Rocco and Mandy: A Red Team Wedding Novella (Book #6.5)(5)

“Okay, now spill,” Angel ordered.

“There’s nothing to spill. Nothing’s wrong. I’m just overtired.” She nodded toward her tea. “I thought the tea would help.”

Val handed her mug to her. “It’s Rocco, isn’t it?”

Mandy’s breath left her. She folded her lips together, fighting another wave of tears. “No.” She shook her head. “It’s just me. Really.”

“Come sit down,” Val said, drawing her over to the kitchen table. “Angel will make us some tea, too. We’ll keep you company until you settle down.”

“I don’t like chamomile,” Angel grumbled.

“Then pick another tea.” Val gave him a meaningful glare.

Mandy laughed. “You guys don’t have to stay with me. Sounded like you were heading out.”

Val shrugged. “You’re more important than a beer at Winchester’s.”

Angel poured hot water into two mugs. He started digging through the boxes of teas to find one that apparently didn’t smell horrible. Mandy bit her lip to keep from laughing. He held up a box, showing Val the flavor. Val’s nostrils flared and he shook his head, but stopped as soon as he realized she was looking at him.

“You guys, have a beer or something. You don’t have to torture yourselves with tea.”

“Oh, thank God,” Angel said as he closed the tea cupboard and fetched two bottles from the fridge.

“Okay, let’s talk this out. What’s going on with Rocco?” Val asked.

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t. It seems we talk less and less.”

Val met Angel’s hard eyes. Mandy dropped her gaze to her mug. “Look, I don’t want you guys worrying about him or us. I’ll figure it out. It’ll be all right. We’ll be fine.”

Angel slumped into a seat at the table. “Why should you have to figure that out by yourself? How is that okay?”

“Angel”—her lips trembled—“it’s the only choice I have.”

“Fuck that.”

“We’ll talk to him,” Val offered.

“No. Really. It’s all okay.”

Val took her hand in his big one. The look he exchanged with Angel held no humor. “Look, little ginger,” he said, moving his gaze to her, “you aren’t alone. You got a whole bunch of brothers backing you up. And a wicked, badass sister, too. ”

Mandy smiled through fresh tears. “That makes me a very lucky person.” She sipped her tea. “I think I’m going to head back to bed.” The guys got up when she did. She kissed them both on the cheek. “Thank you,” she said, giving them a smile before she took her mug and left.





*





Mandy found Kit with Ivy and Kathy in the kitchen the next afternoon. She stole a sample of the crostini that Ivy was making for later. “Kit—do you have a minute?” she asked her brother.

“Sure thing. S’up?”

Mandy led him toward the patio door without answering.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“No. Everything is not okay. It’s not at all okay,” Mandy said when they were outside.

“Rocco?”

She nodded. “He’s drifting farther and farther away every day. I’m afraid of where he’s headed.”

“Angel said he’s been hanging out in your old barn.”

She flashed a look at Kit. “It isn’t just that’s he’s isolating himself from us. And it isn’t that his selection of a hangout spot is a dangerous one. It’s the fact that the darkness is taking more and more of him.”

Kit nodded and looked forward. “I ordered him back to a shrink.”

“That will help—and absolutely needs to be part of his healing plan.” She looked at her brother. “But there’s something else I want to do.”

Kit lifted a brow.

“I want to put in a memorial garden in my front yard. To Kadisha.”

“Oh. Shit.”

“It’s important, Kit. We need to quit pretending she isn’t part of our lives. She’s Zavi’s mother, for crying out loud.”

Kit dipped his head and rubbed a hand over his mouth. “Rocco wants to forget her. Forget what happened. Laying it all out in broad daylight, for him and everyone to see, isn’t going to be a good thing.”

“I think it’ll be cathartic. Zavi will have a place to tell his mom when something important happens in his life. It’ll give Rocco a way of telling Kadisha what was really in his heart when they were together. It’ll honor her.”

“Right, and that’s f*cked up. She blew herself up, Em. Decimated her village. You don’t honor that.”

Mandy sighed. “What happened was part of the war, Kit. It was the result of hatred, and anger, and fear. And a broken heart. I’m not saying she was a hero, but things don’t happen in a vacuum. Rocco had a hand in that. He needs to forgive himself. He needs to let it go. Because if he doesn’t, he’ll never move forward and build a life full of joy. He’ll always be stuck in that black place, and it will eat more and more of him.” Mandy put her hand against her belly. “I want my baby to know his dad, not the shell of the man his madness leaves behind.”