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Chapter Three: Dante

E yes snapped open—a ceiling, white and unyielding, loomed above. My head pounded like the drumbeat of a funeral march.

The sterile scent of antiseptic invaded my senses. Hospital. Right. The realization struck like a gut punch, memories of gunfire and chaos flooding back. I shifted in the bed, pain lacing through me, an unwelcome reminder of my vulnerability.

My side hurt so fucking much.

And it was too bright in this room to make sense of anything.

But there was one thing I was absolutely certain of: she wasn’t here.

“Jade,” her name burst from my lips, a lifeline to sanity. “Where’s Jade?”

The nurse at my bedside, clipboard in hand, peered down at me with a furrowed brow. “Who?” she asked, her voice flat, detached.

“Jade Bentley,” I pushed through gritted teeth, anger rising fast, hot, and uncontrolled—she was the mother of my child, damn it. “You have to know where she is!”

“Sir, I have no idea who that is,” she replied, unmoved by my distress, scribbling something on her clipboard that I couldn’t give a damn about.

My pulse hammered against the confines of my veins, each throb resonating with a mixture of fury and dread. “You gotta tell me where she is,” I demanded, fingers gripping the edge of the hospital bed until my knuckles turned white.

“Is that your girlfriend?”

“I…yes,” I said. “Look, I just need to see her, alright?”

“She might be waiting for you. I can go and get her if you’d like,” she said.

I closed my eyes. I wanted to thank her, but talking hurt. God, I was so thirsty.

“But Mr. Moretti,” the nurse said, her voice a calm counterpoint to the storm raging inside me, “you need to rest. You’ve been through a significant ordeal.”

I opened my eyes. “What happened?”

“Well, you were shot,” she said. “Got you right here.”

She pointed at a patch on my left side, bandages peeking out from under the flimsy fabric of the hospital gown. I grimaced, remembering the white-hot flare of pain that had dropped me to my knees.

My vision swam with the memory - Luca’s betrayal, the searing pain of bullets cutting through flesh, my desperate thoughts of Jade as darkness closed in. A cold knot twisted in my gut. Luca had been family, a trusted capo. And he had tried to murder me.

But where was Jade?

“The surgeon will explain it all to you in detail,” she said.

“Forget the surgeon. I need to know where Jade is.”

“Well, okay, but first, you need to rest.”

“Rest?” The word came out as a harsh laugh. “You think I can rest not knowing if she’s safe?”

I realized the drugs were going straight to my head. There was no way this woman knew anything about Jade…I didn’t think.

But maybe, on the off chance. I had to make sure.

The nurse placed a gentle hand on my arm, the touch meant to be soothing, but it only served to heighten my agitation. “I understand you’re worried, but—“

“Understand?” I cut her off, my tone edged like a blade. “You don’t understand anything.”

The door swung open with a quiet creak, and Marco stumbled in, his presence immediately drawing my gaze. He looked like hell — eyes rimmed red and skin pale, a stark difference from his usual lively demeanor. A bruise was blossoming across his cheekbone, and he moved with the careful precision of someone trying hard not to show how much pain they were in.

“Marco,” I said, my voice dropping from its earlier ire to something laced with concern. “What the hell happened to you?”

He waved off my question, a flicker of his usual bravado breaking through despite the clear signs he’d seen better days. “Later, Dante. We got bigger problems.”

“Jade,” I said, the single word holding all the weight of my fears. “Is she—“

“Let’s talk,” Marco interrupted, glancing at the nurse with a look that said this wasn’t a conversation for outsiders.

The nurse caught the exchange, her expression softening with understanding or maybe just resignation. “I’ll give you two a moment,” she said before slipping out, leaving us alone in the sterile room that suddenly felt far too small.

“I’m glad you’re awake,” he said. “I was worried about you.”

“You were worried about me? You look worse than I feel.”

“Nothing a drink won’t fix,” he tried to joke, but his voice lacked its usual punch.

“Cut the bull, Marco. You’re hurt.” My grip tightened, concern etched into every line of my face as I scanned him for injuries. “Who did this to you?”

“Later,” he insisted, brushing off my hands with an irritated flick. “We have to focus on your girlfriend.”

“Jade.” Her name sliced through the fog of drugs still clouding my mind, sharpening my senses with alarming clarity. “Where is she, Marco? Tell me she’s safe.”

He shifted on his feet, avoiding my gaze. It was unlike him; Marco always met challenges head-on. “I’m working on it, Dante. I swear.”

“Working on it isn’t good enough!” The words burst from me, a raw edge to my voice betraying the cold dread that settled in my stomach. “She’s out there with my kid, Marco. Our kid.”

His eyes finally met mine, and something unspoken passed between us—fear, urgency, the unyielding weight of family ties strained to their limit. “I know,” he said softly, the fight draining from him. “I know.”

I shot up in bed, the beeping monitors an unwelcome symphony to my pounding head. “And you have no idea where she is?”

He hesitated, and that sliver of silence was a blade to my gut. “I don’t know, Dante. After Luca... after what happened,” he said, avoiding my eyes, “she vanished.”

