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“You’re sure?”

Mao’s face hite with huotten done working for a government,” Holden said “I didn’t wear it well”

“Oh please You worked for the OPA That’s not a governby scruo to the potty?”

“This is beneath you,” Mao said “I didn’t come here to be insulted”

Avasarala’s smile was incandescent

“You’re sure about that? Let me ask, do you remember what I said the first time we ht have had with the protoen”

“No,” Avasarala replied “I mean, yes, I did ask that But that’s not the part that you should be caring about right now You lied to en project is fully exposed, and that question is like asking what color Tuesday was It’s less”

“Let’s get down to brass tacks,” Mao said “I can—”

“No,” Avasarala interrupted “The part you should be caring about is what I said just before you left Do you remember that?”

He looked blankly up at her

“I didn’t think so I told you that if I found out later you’d hidden so from me, I wouldn’t take it well”

“Your exact words,” Mao said with a rin, “were ‘I am not someone you want to fk with’”

“So you do remember,” she said, not a hint of huet to find out what that means”

“I have additional information that could be of benefit—”

“Shut the fk up,” Avasarala said, real anger creeping into her voice for the first ti MPs in the hallway hold you down and beat you with a fking chair Do you understand me?”