For a moment he half-expected her to ignore the question, long as she paused between answers. Malachi turned to look at her when he felt her gaze, offering but a small nod to acknowledge the name.

So this Sonia (Carrington, he assumed) did not know her given name, nor did she have any family to claim her. Did the rest of the Carringtons not care for her? He did not return her smile, but his expression was not unkind – he was simply unsure of what to make of the things she said.

“Spitting on you?” Malachi repeated, with no small amount of bewilderment bleeding through his dark gaze. That was the second time she’d mentioned spitting. Was that a common thing for her, to be literally spit on by strangers, or did she just have some sort of odd fixation on it?

“You’re… welcome. I suppose. Is that a regular occurrence for you?”

That did not feel like something she should have been thanking him for.