The question struck Victoria with unexpected force. She could have answered that it had been a harmless public-record search. Instead she told him exactly what she had asked Ethan to do, why she had done it, and how she had stopped. She admitted that she had wanted to explain him to herself rather than simply learning who he was in the ordinary way.
Daniel sat on the edge of a workbench. "I appreciate you telling me," he said. "But you should have asked me."
"I know that now."
"You knew it before, Victoria. You just weren't used to anyone telling you no."
She looked at him. There was no cruelty in his voice and no satisfaction in the observation. It hurt precisely because he was speaking plainly. "You're right," she said, and meant it.
Daniel took several minutes before answering again. He explained that having people judge his intentions without speaking to him was not new. Customers had assumed his work was cheap because his truck was old, or that he could be persuaded to work without payment because he was friendly. After Claire died, people sometimes treated his quietness as an invitation to decide what was best for him. He had spent years learning to say no without feeling he was being unkind.
"I'm not angry because of the money," he said. "I'm angry because somebody decided my behavior belonged to them to test. That's a different thing."
Victoria nodded slowly. She apologized for her initial inquiry and for the actions of someone who had operated under her authority. She did not ask him to reassure her. For the first time she understood that an apology was not an exchange in which the person who caused harm received relief from the person harmed.
"What happens to Linda?" Daniel asked.
"Her employment is ending. Legal is reviewing what happened. She may face other consequences depending on what the investigation establishes."
He looked thoughtful. "I don't know her. I don't know why she thought that was acceptable."
"Neither do I. Not really."
"Then maybe find out before deciding what she deserves beyond losing the authority she misused. I'm not asking you to pretend it was harmless. It wasn't. But I don't need anybody destroyed on my behalf."
Victoria looked surprised. "After what she did?"
"I can be angry with someone and still want the consequences to be fair. Claire used to remind me that anger was information, not instructions."
He did not ask Victoria to rehire Linda or to hide what had happened. He asked only that discipline be measured, evidence-based, and separate from the pleasure of punishing someone. Victoria saw how difficult that distinction could be, especially when she wanted to prove to Daniel that she was on his side. She promised nothing she could not authorize, then thanked him for speaking honestly.