“Was what?”
I exhale. “Watching me.”
Silence.
Then Sebastian laughs.
A knowing laugh... because he’s been there.
“Yeah,” he says. “That tracks.”
“That tracks?” I repeat.
“You like the woman who notices you,” he says.
“I do not?—”
“You do.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
I shake my head. “I know what you’re thinking. This is not the same thing.”
“No?” he asks mildly.
“No. Ivy crossed lines. Violet is?—"
“Different?”
“Yes.”
“I said the same thing.”
I shake my head. “No. Ivy was—” I gesture vaguely, even though he can’t see me.
“Unhinged?” he supplies.
I stop pacing.
“Yes.”
There’s a beat of silence.
“She hasn’t snuck into my house,” I say.
“Yet.”
The word lands like a small bomb detonating in my kitchen.
I scoff. “That’s not happening.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” he says easily.
