Chapter 6
The morning wore on, but Jessy couldn't shake the weight pressing down on her chest. She moved through the house like a ghost, brushing her teeth, changing her clothes, feeding Rocky, all while Dave's voice echoed in her mind. "I'll be around, Jessy. Don't worry."
She wasn't sure if that was a comfort or a threat.
She sat at the kitchen table, a cup of tea untouched in front of her. Maura had gone out to run errands, leaving the house unusually silent. The stillness made everything feel sharper—each creak of the wood, each distant bark of a dog outside, all reminders of the emptiness she felt inside.
Jessy's hand drifted to her stomach. The baby. That should've been her focus. That was her focus. She had no business thinking about men like Dave Sebastiano—dark, unreadable, heavy with secrets. But the truth was, he had unsettled something deep in her, something that wasn't ready to stay buried.
The sound of a car engine idling outside pulled her out of her thoughts.
Jessy stood cautiously and peeked through the kitchen curtain. A dark gray truck was parked in front of her house. Not across the street. Not at Dave's.
Her breath caught. The driver's side door opened.
It wasn't Dave.
A tall man stepped out, lean and tanned, with sandy hair and a cigarette between his fingers. His clothes were dusty, his boots caked with dried mud. Jessy squinted, trying to place him. Then it clicked—Tommy. Dave's older brother.
She hadn't seen Tommy in years. Not since before she left for college. He used to hang out at the garage with the others—loud, cocky, always in some kind of trouble. But now, he looked... tired. Hollow, even. The years had weighed on him.
Before she could decide what to do, he was already at the front porch, knocking once—firm, deliberate.
Jessy hesitated, then opened the door halfway, keeping the screen closed.
"Tommy," she said flatly. "Didn't expect to see you."
"Didn't expect to be here," he muttered. "Mind if I come in?"
She frowned. "Depends. What do you want?"
His jaw tensed. "Just wanna talk. About Dave."
Her hand clenched the doorknob. The way he said it—like a warning. She unlatched the screen and stepped back silently, allowing him inside. Rocky gave a soft growl from the corner of the room but didn't move.
Tommy looked around like he was stepping into a church. "Place hasn't changed much," he murmured.
Jessy folded her arms. "What's this about?"
He rubbed a hand over his face, the cigarette now tucked behind his ear. "I shouldn't be here. But I figured… someone should say something before it's too late."
Her stomach turned. "Too late for what?"
Tommy looked at her, really looked at her, his gaze lingering on her stomach. "So it's true, then. You're pregnant."
She stiffened. "That's none of your business."
He nodded, unsurprised. "Probably not. But Dave… he's not the kind of man you want near a baby."
Jessy's throat went dry. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying there's a reason people keep their distance from my brother," Tommy said. "You think you know him, but you don't. And if you're smart, you won't try to."
Jessy's voice dropped to a whisper. "He saved me the other night. If it weren't for him, I might've lost the baby."
Tommy didn't flinch. "That doesn't make him safe. He's got blood on his hands, Jessy. The kind that doesn't wash off."
The room felt suddenly smaller, darker. Jessy's heartbeat thudded in her ears. "You're his brother. Why are you telling me this?"
Tommy looked away. "Because I lost people I cared about before. Because Dave... he's not who you remember. And because I owe someone I can't repay."
Silence fell between them like a heavy curtain.
Then, finally, Jessy spoke. "Did he kill someone?"
Tommy hesitated. Just for a second. But it was enough.
Jessy stepped back. "You should leave."
"I'm not trying to scare you," he said quickly. "Just… don't fall for that charm. He's good at hiding things, Jess. Real good."
She opened the door without replying.
Tommy stepped out onto the porch, the cigarette finally finding its way to his mouth. He lit it, took a long drag, then turned back to her with tired eyes. "If you ever feel like something's not right, trust that feeling. Okay?"
Jessy didn't answer. She closed the door gently behind him, locking it.
She stood there for a long moment, her back pressed against the wood. Her hands trembled.
What the hell had she just walked into?
Later that afternoon, the sky turned overcast, as if mirroring her mood. Rain began to patter against the windows in steady rhythm. Jessy curled up on the couch, Rocky at her feet, and tried to read—but the words blurred together. Her thoughts kept circling back to Dave. To Tommy's warning.
But also… to the way Dave had looked at her.
She couldn't reconcile the two versions of him. The man who had come to check on her, calm and quietly intense, versus the image Tommy had painted—a man with a violent past.
She needed answers.
Without letting herself think too hard, she stood, threw on her coat, and stepped outside into the drizzle.
Dave's house loomed across the street like a shadow. Lights were on. She marched across the road, heart pounding.
Before she could knock, the door opened.
Dave stood there, wearing a dark sweater and jeans, as if he'd been waiting.
His eyes searched her face instantly. "Jessy."
"I need to talk," she said, breathless.
He opened the door wider. "Come in."
She stepped inside, her shoes squeaking against the wooden floor. The living room was dim, lit only by the fire flickering in the hearth. It cast long shadows across the walls, giving the place a strange, intimate glow.
Jessy didn't sit. "Your brother came to my house today."
Dave's jaw tightened. "Tommy?"
She nodded. "He said things. Things I don't want to believe. But I think you owe me the truth."
Dave exhaled slowly, then walked over to the fireplace and stared into the flames. "What did he tell you?"
"That you're dangerous. That you've done things."
He didn't respond right away. When he turned to face her, there was no anger—only tired honesty.
"I have done things," he said. "Things I'm not proud of. But I've never hurt someone who didn't deserve it. And I've never been a danger to you."
Jessy's voice cracked. "But you won't tell me what those things are, will you?"
"Not yet." His gaze held hers. "Because once you know, you can't unknow it. And I want you to be sure. Not scared."
Tears pricked at her eyes. "You keep saying that like I have a choice."
Dave stepped closer, careful and measured. "You do. You can walk away. Pretend none of this ever happened."
Her hands clenched at her sides. "But I don't want to walk away. That's the problem. I should. But I can't."
The room was charged with silence.
Then Dave's voice dropped, barely a whisper. "I think I was already falling for you before I ever said a word to you. I watched you from that porch for months. You were light, Jessy. And I've lived in shadows a long time."
Her breath caught.
"But I won't drag you into something that could destroy you. Not with a baby coming. Not with your future on the line."
Jessy shook her head. "You don't get to decide that for me. I need to know who you are, Dave. All of it. Or else I'll never stop wondering."
Dave looked like he was about to argue. But then he nodded, slowly.
"Then come back tomorrow night," he said quietly. "And I'll tell you everything."
Jessy swallowed hard. "Everything?"
"Everything," he repeated. "No lies. No more running."
She looked at him, really looked—at the weight behind his eyes, the guilt he carried like armor.
Then she nodded.
"Okay."
Outside, the rain fell harder. Jessy walked home soaked, but she barely felt the cold. Her mind was too full of questions. The kind of questions that only truths could answer.
Tomorrow, everything would change.
And deep down, she knew—there was no going back.