Page 16 of Silent Verity

“Here,” Jesse said quietly, passing me the coffee—black, just how I liked it. Turning, he leaned back against the counter, his hip pressing to mine, so I took up the same position, letting our sides mold together.

“Jesse got a call this morning,” Spike said, his deep voice a little raspy. He probably hadn’t been up long. “He was just filling us in.”

“Oh?” I asked, looking down at Jesse.

He shrugged nonchalantly, but his eyes were getting a pinched look around them that I didn’t like. “It was the attorney I had do up Mom’s will a while back.” He drew in a deep breath. “He got word she passed away. Offered his condolences. Then told me the house and everything inside of it was for me to do with what I wanted. She left it all to me.”

“Baby…” I said softly, hating the pain in his voice.

He swallowed thickly, shaking his head as he stared at the floor. “I don’t want any of it,” he croaked. “Why can’t I just have someone else deal with this?”

“Why don’t we all go with you?” Tor offered. “Salem got all our schedules cleared anyway so we could be here to support you. We could go with you to sort through the house.”

“And even though you may not want anything now,” I spoke up, “you may find something you want to keep.” Fuck knew I wanted him to just order a bulldozer to drive over the house with everything still inside it, or better yet, light a fucking fire and let it all burn to the ground, but I knew he’d never do that. I could place money on it that Jesse would find something in that house he couldn’t part with, just as he could never bring himself to part from his mother.

He blew out soft breath and finally lifted his gaze. “You guys don’t mind?”

“No,” we all chorused.

“You know you’ve always got me, baby,” I gently reminded him. Reaching down, I grabbed his hand, linking our fingers together. “You’re not alone.”

He nodded, then leaned more heavily against me. I dropped his hand to wrap my arm around his shoulders, tucking him against my side. “We’ll all go out and get breakfast, and then, we’ll go to your mom’s okay?”

He nodded. I dropped a kiss to the top of his head, then just continued holding him because sometimes, being held was just something Jesse needed.

14

Jesse

My mom’s house was a disaster, and even though I hadn’t lived in the house since I graduated high school, I was embarrassed for my family—my found family—to see where I used to live. Dalton had never even seen this place before because I never allowed him to come over. Never even let him come pick me up. If I needed a ride, I usually walked down the street to the bus stop and had him pick me up from there.

To be honest, the house hadn’t looked much better when I lived there, but I’d at least tried to clean up when I wasn’t confined to my room because her newest boyfriend didn’t like that she had a kid, I wasn’t practicing with the guys, or I wasn’t in school.

Or hiding out at Dalton’s because I’d done that a lot, too.

“Looks pretty tame to where I grew up,” Salem commented as he stepped past me and into the house. It was almost like he’d known I needed someone to ease my anxiety. And the way he just stepped inside, not the least bit bothered by the needles lying everywhere, the beer and liquor bottles all over the floor, the trash everywhere… Yeah, Salem had seen something similar or worse.

The walls were stained by nicotine, and the house reeked of mold, booze, and cigarettes. It was a smell I’d grown up with all my life, which meant I should have been used to it, but my stomach turned all the same.

“Come on,” Dalton said, gently pressing his hand to my lower back.

“You don’t have to come in,” I rasped, turning to face him.

He frowned at me, his brows pulling low over his eyes. “What? Why would you think I wouldn’t want to be here, Jesse?”

Because you have loving parents and come from a home that was cleaned by professionals once a week.

But I didn’t say that. I opened my mouth to come up with… something, but I drew a blank. Dalton sighed and pulled me into his arms, his strength wrapping around me. I sank into his embrace and breathed in the scent of his cologne—something rich and woodsy. The smell settled me and eased the headache already beginning to pulse at my temples.

“Seeing this house doesn’t make me think any less of you, Jesse,” Dalton said quietly, his chin resting on top of my head. I swallowed thickly and wound my arms around his waist, my fingers twisting into the back of his hoodie. “If anything, it just makes me remember how fucking strong you are. I don’t think I would’ve survived living somewhere like this.”

“It sucked,” I muttered because I didn’t know what else to say but also because it was the raw truth. It had sucked.

He slid his hand into my hair and tilted my head back so I was forced to look up at him. “I know, baby.” Leaning down, he pecked my lips. My heart skipped a beat in my chest. Now that we were… together—it seemed to be an unspoken agreement that we were a couple now—I couldn’t get enough of Dalton’s kisses and the way he touched me and clung to me. In fact, I never wanted him to stop.

If I could, I’d burrow myself beneath his skin so we never had to be apart.

“Come on,” Dalton urged, releasing me, only to grab my hand and wrap it in his. Carefully, we traversed the nasty house until we were in the living room, where the guys were already pulling photo albums out of the entertainment center that was older than I was.

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