Page 40 of Ten

“Careful,” Nikolai said and moved to intercept his son. “Gentle.” He took Lev’s hand in his own and showed him how to pet the dog. “We’re gentle with Stasi, and he will be gentle back to us.”

Lev repeated his father’s lesson and then bonked the dog in the head with a stuffed elephant he had left right next to the dog earlier. Stasi grumbled, and Nikolai redirected Lev away from the dog and back to his pile of blocks. The boss gave the dog a scratch between the ears and then turned his attention back to Ten. “Her body?”

“The scars,” Ten explained. “There are so many.”

Nikolai nodded somberly. “I suspected.”

“And nobody did anything to help her,” Ten said, at a loss. “Not Nicky. Not her friends. No one?”

“Relationships like that are complicated for everyone, Ten. I’d like to think Nicky Jackson would have gotten involved if he had known how bad the abuse was, but maybe he figured that was her own problem to solve.”

“She was a child.”

“She was,” Nikolai agreed.

“It’s not right.”

“It’s not,” Nikolai agreed.

“I keep going back through my memories, but I don’t remember her.” As soon as Ten had learned her name, he had been trying to place her in his memories. “Why didn’t we ever cross paths?”

“You’re older than her. You were busy shadowing Artyom. You never handled any of the business we had that overlapped with the Fifth Ward. You were in two different orbits.”

“I wish I had known her back then. I could have—.”

“What?” Nikolai interjected. “You could have saved her? How?”

“I don’t know, but I would have figured it out,” Ten stubbornly insisted.

“You can believe that if it makes you feel better.”

“But?”

“But there’s no point in torturing yourself about the past. You can’t change it, and neither can she. Today, right now, you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be—with her.”

“Except I’m not with her,” Ten muttered with frustration. “I should be with her at the police station.”

“She has her lawyer and Savannah with her. You would be a distraction.”

Nikolai was right, of course, but that didn’t mean Ten wanted to hear it.

Lev crawled over to Ten and grabbed hold of his jeans. He reached out to steady Lev as the baby hauled himself to a standing position. He wobbled a bit before leaning forward and biting Ten’s knee through the denim.

“Hey!” Ten scooped up the laughing baby and plopped him down on his thigh. “I’m going to start charging hazard pay.”

“You joke, but I should probably increase your pay now that Lev is mobile.” Nikolai gathered up the blocks and other toys. “Or—.”

“Or what?” Ten seized on the boss’s strange tone.

“Your parole is nearly finished.” Nikolai tossed the last block into the white organizer bin. “You paid your dues, Ten. You served the family. You proved your loyalty.”

“Yeah? And?” Where was he going with this?

“And if you want out, I’ll make it happen.” Nikolai’s serious expression matched the weight of his promise. “No strings. Clean. Done. Out.”

Ten was still trying to process that offer when his phone started to buzz across the changing table where he had left it. Nikolai’s phone began to ring and vibrate across the rug where he had been sitting with Lev. Ten exchanged a worried glance with the boss who snatched up both phones.

“Here.” Nikolai thrust Ten’s phone at him. A second later, he answered his with a gruff, “What?”

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