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I have no interest in a Liv who agrees with everything I say. I want this one, furious with herself because she’s considering an honest answer.

She says nothing.

I smile.

Her eyes narrow, but she doesn’t pull away when I bend to kiss her forehead.

I meant the kiss to end the conversation.

Instead, I linger.

For a moment, I consider sitting down and having breakfast with her. Giving her another hour before I leave. She might relax again. She might tell me about the book.

I draw back.

“I’ll bring you a gift.”

She watches my face. I suspect she’d rather have a date for my return.

“Be good while I’m gone, little bird.”

I leave before she can ask anything else.

The lock slides into place behind me.

For several seconds, I keep my hand on the key. Then I withdraw it and head down the corridor.

The security room is already running when I enter. Servers hum behind the rear wall. Camera feeds cover the estate’s entrances, the courtyard, the service road, and the woods beyond the eastern boundary.

I stop at the monitor showing Ari’s room.

He sits on the edge of the bed, dressed, elbows resting on his knees. When he lifts his head, he looks directly at the camera.

He knows where every one of them is. He made certain of that the first day.

I pick up the secure phone and dial the head of estate security.

“I will be away for a few days. The normal rotation continues. Nobody opens either suite without clearance.”

“Yes, sir.”

“If Carter asks to see her, you call me.”

A pause. “He has already asked this morning.”

“I know.” I hang up and look at him again.

Keeping them apart has given me quieter rooms. It has not made Ari cooperative. Every conversation returns to Liv. Is she hurt? Has she eaten? Why won’t I let him see her?

He refuses to accept my answers. I might respect that in someone I hadn’t locked upstairs.

I consider letting him see her before I leave.

He would look for damage first. Then he would reach for her. She might go to him without hesitation.

My hand tightens around the phone.

I have no right to be surprised by the thought. They were together before I took her. He came back because he wanted her. If I put them in the same room, I cannot expect eight weeks to erase everything that existed before me.