Page 77 of The Devil’s Feather

Kathy swatted his arm. “Bubbeleh, you light up my life, but you better be nice to this treasure. Honey, if he makes you cry, you call me and I’ll make him cry.”

Amazing how I’d barely gotten in a single sentence, and yet she’d already taken me under her wing.

Rafael groaned, laying a hand over his heart. “Kuzum, you wound me.”

“Not yet, I haven’t. I’ll pluck all that pretty hair out and give you a good switching with it, so help me.”

He laughed. “That is not the threat you think it is, Kathy.”

I bit my lip hard.

“Feh! Come on, we need to talk about the October project.” Kathy grabbed his jacket sleeve and dragged him after her. “Armin Fetterman’s here, and so are Jacques and Fatma. You remember Fatma.”

“I remember everything.” Rafael let himself be dragged with an apologetic glance back at me. “Sorry. I will return shortly.”

It was like watching a yorkie bully a mastiff.

I snagged another glass of champagne. Determined to be properly social, I affixed what I hoped was a friendly smile to my face and tried to strike up a conversation with the people wandering past.

Might as well befriend the wall sconces. Everyone seemed to know each other, and they either ignored me or gave me a brief acknowledgement and then ignored me. Social anxiety crept up my spine like a spider under my clothes, exacerbated by the buzzing crowd noise. I studied the elaborate chandeliers. Were they Chihuly?

“What are you doing over here all alone? Did Rafael abandon you?” Mandeep came over, concern creasing his otherwise smooth forehead.

Relieved to see a familiar face, I shrugged. “Kathy pulled him away for some business stuff.”

“Rude! She could have brought you along.” He sobered, looking me over. “Actually, I’d like to chat about some things regarding Rafael if you don’t mind. Nothing weird, I promise.”

My belly tensed. “I think I know what you’re going to say, but I’m listening.”

He led me over to the chairs resting against the wall, and we sat. “Ah, so Rafa told you about his past. He’s pretty good about leading with that. I don’t mean to spill all his tea, but I want you to be fully aware of what you’re walking into. Do you know about the violent incidents⁠1?”

I nodded solemnly. “I hate that people call him an ‘abuser’ because he has uncontrollable reactions to being sexually assaulted. Nobody would bat an eye if it were a woman defending herself against a man. Rafael says he doesn’t care about the gossip, but how do I push back when I hear that without violating his privacy?”

Mandeep smiled with relief. “That’s what I hoped you’d say. I usually tell people he’s a combat veteran with severe PTSD, and that’s a bad combo with partners who are disrespectful of his triggers. Most folks understand it when it’s framed like that.”

“Oh, that’s perfect.” It was so obvious in retrospect. “We’ve talked so much about everything else I forget he’s also a vet. How long ago did y’all date?”

“It’s been almost a decade now.” A corner of Mandeep’s mouth drew up in a grimace. “I feel a little responsible for that mess with Molly Lively. Rafa got pretty depressed after we broke up. He said it wasn’t from the break-up itself. But I doubt it was a coincidence that she got her hooks in him not six months later. She’d been after him for ages, and he’d never once glanced in her direction until then.”

“He hasn’t told me much about it apart from how it ended.”

Mandeep shook his head. “That entire relationship was so toxic. Pure self-destruction on his part. Molly was insanely jealous. She’d go through his phone looking for reasons to freak out, even though Rafa actively shut other people down. Didn’t matter. She’d scream at him and throw things. Cut his cheek with a plate once. He said she used to hit him too, and not in the fun, sexy way.”

“God, it sounds like she also has IED.” I couldn’t imagine throwing things at anyone, let alone someone with a temper like Rafael’s.

“Nah, Molly has spoiled rich white girl syndrome. Her whole family is like that. Magically, her tantrums always stopped the instant Rafael did whatever she wanted. He called me from the car more than once, literally driven from his own house because she wouldn’t let him de-escalate.”

‘Do not follow me if I leave the room’, Rafael had said. He was easy to find in the crowd, standing literally head and shoulders above the rest. I wished I could hear his voice over the billowing noise. It would help ground me.

I also really hoped he wouldn’t bump into Molly. “That must have been so miserable. I’ve had some shitty exes, but that’s next-level abusive.”

Mandeep folded his arms, displeasure tightening his expression. “Molly once smashed an antique violin during an argument. Rafa got so mad he drove all the way down to LA that night just so he wouldn’t knock her ass out. It all blew up shortly after.” He sighed, running a hand through his thick hair.

“Goddamn. Did she have a death wish?” Protective anger coiled at the base of my spine.

“She thinks she’s untouchable. She also complained about him to anyone who’d listen, making herself out to be a perfect angel, but I caught her berating waitstaff once. You would not believe the nastiness pouring out of that woman’s mouth. Rafael would have dumped her on the spot if he’d heard that.”

I couldn’t wrap my head around it. “Why did she want to date him if all she did was treat him like shit?” Maybe he hadn’t been as nice to her as he was to me, but that was no excuse.