The question had come out wrong. Cixi wanted to pose the question, 'Why do you want to kill––as a reward?' Yet because her eyes had been fixed on his cigarette instead of the threat hanging over the crowd, killing had somehow been replaced by smoking.
Could she change her question now? She wondered. Would she still sound confident if she did? After quick consideration, she decided to go with the flow.
Her chin lifted slightly. "Yes."
Though Cassian maintained an absolutely passive expression, his pitch-black eyes flashed with sudden, unexpected interest. He slowly tilted his perfect head, genuinely studying her as if she were a mesmerising puzzle he desperately wanted to tear completely apart.
Behind him, two of his heavily armed men exchanged a subtle, quick glance. They had already begun to accept that their lethal boss and his newly found, rumoured fiancée spoke to each other in wildly outlandish ways.
