Twitter: Protected tweets?

[askdjf]

My tweets are protected/on privacy. I sent a tweet to another person, will they be able to see it and reply to me?
They're not following me, but their username is in the tweet.

[RNHernandez]

Yes they can see it and reply to it as long as they are following you. People who aren't following you won't be able to see the tweet though.

EDIT: If that's the case, then they won't be able to see it. Protected tweets are only for those who are following you, so even if you mention their usernames in your tweets, they still won't be able to see it.