Page 28 of Ten

When he reached the alley that snaked through Nisha’s block, Ten scanned the area to see if there were any more of those nosy assholes lurking in the shadows. He crept down the skinny street, sidestepping potholes and wrinkling his nose at the eye-watering stench coming from one particular dumpster. One of Nisha’s neighbors must have run an in-home daycare. There was no other explanation for the overpowering wave of dirty diapers that slapped him right in the face.

He’d never been a man with a weak stomach, but there had been more than one occasion where Lev had a surprise that left him green at the gills. He had been shocked the first time he had discovered just how gross babies could be. Not that it had put him off having children of his own someday.

He approached the back gate of Nisha’s property. He was tall enough to reach over the top of the privacy fence and pull the latch. As he did, he decided he would be adding a lock to this gate as soon as this mess with Kiki was finished.

The brick paver pathway meandered from the back gate to a patio. Solar lights lit the way. She had a few bird baths and a small fountain that burbled away in the corner of the yard. The landscaping was dense with layers of flowers, shrubs, and small trees. She obviously had spent a lot of time making this backyard a peaceful oasis.

When he reached the backdoor, he used the key fob she had given him to deactivate the alarm. He unlocked the door and moved carefully to make sure her cat didn’t try to escape. There was no sight of Wilford or his murder mittens as he entered and shut the door behind him. Nisha had warned him he might have to chase down the cat, and he wasn’t looking forward to it.

Nisha loved technology, and it was evident throughout her renovated home. She had turned on the lights using an app on her phone and given him a tour of her space through security cameras inside the house. He kept meaning to add smart home features to his place but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Mostly because he didn’t want to feel as if he were being watched around the clock. He’d had enough of that doing his stretch.

Keeping an eye out for the cat, Ten crossed the living room and ducked down the hallway. He had explained to Nisha that he would check the house for any problems before gathering up the items on her list. To the left, there were two doors, one closed and one open. He chose the closed door first. There was a silly sign on the door barring all cats. It made sense once he stepped inside and discovered it was a crafting space. Cat hair would be a nightmare to remove from all of her supplies.

There was a big cozy chair by the window and potted plants dangled overhead in those fishnet-looking hanger things that were popular everywhere. He’d banged his head on the ones in Vivian’s home studio too many times. The lush vines draped over the sides of Nisha’s pots were much greener and healthier than the ones in Vivian’s room though. The boss’s eye twitched any time he stepped into his wife’s studio. Frankly, Ten was shocked Nikolai hadn’t rescued the suffering plants yet.

One wall of the craft room was floor-to-ceiling shelves stuffed with a rainbow of fabric and yarn and spools of thread. He walked across the plush and colorful rug, not at all surprised by the bright pops of pink and watermelon green in it. Nisha had a flair for color, and this place where she indulged her creativity was no exception. He had no problem imagining her sitting there in that oversized chair, crocheting while she watched the picture-framed television across the room.

He trailed his fingertips along the soft, fluffy yarn of the half-finished blanket draped over the arm of the chair. Curious, he examined the stitching and marveled at her neat and tight shell stitches. He could barely get through a chain without making a tangled mess.

Based on the size and the buttery yellow and sky-blue pattern, he was certain it was for a baby. Looking at the shelves, it was obvious she made quite a few child-themed items—blankets, hats, stuffed animals. He picked up a big, squishy lion and then the most ridiculous narwhal with a glittery yarn horn. She definitely had a talent.

After he checked the closet of her craft room, he left and crossed the hall to the other door. She had a small office space there. A wooden plant stand by the big window was overflowing with pots. He counted fourteen, all of them different sizes with various succulents. The walls were decorated with glossy photos and watercolor sketches of hairstyles. The bookcase was packed with hair styling texts and trade magazines.

His gaze lingered on the strange contraption in the corner, some sort of cat playground. There was a cat-sized couch and a bed shaped like a fruit tart with blueberry and strawberry plush figures. It seemed that Wilford was allowed in here, and judging from the white fuzz on her black desk chair, the cat had lounged there today.

With the office cleared, he moved down the hall, checking the art deco bathroom with its bushy fern and a guest room outfitted with a quilt that must have taken her dozens of hours to make. He touched the intricate stitches decorating the fabric, marveling at the swirls and shapes. Nisha obviously had a skill for things like this.

