Thomas looked back sharply when he heard her voice.
Damn it. He had not realised that he had spoken out loud. That was why he left the bedroom for the living room, after all. He should have just gone downstairs to the sitting room or the library. Yeah, the library would have been okay.
With all the volumes of books in there and the soundproof padding his wife had installed in there as it doubled as her workspace when she wanted to as well, he could have shouted all he wanted and she wouldn't have realised.
He knew that his shout was inevitable, even as he blamed himself and turned in the direction where he heard her soft footsteps. He knew he couldn't have helped his reaction, not even if a gun had been put to his head when he opened his email earlier.
Even a hardcore guy would have reacted as he did.