Chapter 27 Accomplice
ACCOMPLICE
Jesse
In the two weeks that followed the karate tournament, Jesse tried talking to Eliana a thousand times in a thousand different ways.
He texted, he called, he sat outside the guest bedroom door, knocking late into the night.
Begging. But it was like he’d become a ghost, mute and transparent as far as Eliana was concerned.
The only exceptions were when they shared space with Abby and Zoey—but in those moments, he could not speak freely.
He couldn’t demand answers to questions that they had no business hearing.
So instead, he used those opportunities to draw close to Eliana.
To joke around and show her how good things could be when they were a unit. When they were happy.
But it did nothing to thaw her heart towards him. There was no hint of leniency in her eyes in the rare moments when she glanced in his direction—only condemnation. A reminder, with each glance, that his time was running short.
He’d visited three different banks about loans, but there was nothing left to loan against. No collateral left unclaimed. They wouldn’t offer him an unsecured loan with enough reach to cover his spending.
It left him only one course of action—William, his boss.
Jesse had been trying and failing to catch him in his office for two straight weeks.
He knew the man was avoiding him, but he couldn’t do it forever.
Jesse had been loyal. He’d kept their secrets.
He’d earned his place in their scheme, rather than accepting the chump change they threw his way in exchange for compliance.
It was time they returned the fucking favor and came through for him for once.
A quarter of his time was gone, with nothing to show for it, when the week of Thanksgiving arrived.
Eliana was hosting dinner with her parents, a pair of old rednecks who enjoyed sticking their noses where they didn’t belong, but Jesse knew how much sway they held over Eliana, and how close the three of them still were. It could be the opening he needed.
He was still thinking over his plans as he unloaded the mountains of groceries Eliana had sent him to the store to retrieve.
Too distracted by the task at hand, his issues with William, and his schemes to reconcile to notice the person waiting on the sidewalk.
That is, until he was brought up short by a body blocking the path to his front door.
Beatrice.
Jesse’s eyes flew wide, darting to the door, before flying back to the woman before him. Zoey had just called to tell him that Eliana was running her up to the school to grab her forgotten science project, so the house was probably empty, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
“You can’t be here,” he whispered, shuffling around her body and glancing at the windows, searching for curious eyes. “Why are you here?”
“Because you won’t answer the damn phone!” Bea snapped, her voice shrill.
Jesse cringed. Had it always been that screechy?
He hurried to lay the grocery bags on the porch, then spun around, leading Bea back down the path and pulling her to a stop behind his car, out of view of the windows.
She was wearing the same designer clothes, her makeup and hair styled the same way—but there was something different.
Something . . . frazzled about her appearance.
“Then why do you keep trying?” He snapped back.
Bea’s eyes flashed, then she took a slow breath. “You never told me what the plan was.”
Jesse peeked around the front of the car, checking for witnesses. “For what?” He asked, scratching at his elbow. The damn thing never stopped itching. He’d gone through three jars of Vaseline in a month.
“For us.”
“To do what?” He asked, distracted, his eyes scanning the neighbors’ yards.
“To be together.” Bea snapped her fingers in front of his nose. “Are you paying attention?”
The words connected, his synapses finally firing, and he turned incredulous eyes upon Bea. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m asking when you’re planning to leave Eliana,” Bea said, a pout on her lips. She stepped closer, laying a hand on his chest. “I’m on my own here, and I could use a hand.”
Jesse staggered back a step, horrified, shoving her hand off. “I’m not leaving my wife. I would never. I love Eliana.”
Bea scoffed, then paused at the determination she found in his steely gaze. “You can’t be serious?”
Jesse’s brow pulled low as he stared back. “Of course I am. I never made you any promises. We were just . . . having fun. And it’s over now.”
Something dark twisted Bea’s expression before it smoothed once more into a placid expression of practiced disinterest. “If that’s the case, I’d have to assume you haven’t told her about the fun we had,” she said, casually examining her nails, “given her hard line for cheating and all.”
“Are you threatening me?” Jesse asked, his tone deep and stunned, shocked by the sudden about-face.
“It’s only a matter of time before she discovers the truth. All I’m saying is that it would be a shame if the news were to just . . . slip out by accident.”
“Telling her about us won’t make me come crawling back to you,” Jesse was quick to answer. “We are done.”
