Deadly Games - Cate Noble [72]
Clay’s remark was well intended but the last time Rocco and Gena were together was four years ago.
Back then, she’d been married to Harry. And it had been far from happy.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Four Years Earlier
Arlington, VA
“Crappy weather.” Matches my mood, Rocco thought as he backed his gray SUV out of his garage.
Heavy rain clouds were visible as far as he could see, which in the current downpour wasn’t far. Traffic would be a nightmare and the inclement weather would snarl departures.
He shifted the car into drive, frowning at the high-pitched squeal. The noise had gotten worse since the last time he was home, four weeks ago. But back-to-back assignments left no time for Rocco to play shade tree mechanic. Maybe he’d leave it at Jimbo’s garage and catch a cab to the airport. Jimbo knew the drill and would keep the SUV until Rocco returned.
The noise disappeared as he accelerated. Good. He’d gotten damn little sleep, which hadn’t helped his headache. Why he even bothered coming home anymore was beyond him. Last time, he’d gotten in and out of town in less than twenty-four hours, without seeing Gena or Harry. Time before that, too.
These days it seemed his return trips were like a game of emotional Russian roulette. Would Rocco run into the blissful couple or not? So far not. And that’s what kept him on edge, wasn’t it?
This housing development wasn’t that damn big, even with the golf course. Harry had bought a house on the ninth fairway, less than a mile as the crow flew. Of course, given the maze of streets, it was longer than a mile to drive, not that Rocco had tried. But since everyone had to pass in and out of the front guard gates, the odds were good they’d pass one another on the main esplanade.
Part of him wanted to see Gena, to ask her if she’d ever really cared. But another part didn’t want to know.
He’d been stunned—no, devastated—this summer to hear through the grapevine that Gena had married Harry Gambrel two weeks after Rocco had left. Two weeks!
Sure, he and Gena had had a fight. At the time it seemed like that was all they did. But Rocco hadn’t considered it over, hadn’t even considered them on “break.” He’d gone over the argument a hundred times. She’d been pissed he was being sent off on another top-secret assignment. Assignments she claimed to hate and had even asked him to give up.
And what was so fucking different about Harry going off on assignment?
Rocco stopped at the four-way at the end of his cul-de-sac and waved the other car through. He needed to get a grip. Let bygones be. And if he couldn’t, then maybe he needed to put the town house up for sale. Or lease it out and rent himself something closer to the airport.
He kicked his wipers up to high and hit the gas. Almost immediately he had to brake. The car in front of him had slowed to a crawl, leaving him no choice but to follow suit.
“Come on,” he muttered, eager to get to the main road, where he could at least pass Grandma Molasses here. Yeah, it was raining, but doing eight miles an hour in a fifteen-mile zone?
He swerved to the left, to peer around the car. Which must have gotten Grandma’s attention because she suddenly sped up. But just as suddenly she slammed on her brakes, sending her car fishtailing into a spin.
Rocco stopped completely and watched as the small sedan spun in circles before jumping the median and sliding off the opposite side of the road.
That no other traffic had been coming was a miracle. It also meant no one else was around to check on Grandma. Her car looked okay, but she was probably shook up.
Damn it.
Rocco made a U-turn and pulled up behind her, then dashed out in the rain.
That she didn’t automatically lower her window when Rocco came up concerned him. He rapped on the tinted glass, then opened the door.
“Gena!” He saw the blood trickling down from her nose. “Easy, princess. I mean—”
She cut him off. “Go away! I’m fine.”
“Like hell. You’re hurt.”
“I … I must have hit the steering wheel.”
“Here. Tip your head back.” He grabbed one of the tissues on her lap and gently pressed