His "work" was something that had to remain unspoken. Joan had her suspicions, but she could not know about his illegal doings for the sake of plausible deniability, and could not know about his murders for the sake of their relationship. If she knew, she'd have to try to stop him, and that would not go well for anyone involved.

"Probably a good idea," she said. It would be harder, she thought, for him to get carried away with his hands. She slid off the table as he backed away, collecting her clothes. "If he sees it?" she said to his question. "Almost definitely. He knows I'm not telling him about something big in my life right now. He's respecting my privacy...not something he's always done, but he's gotten better at it...but if he thinks I'm in danger, he'll say something. And do something."