Black Widow

Revelation

Jade's POV

Jesse shut his eyes tightly for a second, then looked straight at me.

"Please."

There was something in his voice that stopped me from asking anything else.

I turned the ignition and looked ahead, ignoring the intensity of his stare as it lingered on the side of my face.

What the hell was this about?

Was it connected to the call he'd gotten during the recital? Was this the reason he'd been acting strangely ever since?

And, more importantly, did it have anything to do with the fact that he had lied straight to my face that night?

I forced myself to stop thinking long enough to follow the directions Jesse was giving me. Whatever was happening, I could figure it out once we got there. Right now, the last thing either of us needed was me getting distracted behind the wheel.

The drive was almost completely silent, except for Jesse's fingers tapping restlessly against his leg or the window frame.

Within ten minutes, we reached Lower South Providence.

The neighborhood looked nothing like the area Liz lived in. The houses were packed closely together along narrow streets, most of them small, single-story homes painted in faded shades of blue and white beneath simple gray roofs.

I noticed Jesse glance toward me several times as I drove.

He looked almost self-conscious.

I pretended not to notice.

"Stop the car."

His hands were already at his seatbelt.

I barely managed to pull over before he shoved the door open and ran toward one of the houses.

I watched him disappear inside.

For a moment, I stayed in the driver's seat.

Going in would be intrusive.

Whatever was happening clearly involved his family, and technically Jesse had never asked me to follow him.

I should wait.

Instead, my hand was already reaching for the door.

I stopped.

Why?

Because this was obviously serious.

Because leaving him alone in there would feel wrong.

Because—

I exhaled sharply.

"Shut up."

This really wasn't the time to start arguing with myself.