She sounded incredibly sarcastic. She was openly challenging him. She was weaving undeniable truths into dangerous lies so flawlessly that she sounded like an expert con artist.
She feared only what he would do once he inevitably found out she had lied.
"I just slaughtered a room full of men to make an example for others to stay away from you," Cassian continued, completely ignoring her sarcastic tone. "Perhaps I should have dismembered them slowly, just to make you believe exactly what I am capable of doing to protect you."
Cixi possessed his coin — the exact coin he had been relentlessly searching for. And Bloody Mark had completely failed to mention that the woman claiming to be his fiancée had possessed the sovereign token this entire time.
Fiancée or not, the coin itself served as an absolute, unbreakable promise of protection.
"I do not like the name Cixi," Cassian stated abruptly, shifting the subject with chaotic ease. "Are your ancestors from the Qing Dynasty?"
