Admitting I have a stalker is one thing, but granting him insight in my thought processes, my fears, is another. I give him the most obvious answer.

“Your build is different. He’s shorter and smaller, skinnier. And he has a man bun, which I’m pretty sure you don’t have under that mask.”

He barks a laugh. “A man bun. No, I don’t have a man bun.” His tone says ridiculous.

I add another item to my mental list: mainstream hairstyle, traditional cut. Or possibly bald. Either way, not the type to sport a man bun.

“But it is interesting, don’t you think, that another man has been following you, too. What do you think he wants?”

I lift a shoulder but remain silent. I’m not about to get into my theories with this man—not that I have all that many. Until that guy showed up at Beatrix’s violin lessons today, I always just assumed running into him was random.

And I don’t miss this man’s choice of words, that someone else has been following me. I think back to all those times I raced through Whole Foods, bracing for the man-bunned man to pop around the corner. Was I so distracted by looking for him that I didn’t notice the other, more sinister man trailing me up and down the aisles? Did he follow me to the gym, the coffee shop, the post office, Beatrix’s violin lessons, too? As I go about my normal day, am I really that oblivious?

He sinks onto the edge of the bed directly across from me, the mattress springs creaking under his weight. “But it does make you wonder, though...” He shakes the tape from his fingers and it flutters to the floor, landing upside down on the rug.

I stare at him, waiting for him to finish.

“How much do you know about your husband’s business?”

I try not to let on how surprised I am at his words, how much this question disturbs me. It’s a little surreal how perfectly he dropped it into the conversation, too, in a voice so casual and offhand, shooting it off like a poisonous dart. These words were meant to rouse suspicion. I’m not about to give him the satisfaction.

“Cam and I are partners. He tells me everything.”