Caesar smiled emotionlessly at her.
"Do I look angry, Adeline?"
"You're not?" Adeline asked, mouth pursed and eyes darting around the room—anywhere but on Caesar. She was clicking her index fingers together, seeming to have something to ask. "So, um, does that mean that you won't be ending our deal?"
"Oh… That's what you're most worried about." Caesar asked, chortling in dangerous amusement. "Adeline," he sighed her name into her shoulders. "Of course I wouldn't, but..."
"But?" Adeline waited for him to complete his words.
"I must punish you," Caesar said angrily, his dimmed green eyes rising to look at her. "I have to make sure you won't let him do such a thing again."
Adeline stiffened in his grip, gulping at the sudden tightness she felt in her chest. She had to clarify—she needed to explain it to him.
"Caesar, it was not my fault. If left for me, I would never let him. You know that!"