It made him think of Vivian. When she had been pregnant with Lev, she had gone to a three-day quilting course hosted by a friend. It had been the only time he had ever seen Vivian fail at anything, but Nikolai still insisted on keeping that lumpy, uneven checkerboard quilt in their media room. Every chance he got, Nikolai used the ugly, misshapen thing for Lev.

At first, Ten thought the boss was poking fun at his wife. That obviously wasn’t the case. Nikolai was proud of her for trying something new and dedicating three days of work to a gift for their home. Vivian might not have seen the beauty in it, but Nikolai did.

After he checked the closet, Ten looked a little closer at the banana-shaped cat bed in the corner. There were toys next to it but no cat. Despite all evidence that a cat lived in the house, Ten had yet to see or smell it. Was it watching from a shelf somewhere? Under a piece of furniture? Waiting for an opportune moment to strike?

Ten crossed the house to Nisha’s bedroom. As he approached the open doorway, he heard the unmistakable warning growl of a pissed-off cat. Cautiously, he stepped closer, making sure he gave the cat plenty of time to run if it felt cornered. The growling continued, low and angry, and Ten steeled himself for a painful encounter as he entered Nisha’s room.

There in the middle of her king-size bed was the fluffiest, fattest, flat-faced beast he had ever seen. It perched in attack mode, all puffed out and furious. When it began to spit and hiss, Ten pointed a no-nonsense finger in its direction. “Cut that shit out right now, Wilford. You and I don’t have to be friends, but we have to learn to exist in the same space.”

Wilford hopped aggressively across the magenta and gold comforter, hissing and growling like a psycho. Ten ignored the cat and walked to the closet where Nisha had told him he would find a suitcase. He picked out the one she wanted and the small toiletry case and began to methodically work his way down her list of clothing, shoes, toiletries, and comfort items.

Her bedroom was a riot of magenta, green, gold, and black. The colors were rich and vibrant like jewels. Somehow, they made the room feel bigger than it was and welcoming. He wanted to drop into the loveseat by her bay window and read one of the books from the table next to it.

It smelled fucking good, too. He had expected to run into that cat smell that seemed to linger in other homes, but there was none of that here. Woodsy, floral, warm. It was comforting.

As he picked through Nisha’s neatly organized drawers, he kept his promise not to open two of them that she had told him were strictly off-limits. He badly wanted to know what secrets she had in them. Sex toys, he hoped, and naughty ones they could enjoy together at some point in the future. But he wasn’t going to break his word to her.

Besides, her fluffy bodyguard was following him around the room, still hissing and growling. Ten ignored Wilford and his uncanny little fur mustache as he packed up Nisha’s things. In the bathroom, he had to check the list four times to make sure he had found every product she wanted.

As he tried to make sense of the different skin care serums in front of him, Wilford hopped up onto the counter. The cat hissed, but Ten wasn’t the least bit intimidated. “Listen, Wilford, I’ve been in smaller bathrooms with much tougher guys than you. Either come at me and get your blood payment or fuck off.”

Wilford spit at him and hopped like a rabbit amped up on meth. He jumped sideways and banged into a soap dispenser which startled him. The cat screeched as if it had been touched by a demon and skittered out of the bathroom, knocking over anything in his path. Ten shook his head at the crazy cat and wondered much trouble that furball was going to cause back at his place.

With everything packed, Ten went down the list again, making sure he had gotten all the little odds and ends from different parts of the house. The only thing left to handle was to coax that fuzzy gremlin into the cat carrier. He sighed and glanced at the unharmed skin on his forearms. Soon enough, he’d likely be bleeding and bruised.

This had to be love. There was no other explanation for his willingness to take on a psycho cat this late at night.

Ten left Nisha’s suitcases in the living room and grabbed the cat carrier from the hallway closet. He also picked up the cat’s favorite bed, a macaron-shaped pink monstrosity, as well as the specific toys he liked, a daisy drinking fountain, and the various bags of treats and pouches of food he needed. Wilford watched from afar, no longer hissing or growling, but glaring silently.

With a tube of his favorite treat in hand, Ten placed the carrier on the counter and faced off with his nemesis. “Okay. Look. I know you don’t want to get in this crate. I wouldn’t want to get in there either. Believe me. I’ve been caged. It sucks.”

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