One of his people.
The phrase sat warm and uneasy under my ribs.
“I don’t know if I’m—” I began, then stopped.
Ben glanced back at me. “If you’re what?”
I shrugged, trying to make it look casual and probably failing. “One of his people…”
The car moved through a patch of shadow beneath a line of wind-bent trees. For a few seconds, the whole interior dimmed, turning Ben’s reflection faint and ghostly in the mirror.
I looked out the window again, but the ocean had disappeared behind the cliff road, leaving only sky and the curve of pavement ahead.
“He’s not like most people,” Ben said after a moment. “That’s obvious. But he doesn’t offer comfort lightly. He doesn’t make space for people unless he wants them there.”
My fingers tightened on my bag strap.
“And he wants me there?”
Ben’s answer came without hesitation. “Yes. You wouldn’t be here if he didn’t want you here. Surely you can see the truth in that.”
Yeah, I could.
And the certainty in it made my throat feel strange.
I didn’t know what to do with that, so I did what I usually did when something got too big to look at directly.
I made it smaller.
“Well,” I said, trying for lightness, “I guess that’s good, since he hired me and all.”
Ben’s smile in the mirror told me he knew exactly what I was doing and had decided to let me get away with it.
“For what it’s worth,” he said, “I think you’ll do well there.”
“You think?”
“Yeah, Cove. I do.”
I whispered a hushed, “Thanks,” and tried to ignore how happy that made me feel. Although the smile on my face made it hard to.
The rest of the drive passed more quietly, though the silence didn’t feel empty or uncomfortable. Ben hummed once or twice under his breath, low enough that I couldn’t make out a melody, and the car drove smoothly as the road left the last real cluster of houses behind.
By the time we reached the private turnoff, my nerves had started coming back.
Not sharply.
More like a tide.
The first gate opened before we fully stopped, metal sliding aside. Ben lifted one hand in acknowledgment toward a camera I couldn’t see, then continued up the long drive.
The house appeared gradually this time.
First glass.
Then stone.
Then the full structure rose from the cliff, seeming to belong to the rock and water more than to any person. The ocean stretched behind it, huge and glittering under the morning light, waves breaking white against the dark drop below.
