...

[Sometimes, the posturing helped. She refrained from chuckling, though a smirk almost reached her face.]

I did, didn't I? I guess you're going to have to make me pay for that before you could ever think of quitting this little venture. But... we need to be ... more careful in the future.

I don't want this to go south like that again. It could get a lot more ugly, and I hope you know that now.