something. She tapped on a few more buttons and a calendar alert popped up:
Weekly Meeting at the Bridge
That’s what Mitch was talking about with the guys. Jesse scheduled weekly meetings at the Bridge . Jesse obviously lived a double life—loving fiancé and legitimate businessman by day and furtive underboss and baby daddy by night. Summer put the phone down next to the baby picture. She stretched her body out on the soft carpet of the closet floor and stared up at the ceiling. She needed to come up with a new game plan going forward.
***********************
Summer first suspected Jesse was into more than just legitimate imports when she arrived unexpectedly on his doorstep one night during the winter.
Summer arrived at Jesse’s Manhattan loft on the brink of tears and quaking like a leaf in a windstorm. She knocked on Jesse’s door so hard the skin on her stiff, wind-chapped knuckles almost bled. Jesse pulled back the door, his face creased with irritation.
“Summer, what’s up?” he snapped, clearly unhappy with the intrusion. Summer hugged herself, trying to get her teeth to stop chattering. Behind Jesse, inside the loft, Summer noticed Mitch and two Hispanic men dressed in similar styles with leather biker jackets, grungy jeans, and combat boots.
“I’m sorry if I disturbed you. You know it’s not like me to just pop up uninvited. Never mind, I shouldn’t have come here,” Summer said, turning away abruptly.
Jesse’s frown eased as Summer turned to leave. He could sense that something was amiss.
“No, wait up. It’s okay. I was just taking care of some business. Is everything alright? It’s freezing out and you’re not wearing a coat.”
Jesse stepped into the empty hallway, leaving the door slightly ajar. Summer looked away, peering down the long, hallway, purposely avoiding his eye contact.
“I…I…no, forget it,” Summer bungled her words, moving restlessly on her aching legs.
“How can I just forget it? You show up here on the fly, half dressed, almost blue from frost bite, won’t even look me in the eye…”
Summer looked up at that moment, her eyes dipping at the sides, tears ready to fall.
Jesse put his hand on her chin and turned her face towards the light from the hallway sconce.
“What the fuck happened to your face?” Jesse exclaimed, his deep voice going two octaves higher. They had only been dating for about five months, but Summer felt that Jesse had been the right person to go to in this instance.
“If you’re mad, I don’t want to tell you,” Summer whispered. “It’s really no big deal.”
“Hell yeah I’m mad. Who the fuck did this to you?” Jesse growled, running his thumb lightly over the purple, green, and bluish-grey rings around Summer’s left eye. Summer ran her tongue over her split top lip in an attempt to wipe away the salty tears that burned her open wounds. She winced when his finger touched a particularly sensitive spot on her face.
Jesse had a hard time keeping his composure. Of all the women he’d come across, Summer was by far the most intriguing. There was much more to Summer than met the eye and that kept Jesse’s interest piqued. Summer never crowded him or made unreasonable demands. He generally never dated a woman for more than two months, so five was definitely his all-time record. Summer kept it real. She didn’t play hard to get or put on airs. And she certainly didn’t divulge everything about herself, which meant she was good at keeping secrets. Not a bad person to have around given Jesse’s line of work.
“ Go wait for me in my bedroom while I finish up with this business here. We need to talk about this some more.”
Summer’s knees knocked together from her nerves. As she walked by the room, she
Weekly Meeting at the Bridge
That’s what Mitch was talking about with the guys. Jesse scheduled weekly meetings at the Bridge . Jesse obviously lived a double life—loving fiancé and legitimate businessman by day and furtive underboss and baby daddy by night. Summer put the phone down next to the baby picture. She stretched her body out on the soft carpet of the closet floor and stared up at the ceiling. She needed to come up with a new game plan going forward.
***********************
Summer first suspected Jesse was into more than just legitimate imports when she arrived unexpectedly on his doorstep one night during the winter.
Summer arrived at Jesse’s Manhattan loft on the brink of tears and quaking like a leaf in a windstorm. She knocked on Jesse’s door so hard the skin on her stiff, wind-chapped knuckles almost bled. Jesse pulled back the door, his face creased with irritation.
“Summer, what’s up?” he snapped, clearly unhappy with the intrusion. Summer hugged herself, trying to get her teeth to stop chattering. Behind Jesse, inside the loft, Summer noticed Mitch and two Hispanic men dressed in similar styles with leather biker jackets, grungy jeans, and combat boots.
“I’m sorry if I disturbed you. You know it’s not like me to just pop up uninvited. Never mind, I shouldn’t have come here,” Summer said, turning away abruptly.
Jesse’s frown eased as Summer turned to leave. He could sense that something was amiss.
“No, wait up. It’s okay. I was just taking care of some business. Is everything alright? It’s freezing out and you’re not wearing a coat.”
Jesse stepped into the empty hallway, leaving the door slightly ajar. Summer looked away, peering down the long, hallway, purposely avoiding his eye contact.
“I…I…no, forget it,” Summer bungled her words, moving restlessly on her aching legs.
“How can I just forget it? You show up here on the fly, half dressed, almost blue from frost bite, won’t even look me in the eye…”
Summer looked up at that moment, her eyes dipping at the sides, tears ready to fall.
Jesse put his hand on her chin and turned her face towards the light from the hallway sconce.
“What the fuck happened to your face?” Jesse exclaimed, his deep voice going two octaves higher. They had only been dating for about five months, but Summer felt that Jesse had been the right person to go to in this instance.
“If you’re mad, I don’t want to tell you,” Summer whispered. “It’s really no big deal.”
“Hell yeah I’m mad. Who the fuck did this to you?” Jesse growled, running his thumb lightly over the purple, green, and bluish-grey rings around Summer’s left eye. Summer ran her tongue over her split top lip in an attempt to wipe away the salty tears that burned her open wounds. She winced when his finger touched a particularly sensitive spot on her face.
Jesse had a hard time keeping his composure. Of all the women he’d come across, Summer was by far the most intriguing. There was much more to Summer than met the eye and that kept Jesse’s interest piqued. Summer never crowded him or made unreasonable demands. He generally never dated a woman for more than two months, so five was definitely his all-time record. Summer kept it real. She didn’t play hard to get or put on airs. And she certainly didn’t divulge everything about herself, which meant she was good at keeping secrets. Not a bad person to have around given Jesse’s line of work.
“ Go wait for me in my bedroom while I finish up with this business here. We need to talk about this some more.”
Summer’s knees knocked together from her nerves. As she walked by the room, she
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