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“No, Indi.”

“Is he holding you here against your will?”

I hold in the nervous laugh that wants to escape, fully aware that it would blow my cover in two seconds flat. Instead I say, “I want to be here.”

“I can tell he loves you, but do you love him?”

“I could,” I admit in an airy voice. It’s not a lie and that alone makes a pang fill my heart.

“Well, at least you’re following my only rule when it comes to men: make sure he loves you more than you love him.” Chestnut orbs warm as she looks at me and an infectious smile takes over her serious demeanor. Visibly, her shoulders deflate as she nods. “Okay. I rather you be mad at me than somewhere dead because I didn’t try.”

Turning away from me, she almost makes it to my bed until Titus blocks her path.

“Hi, honey,” she coos, bending to pet him. The dog rolls onto his back for belly rubs and I step around them with a soft smile.

I sit down, trying to make sure the file from earlier is inconspicuous under my pillow.

“Not so fast,” Indigo hums, joining me. “Now tell me why I was being followed.”

“I didn’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

“Why would I get hurt because of you?”

I decide to go with the truth—finally—and exhale asigh of relief when I finish detailing my brother’s hobby of not paying people back.

Now that I know my mom sent the letter, it’s a moot point, but she didn’t know that before she ran the poor man away.

“Shit, something told me he was a snake, but you never talked about him, so I felt like I was reaching.”

“Not reaching,” I murmur.

“Where is he now?”

“Rehab.” That much I know from snooping in Adonis’ office. How he got Weston to agree to admit himself is still beyond me, but I guess I wouldn’t pass up a 90-day stay on paying back my debts either.

As if she can sense the mood getting too heavy, Indigo pops up and walks toward my closet. “At least you have your own space. I told you, if I ever committed to another man, that’s the only way I could survive. We both need our own space.”

“Indigo, we share a studio apartment.”

“You’re not aman,” she points out. Spinning on her heel, she approaches me again. “Your hair looks good. What have you been doing to it?”

Her whole mood shifts when I tell her about Ms. Agnes and Victor and all the products that mysteriously appear before I can ask for them.

“I should have known that man had a whole staff after he paid off our rent.” Her arms engulf me in a tight hug, and I squeeze back, needing the affection more than I expected. “I’m glad you’re being taken care of. That makes me happy. And please know I’m never judging you. I only care if you’re safe and you clearly are.”

Indigo lets me hold onto her for a full minute before pulling back to meet my gaze with a wrinkled nose.

“You wear glasses now?”

Oddly, that feels like the least of what I need to catch her up on. For the next two hours, I fill in the gaps my texts couldn’t articulate. And later, when Silas volunteers to drive her home, I snicker to myself at how enamored he looks while Indigo fixes her Afro in the visor mirror.

She’d eat that man for breakfast.

Chapter 31

The Gala Pt. 1

DELILAH