“Please. That ship has sailed.” Bea scoffed. “But I’m running low on funds, and I need your support. You got me into this situation, so the least you can do is help me out while I figure out what to do.”
Jesse stared down at her for a long moment. He scratched his elbow. He blinked. Then he laughed.
Her face twisted in an instant, no smoke and mirrors quick enough to hide her darkening fury in the face of his humor. “What the fuck are you laughing at?”
“Is that what you came here to do? Blackmail me?” Jesse asked instead, shaking his head as the humor subsided.
“Laugh it up, cough it up, I don’t care.” Bea seethed. “You will help me, or I will take what I am owed.”
“I don’t have any fucking money,” Jesse snapped, all traces of humor gone in an instant.
“But—” Bea floundered, her gaze bewildered. “The jewelry and the trips . . .”
“Credit. And I’m maxed out.” Jesse threw his hands wide before turning away, walking back towards the house. “Have fun taking what doesn’t exist, you gold-digging bitch.”
Jesse didn’t look back as he stepped back up the steps and snatched the bags off the porch. He shouldered through the door and hurried to the kitchen to put away the cold groceries before they spoiled. It didn’t dawn on him, not until he’d laid the bags down, that the lights were still on.
He turned on the spot and asked aloud, “Anyone home?”
“Mom said I could stay . . . since you told Zoey you were almost home,” Abby answered, making Jesse jump.
He spun around, his eyes flying wide as he found his daughter sitting on the barstool at the opposite end of the island.
Her arms lay folded on the countertop, her head cocked to one side as she studied him.
There was something so suspicious, so wary, in her expression—the mirror image of Eliana’s.
His blood ran cold as a sense of inevitable foreboding gripped his heart in a vice.
“Does Mom know?” Abby asked. Unlike Zoey, Abby was shy and quiet and typically chose to keep to herself—but she’d never been one to beat around the bush. “About Bea?”
“I—”
“That’s why the two of you are fighting, right? Because you told her?”
Jesse stared, horrified. Unable to process the quickly unfolding disaster before him. He stared at his daughter and his mind blanked. Why did she look hopeful as she stared back?
Her hands tightened their grip around her elbows as she leaned forward and pressed, “Please, Dad. Did you tell her?”
“How— what do you mean?” Jesse began, his mind reeling.
“I saw you kiss Bea the night Mom went on the trip,” Abby clarified, the words crisp and direct, landing like an arrow through his chest. “And I thought you told her. Mom. I thought that’s why you’ve been fighting. But I just saw Bea outside. Why is she here? Did you tell her to come?”
“I–I wasn’t–you don’t–”
Abby hung her head as she released a fractured sigh. “You didn’t tell her,” she whispered, a note of horror in her tone. “She doesn’t know.”
“Abby, baby—”
Abby leapt off the stool, her gentle eyes furious and glistening. “How could you not tell Mom? Did you kiss Bea again?”
“No—” Jesse shook his head quickly. “I was just telling her to leave.”
“Why would she have come here?”
“It’s . . . complicated.”
“I don’t believe you,” Abby answered, her eyes narrowed.
The words pierced deep and true, curdling the contents of his stomach.
He’d never seen one of his girls look at him with heartbreak in their eyes, and it stole the very words from his mouth, knowing he’d been the cause.
“Bea came to see you. Because you’re a liar.
And now I’m a liar,” she gasped, “because I didn’t tell Mom either. ”
“No—”
“Why didn’t you tell her?” Abby asked, her desperation as tangible as Jesse’s in that moment. A lone tear broke free, sliding over a freckled cheek.
“I–I don’t know.” Jesse floundered, his heart clenching at the sight of his daughter’s distress.
“I thought you loved her.” Abby’s words were quiet, turning introspective.
“I did–I do, Abby. I love her so much.”
“No. You don’t!” Abby cried, her head shaking back and forth as she backed up to the hall, before disappearing around the corner. He could hear the frantic pace of her footsteps before she slammed into her bedroom, and the house fell silent once more.
Leaving Jesse with nothing to do but consider her words.
To consider the realization that he didn’t want her to believe him—to believe that love and betrayal could go hand in hand. That such a thing was worth settling for.
And to consider the paralyzing fact that he’d unintentionally turned his own daughter into an unwitting accomplice in his affair.