Chapter 7
A balance between Jessy and Dave's deepening connection, the secrets around the Sebastiano brothers, and increasing emotional tension
Including a chapter title
Here we go:
Chapter 7: Shadows Between Us
The rain had finally stopped by morning, leaving the streets slick and glistening under the gray light. Jessy hadn't slept much. She had spent the night tossing in her sheets, haunted by the look in Tommy's eyes and the quiet understanding in Dave's. Every second, she replayed the moment Dave had wiped her tears, the unspoken promise in his touch.
She stood on the porch now, a blanket draped around her shoulders, her hand resting on the curve of her belly. Rocky sat at her feet, alert as ever, his ears twitching at every passing car. Jessy's gaze drifted across the street, where the Sebastiano house stood like a fortress—tall, dark, and unreadable. Just like its occupants.
A black SUV was parked in the driveway. She didn't recognize it. A shadow of unease passed through her. It was early. Too early for visitors.
Just then, the front door opened, and Dave stepped out—jacketless, his black T-shirt clinging slightly to his frame from the lingering humidity. He looked straight at her, as if he'd known she would be watching. Their eyes locked. Jessy didn't move.
Neither did he.
It was Dave who broke the stillness. He crossed the street slowly, his boots silent on the damp pavement. He stopped at the foot of her porch steps, his expression unreadable.
"You didn't sleep," he said.
Jessy tightened the blanket around herself. "Neither did you."
A flicker of a smile touched his lips, but it vanished just as quickly. "I thought about what you said last night. About needing answers. About not trusting what you can't understand."
Jessy nodded, her heart drumming. "Are you going to tell me what it is I don't understand?"
Dave hesitated, then shook his head slightly. "Not here."
"Then where?"
He looked over his shoulder toward his house, then back at her. "Come with me."
She hesitated. Every instinct told her to stay put. To play it safe. But the pull—that same magnetic draw—refused to let her turn away. Without a word, she slipped on her boots, gave Rocky a soft command to stay, and followed him across the street.
Inside the Sebastiano house, the air was different. Dimly lit, cool, and heavy with silence. Jessy had only stepped foot inside once before, years ago. It hadn't changed. Wooden floors, old leather furniture, walls lined with photographs that seemed too perfectly arranged, as if curated for display rather than comfort.
Dave led her down the hallway toward the back. A door creaked open into a study—books, maps, and papers scattered across the desk, a faint smell of cigar smoke clinging to the walls.
He motioned for her to sit. She didn't.
"You said you wanted the truth," he began. "But I need you to understand something first. My brothers and I... we don't talk much about what we do. And that's not just habit. It's survival."
Jessy crossed her arms. "Are you in danger?"
His eyes darkened. "We've lived in danger so long, it doesn't feel like danger anymore. It just feels like life."
She stepped closer. "Then tell me. I deserve to know."
Dave let out a slow breath. "My father was part of something… bigger than most people ever realize. He ran with people who dealt in things you don't read about in the papers—real money, real power. He kept us close, trained us young. After he died, we took over pieces of what he left behind."
Jessy stared. "You're telling me… you're part of a criminal family?"
Dave looked her dead in the eyes. "Not criminals. We don't sell drugs. We don't traffic people. We don't hurt the innocent. But we deal with men who do."
"And that makes you what?" she whispered. "A necessary evil?"
"No," he said. "Just men who weren't given a way out. And now we make sure no one else gets trapped the way we did."
Jessy stepped back, her mind racing. "That's why Tommy's afraid. That's why Maura warned me."
"I'm not asking you to understand it," Dave said softly. "I just didn't want to lie to you."
There was a pause. Jessy felt something unravel inside her—not fear, exactly, but the slow cracking of certainty. She had spent her whole life trying to build a world that made sense, and now she was standing in a house built on secrets and survival.
"Why me?" she finally asked. "Why let me in when you've shut out everyone else?"
Dave moved toward her, slowly, like he wasn't sure she'd let him get close again. "Because I see the way you fight to stay standing even when everything's broken. Because when you walked into that barn, something shifted in me. I don't know how to explain it. I just knew you weren't like anyone else."
Her breath hitched. "You don't even know me."
"I know enough to want more."
And just like that, the room felt too small, the air too thick. Jessy could feel the heat rise in her chest. "You say all this, and yet you're still hiding things. Still giving me pieces instead of the whole truth."
"Because the whole truth might scare you," he said honestly. "And I'm not ready to lose you."
Jessy stared at him. The walls she had spent years building trembled. She wanted to push him away, to run back to her safe, ordinary life—but that life was already gone. It had slipped through her fingers the moment she'd looked into Dave Sebastiano's eyes.
"I don't know what to do with this," she admitted.
"Then don't do anything yet," Dave said. "Just don't walk away."
The silence stretched. Then, quietly, Jessy nodded.
Just then, a voice called from down the hall. "Dave. It's handled."
They both turned. A tall man with similar features—sharper jawline, darker eyes—stood in the doorway. His eyes flicked to Jessy, lingering for a moment.
"This her?" the man asked.
Dave gave a slight nod. "Jessy, this is my brother, Luca."
Luca gave a polite but curt nod. "You picked a hell of a time to fall in love."
Dave stiffened. Jessy's heart skipped a beat.
"I'll be in the garage," Luca said before disappearing again.
Jessy turned to Dave slowly. "Is that what this is?"
Dave didn't answer right away. Then, softly, "If it wasn't, I wouldn't be this scared."
Jessy exhaled, the truth of it crashing over her like a wave. Despite everything—his world, his past, the danger—she wasn't afraid of him.
She was afraid of how much she already felt.
"I should go," she said.
He nodded. "Let me walk you."
They walked in silence. At her door, she turned to him.
"Thank you," she said.
"For what?"
"For not lying."
Dave looked at her like he was memorizing every detail of her face. "You deserve the truth. Even if it ruins me."
Jessy watched him turn and walk away, the weight of everything pressing down on her. But her heart, though heavy, beat with something new.
Possibility.