Page 43 of Ten

He embraced me and lowered his face to nuzzle at my hair. “I’ll do anything for you, Nisha.”

That’s what scared me. He was so close to being free from his legal entanglement. Being with me put him at risk of doing something really stupid. How far would he go to protect me? What lines would he cross to keep me safe?

I can’t let him go back to prison.

I have to solve this problem myself.

But I kept those thoughts to myself. There was no point in voicing them. Ten would only argue, and I didn’t want to ruin his lovely dinner.

“It’s nothing fancy.” He brought dinner to the table in various serving dishes. “I thought comfort might be something we both needed.”

“I like comfort.” I smiled up at him from my seat. “This looks delicious.”

It tasted even better than it looked. The brown rice was seasoned beautifully, and the steamed vegetables were fork-tender. The pork chops impressed me the most. “How did you manage to make these so crispy without drying them out?”

“Air fryer.”

“No way.”

“Yes, way.” He picked up his glass of water and took a sip. “My toaster oven has an air fryer setting. I use it for everything.”

“Well, don’t tell Billie. She’ll want you to try all those wild TikTok recipes.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” Ten shook his head and speared a zucchini medallion. “She’s a menace.”

“She’s not so bad once you get to know the girl under the spunky exterior. She’s hiding something painful under it, I think.”

“Yeah?”

“I haven’t figured it out yet.” Something—someone—hurt her. I just didn’t know who or when. “But I will.”

Ten smiled at that, and I was glad he didn’t try to dissuade me. He must have known it would be pointless. “Speaking of Billie, she told me to make sure I provided a good dessert, but I didn’t have time to make or buy anything. I have some ice cream from H-E-B in the freezer. It’s the good stuff—cookie dough and Oreos mixed up in vanilla.”

“A scoop of ice cream is perfect.”

After dinner, I tried to help him clean up the kitchen, but he refused and threatened to carry me back to the couch if I kept trying to load the dishwasher. I finally gave in and took my seat on the couch as he had commanded. Wilford climbed onto my lap and batted at my hand until I agreed to pet him.

As I stroked his fur, I popped into the salon’s group chat to see if there were updates on Savannah. She had come out of a multi-hour surgery successfully and was in ICU. She hadn’t woken up yet, and I doubted she would before morning. She had lost so much blood. It was a miracle she was still alive.

Holly was back in Houston and at the hospital. Since Savannah had no family, she had asked Holly to be her emergency contact and medical power of attorney. I wasn’t quite clear on when they had come to that agreement, but I suspected it was around the time they had decided to build the salon together. It made sense that they would need to have everything worked out, just in case.

Nisha, are you okay?

Holly texted me solo, pulling our conversation out of the group chat.

I’m so worried about you.

I’m fine. I’m with Ten.

I really think you should get out of town.

I don’t think I'll be any safer out of town than it.

This is so fucked up, Nisha. This isn’t fair. It’s not right.

Life isn’t fair. I know that better than anyone.

Promise me you’ll be careful.

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