Page 37 of Ten

Every eye in the room snapped to my face. I squirmed under the intense scrutiny.

“Absolutely not,” Major Whitmore stated firmly. “We are not in the business of putting innocent women in danger.”

“Yes, but you don’t know what he’s like.” I hated thinking of Kiki. I hated the chill that coursed through my veins. “He’s a monster, and he will hurt anyone who gets in his way. If I can help you catch him quickly, it might mean saving someone else’s life.”

“And it could mean you lose yours,” the sheriff interjected.

“Yes, but—.”

“No,” the sheriff disagreed. “There are no buts to this discussion.”

“Sheriff Ramirez is right,” Major Whitmore agreed. “We’re not using you as bait. If anything, we want to offer you the choice to go into protective custody.”

“I don’t need protective custody.” They would separate me from Ten, and I couldn’t abide that.

“Now, Nisha,” Eloise cut in quietly. “We should consider this offer.”

“Consider it strongly,” Major Whitmore urged. “We can keep you safe.”

“I’m sure you can,” I agreed, “but I don’t want to run and hide. He wins if I do that.”

“He wins if you get killed,” Sheriff Ramirez interrupted. “Don’t let him win.”

The sheriff’s words spun around in my head as we finished the meeting. My phone was returned, and I gripped it tightly in my hands. I wanted to text Ten, but I didn’t know what to say. Would he be disappointed that I had refused protective custody? I suspected he would be, especially after last night and his whispered promises to always protect me after we made love. He would happily send me into protective custody if it meant I would survive.

And if I did go? Then what? How long would I be hidden away in a safe house? A few days? A week? A month? What if Kiki was never found? What if he made it across the border and disappeared? Would I have to go into witness protection? Spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder?

I can’t live like that.

My offer to act as bait for the police wasn’t an empty one. This morning, as Ten and Kostya talked quietly in his living room, I had remained curled up in bed, thinking about what awaited me. Kiki had called me last night promising to come for me. He wouldn’t break that promise.

And if I let him lure me close, if I let him take me, I would have him right where I wanted him. I could turn the tables and finally give him a taste of the pain that he gave me.

I wasn’t that scared little girl anymore. I was stronger. I could do anything I set my mind to—even killing that murderous piece of trash.

“Nisha.” Chess called my name and caught up with us in the lobby of the DPS building where the A Company of the Texas Rangers was located. “Hey, can we talk?”

“Yeah. Of course.” I stepped away with her, leaving Savannah and Eloise to chat among themselves. “How are you holding up?”

“Me? I should be asking you that.” She reached out and gave my arm a friendly squeeze. “Are you okay? Are you going into protective custody?”

“I’m okay, and no.”

She seemed surprised. “Really? Do you think...? I mean, is that wise?”

“I don’t want to run anymore.”

Chess nodded with understanding. “I get it.”

“What about you? Were they asking you about Adrian?”

“And Tony,” she said leveling a look at me.

Even though our men had been partners in crime, we had never talked about what we had witnessed back then. When she had come into the salon the first time, we had both exchanged anxious, panicked gazes. Neither of us had wanted to dredge up the past, not after we had worked so hard to move on and build independent lives. We had simply never spoken about Kiki, Adrian or Tony.

But now?

“You know that Ten...?” Chess asked carefully.

---