“Vanished?” I echoed, blood roaring in my ears. “What does that mean, vanished? People don’t just disappear!”

“Hey, keep it down,” Marco snapped back, a bite in his tone as he glanced nervously at the hospital door. “We’ve got ears everywhere.”

“Then use them to find her!” I demanded, the sense of urgency clawing at me. The mere thought of Jade out there, alone and possibly in danger—no, I couldn’t stomach it.

“Look, I’m trying, alright?” His gaze flickered to mine, a storm brewing in those familiar eyes. “But with Luca turning on us, I can’t really use our resources, okay? If Caruso is turning our men against you of all people, well, then everyone might be compromised.”

“What about Enzo? Call Dad,” I said. “Does he know about this?”

Marco’s face hardened and he averted his gaze from mine. “Dad knows. He’s working on it.”

“Is he out looking for her? Is he—“

“He’s doing everything he can, Dante,” Marco cut in, the edge in his voice making it clear that this was not open for debate.

“Then why isn’t he here?”

“Dad’s pissed because you kept him out of your route idea and tried to get one of Caruso’s men to turn against him, which, incidentally, made me get shot. Remember that?”

“Yes, I remember that,” I said. “But he’s not visiting his oldest son in the hospital after he’s been shot?”

“He’s trying to protect you,” Marco replied. “Look, I know Dad’s an asshole, but everything is turned up to eleven and he doesn’t want to lose you right now. Caruso and his men are watching him—they’re watching you, they’re watching Mom, they’re watching me. If someone tracks him here—which, by the way, super weird they brought you to this hospital—then how do you think this is going to end for you? If Jade visits you, how do you think it’s going to end for her?”

His words, as harsh as they were, rang true. The weight of them settled onto my chest like a leaden blanket, crushing the air from my lungs.

“I can’t lose her, Marco.” My voice was barely a whisper, heavy with desperation. “She’s... She’s everything.”

“And you think yelling about her in a hospital full of potential enemies is going to help her? Is going to keep her safe?” Marco’s voice was equally low, his brow furrowed in a scowl. “You need to think, Dante. You’re good at thinking almost all the time, except when it comes to her. So think.”

I fell silent at his reprimand—harsh, yes, but not undeserved. Since Jade had…well, since she had come into my life, I’d been reacting out of fear. Out of desperation. But I wasn’t doing anyone—especially not Jade—any favors by panicking.

“You’re right,” I conceded after a long moment of silence. My gaze was focused somewhere on the sterile tiles of the hospital floor as I took in my brother’s words. “But her life is in danger. We’ve got to find her. Every second we waste—“

“Keep your voice down, Dante,” Marco hissed, glancing nervously at the door. “You want the whole damn hospital in here?”

“Let ’em come,” I growled, the muscles in my jaw clenching tight. Jade’s face, usually so composed and astute, haunted me. If she were here, she’d have a plan, a way to cut through the fog of treachery that clouded my mind.

“Listen, man, I’m on it, okay?” Marco’s eyes were bloodshot, the dark circles beneath them telling of sleepless nights. “But you can’t just storm out of here and go after Luca. Not in your condition.”

“Fuck my condition,” I pushed myself up, the room wavering for a moment before settling into focus. “I’ve been shot before. It never stopped me.”

“Easy, easy,” Marco urged, placing a firm hand on my shoulder and pushing me back down. “You think I don’t want to rip Luca apart myself? But we’re playing a game with no rules now, and running headfirst into danger is exactly what he’d expect.”

“Then we’ll be unpredictable,” I countered, but doubt gnawed at me. Was I really thinking straight? Could I trust my own judgment when every cell in my body screamed for vengeance and reunion with Jade?

“Unpredictable,” Marco mused, his brow furrowing. “Yeah, maybe that’s our angle. But we need more intel, something solid. Right now, we’re grasping at shadows.”

“Get me something I can use.” I was pleading now, desperation edging into my voice. “Anything to lead me to Jade.”

Marco nodded, his resolve hardening. “I will. Just...give me some time.”

“Time is a luxury I don’t have,” I muttered, turning away from him. My heart pounded like a drumbeat, relentless.

“Jesus Christ, Dante,” he said. “Sit down and take a breath, okay? We’ll get her back. But we need you in one piece, alright?”

My gaze met his, the urgency in his eyes mirrored in my own. After a moment, I nodded tersely, relenting to his logic. He was right. As much as it pained me, he was right. I couldn’t help Jade if I was dead.

“I know,” I ground out through gritted teeth. “I just...she’s alone out there, Marco.”

“I know.” His voice was softer now, understanding. He knew what she meant to me, how my world had shifted when she came into it.

With a sigh, he pushed himself off the side of my bed and gave me a pat on the shoulder before heading for the door.

“I’ll get you something as soon as I can,” he promised, pausing at the threshold. “Just hang tight, okay? We won’t let Luca win this.”

But as the door shut behind him, leaving me alone in the sterile silence of the hospital room, I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that they had already won.