I brush my thumb along the curve of her jaw, tilting her face to me. “You didn’t sleep well.”
“I slept fine.”
Lie.
I let my hand drop but don’t step away. She lowers her gaze again, focusing too intently on the cup now cradled between her hands.
Avoidance.
I watch her silently, the weight of suspicion pressing in like a steady pulse at the back of my skull.
I know shefeelsme watching.Olivia always looks up eventually, meeting my gaze with that soft, knowing smile.
But this morning, she doesn’t.
I study her, cataloging the faint furrow of her brow, the way she chews the inside of her cheek.
She’s keeping something from me.
“What’s your plan for the day?” I ask.
She hesitates.There. Again.
“Running errands.” Her voice is light, but I hear the shift beneath it. “Might meet Sophie later.”
The answer is too clean, too rehearsed.
My mouth curves faintly, masking the coil of unease winding tight in my chest.
“Sounds fun.” I lift the mug from her hands, taking a sip for no reason other than to watch her reaction. Her fingers tense faintly, like she wants to snatch it back but doesn’t dare.
I set it down slowly, deliberately. “Want me to pick you up after?”
She shakes her head a little too quickly. “No need. I’ll probably take the train back.”
Probably.
Her vagueness hangs in the air like a thread begging to be pulled.
I round the table and bend to press my lips to her forehead, lingering against her skin. She sits still, unmoving beneath me.
But I feel the shallow rise and fall of her chest.
She’s waiting.Testing.
My hand drifts down her throat, grazing the delicate chain of the necklace resting against her collarbone.
“You’ll text me if you need anything,” I murmur.
She nods.
I release her, watching her retreat from the table with the same subdued demeanor she’s worn since breakfast began. My eyes track her movements as she makes her way back to the bedroom to change, but I don’t follow.
I don’t move until the front door eventually clicks softly behind her, its echo fading into the stillness of the penthouse.
I let out a slow breath, dragging my hand down my face.
She knows.
