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We both looked away at the same time.

We did not need to talk about that.

Not now.

I reached for the fruit he had set out for me. My fingers were not as steady as I wanted. That somehow made the stupid thing feel even more intimate.

“Anyway.”

Excellent. Brilliant transition.

Veyr did not help me.

Of course not.

I took a bite. “Duty.”

His voice sounded lower when he answered. “What about it?”

“You’re using it.”

His gaze returned to me. “As what?”

“A place to hide.”

He stopped moving.

There. I had hit it. I knew it. He knew I knew it.

The silence stretched.

Then he said, “You do not understand what happened.”

“No.” I held his gaze. “But I understand disappearing.”

Something in his expression shifted. This time, I looked away first. Because that one belonged to me. Not the same way. But enough.

Veyr’s voice softened. “You had a life on Earth.”

“Yes.”

“People?”

The question hurt. He seemed to realize it.

Too late.

I swallowed. “My mother.”

He waited.

I expected another question. It didn’t come.

Maybe that was why I continued.

“She might still be alive.”

His attention sharpened. “Might?”