?”

“I’ll wait, Jade,” he said. “I’ll wait as long as it takes.”