Chapter 76

• Haven had never been the suspicious sort, but that didn't mean he wasn’t attentive. Over the a long time, he'd created a sharp sense for when something felt off. And nowadays, something felt off. He stood within the door of the living room, observing Vanessa from over the room. She sat at the edge of the sofa, phone squeezed firmly against her ear, her voice quieted as she talked into the recipient. Haven wasn’t sure what he found more unnerving, the way she had been acting far off all day, or the reality that she appeared to be intentionally stowing away her discussion.
• Vanessa had continuously been open with him. That was one of the things he’d cherished most about her back when they were together. No privileged insights, no diversions. But this? This was new. They weren’t together any longer, which ought to have meant it didn’t matter. He didn’t have the right to be concerned or to inquire about her life.
• But here she was, sitting in his living room, in his space, with that unmistakable vitality that something was being withheld. Vanessa moved on the couch, her eyes dashing around the room as if making sure she was still alone. She brought down her voice, indeed encouraging, scarcely capable of being heard now, but her body dialect shouted that something critical was being talked about.