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"I would like them now."

"You will have preliminary movement protocols now. You will have residence protocols tonight."

"Mm."

Vivienne's hands sat in her lap, unmoving. Every body had a tell, and Leo had learned to read them before they showed. The stillness here, today, read as displeasure being held in place.

Leo drank her coffee. It was very good, which did not surprise her.

"Preliminary movement," she said. "You will not leave this house without me until I have cleared your car, your driver, and your route. That is today and tomorrow. Your calendar is rearranged. Your Wednesday lunch is moved to the following week."

"My Wednesday lunch is not yours to move."

"It was moved at eight-forty this morning. Your assistant has the new invitation out already. I checked before I arrived."

Vivienne, very softly: "You had my calendar before you had my consent."

"I had your signature."

"Mine."

"Yours."

"You are remarkable."

"Thank you."

"That was not a compliment."

"I accepted it in the spirit in which it was given."

The corner of Vivienne's eye moved again. Still not amusement. Closer now.

"Beaumont stays on the residence," Leo went on. "He runs the cameras and the perimeter. I run you. Internal staff, I will meet this afternoon. I will interview all of them over the course of the week. Your housekeeper, Madame Guérin, I would like to see first."

"Madame Guérin has been with me for nineteen years."

"Which is why she is first."

Vivienne considered that and did not contest it.

"My bedroom?” she said.

"I will walk it. Once. I will clear sightlines from the street and rooftops. Then I will not be in it except in an emergency. You have my word."

"The word of a stranger is worth what it is worth." Vivienne’s voice was smooth as silk.

"Which, in my case, is everything. You may take advice on it. I am here to keep you safe, Madame Strauss.”

Vivienne lifted her coffee. Drank. Her lips did not leave a mark on the porcelain, because her lipstick had, Leo registered, been applied in a tone that did not mark porcelain, and had almost certainly cost a great deal of money.

"And when I say no," Vivienne said.

"You will not say no to something that keeps you alive. You may say no to many other things. You will find that I am a reasonable woman about many things. I am not reasonable about the things that keep you breathing."

"You are certain my life is at risk?” Vivienne’s voice didn’t waver.

"I am."