Mandy followed Rocco back to their chairs. She tried to stir up normal conversation, but the guys had their hackles up well into the main course. Zavi came out from the movie room several times to check on them, giving her a welcome distraction. When the meal was over and Kathy and Carla were beginning to clear the table, Mandy looked over and saw Zavi out cold on the sofa.
She tapped Rocco’s shoulder and nodded toward the sofa. “He didn’t want to miss anything.”
Rocco smiled. “Poor guy. It’s been a long day for him. I’ll go tuck him in.”
Wynn got to the sofa before he did. “If you like, I can tuck him in,” she offered.
“Sure. If you don’t mind,” Rocco said.
“I don’t. Stay and enjoy your party.”
Zavi roused as soon as she lifted him. His head was lolling against her shoulder when he said, “Wait. I want to kiss Papa and Mom goodnight.”
“Okay, here they are.” She held them while Rocco then Mandy gave him a kiss.
“Goodnight, baby boy,” Mandy whispered.
“I’m not a baby, Mom. I’m a big brother,” he grumbled without even opening his eyes.
Mandy’s heart did a flip. She sent Rocco a look to see if he’d caught that. “That’s very true. And big brothers need their sleep. Sweet dreams!”
She looked at Rocco as Wynn carried Zavi away. His eyes were dark. Mandy reached out to touch his heart. He touched her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Mrs. Silas, will you dance with me?”
A flash and a click came from across the room. Ace smiled at them as she lowered her camera. “That was a good one.”
Mandy couldn’t wait to see it—and all of the pictures Ace had snapped of her and the girls and the kids and the guys all day long. She hooked her arm through Rocco’s and let him lead her outside to the patio, where a couple of space heaters were warming the chilly autumn evening.
*
The room emptied of people as they spilled outside to watch Rocco and Mandy’s first dance. Owen wandered over to the bar in the living room. Selena followed him. By now several other couples were dancing. Val and Ace were standing at the edge of the patio, observing the dancers. She watched them as she leaned on the bar.
“What’s your pleasure?” Owen asked.
Selena straightened, trying to read between the lines of that question. There was always a “between the lines” with Owen. “What are you having?”
“Balcones.”
“That’s what I’ll have.”
Owen’s lips thinned. Did he not like her answer? Whatever. She wasn’t in the mood for a ladylike glass of wine. He splashed two fingers into an empty glass, added some ice, and handed it to her. She took a sip then turned to watch the couples on the patio.
Owen leaned on the counter. “You jealous?”
“Of whom?”
“Of Val with another female.”
Selena shook her head as she looked into the center of the amber liquid in her glass. “You guys are unbelievable.” She sipped the whiskey. “I fired him the same day I fired you.”
“Huh. So what do you make of her?”
“I’m still deciding.”
“She has eyes like yours, the eyes of a warrior.” He sighed. “There’s a difference, though. You’re one hundred percent a warrior.”
“And she’s more of an operative. I got that, too.”
Owen straightened and downed the rest of the whiskey in his glass. “Which begs the question, an operative for whom?”
*
Angel went up the back stairs to Rocco’s suite in the north bedroom wing. Casey was watching a marathon of some teen series she liked. “Hey, kiddo.”
“Hi, Angel. Have they cut the cake downstairs?”
“Not yet. Is Miss Wynn up here?”
“Yeah, she’s reading Zavi a story. It’s his third one. He won’t let her go. Mom said she’d bring me up a piece of cake if I stayed with Zavi.”
“That sounds like a good deal. I’ll remind her when I go back down. I’m going to see if I can rescue Miss Wynn.”
“Good luck with that.”
Angel stepped into Zavi’s room. He paused in the short hallway between Zavi’s closet and bathroom, listening to Wynn read a rhyme about three sketchy characters called Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. He closed his eyes, letting her voice slip inside him to soothe his frayed nerves. Her voice was soft, like her eyes, her skin, her body.
He looked out the open door, worried that Casey was watching him act like a voyeur of Zavi’s nanny. Luckily he was just out of sight of the kid…and Wynn. He stayed another minute, then walked further into Zavi’s room. Wynn was stretched out on the bed, cuddling Zavi. The light on the nightstand was dimmed. Either her vision was excellent, or she knew the poem by heart.
She looked up and smiled at him. Goddammit all. Just like that, he lost his fucking heart. She lifted a finger to her mouth, motioning him to silence. Zavi’s eyes were closed, his head lolling against Wynn’s ample breast.