As soon as they’d made the decision, the arrests started. Thanks to the impeccable record keeping Naina had insisted on, they were able to keep their end of the bargain. After a few sleepless days when Naman’s forces performed discreet surgical strikes, it looked like the project was back on track. Her caseworker was out of the hospital. The jubilation among the team was careful but palpable. Naina’s relief was like a drug.

Vansh had kept up with his meetings with the PR and HR departments of tech companies in between going over all the communications with Naman’s office. They’d been spending so much time in the office, Naina felt like her butt had grown roots into the bright pink chairs in the conference room.

Today pizza boxes lay stacked on the table, three pizzas almost gone. Vansh had shaken his very judgmental head as the rest of them devoured it, as though they were monsters with no self-control whatsoever. He’d DoorDashed a grilled-chicken salad from his favorite deli for himself.

“You can stop glaring at the pizza now.” Naina picked up another slice and bit into it.

No, she was not going to think about how his eyes studied her as the intense pleasure of thick yeasty crust and extra cheese sank into her very being.

“Feel free to put undeserving shit into your body whenever you please. Who am I to judge?” he said, voice all growly.

Sadiya wiggled her brows. “Word!”

“I’d like to put a deserving shit in my body one of these days. It’s been too long,” Makayla said, and everyone laughed.

Hari looked confused but happy. He’d become much more relaxed around them. Sadiya, Makayla, and Mariel had taken him into their hearts and under their wings. He’d even trusted Makayla enough to let her start the process of getting his lost paperwork back in order, and had started joining in conversations and offering opinions, even though he apologized profusely for it afterward.

“Why don’t you like pizza, Vansh?” Hari asked in a voice that suggested he’d finally discovered a flaw in Vansh.

“I prefer to eat food that’s good for me,” Vansh said, although Naina had no doubt he’d rather lecture them about how one couldn’t eat refined fat slathered on top of refined flour and look the way he did. She was glad he didn’t say it, because the pizza was too good to be wasted on throwing at him.

She felt her own lips smiling as she chewed. “He also prefers to buy his clothes from the juniors section and he wouldn’t be able to if he eats pizza.”