"I'm going to take that as you caring about my safety rather than take it as a threat, Governor."
Even saying his "title" was laughable. Did he even realize that he was talking to someone that had actually been the Governor of Wyoming before shit hit the fan? Hadley had always kept it deep down that she found it so amusing that so many people in this world took on governmental titles. "Mayor", "Governor", "King", "Queen", "Prince", or "Princess". Hell, some even took on military ranks and had no previous experience of being any kind of soldier.
"I'm not here to stir trouble. I'm here for diplomatic negotiations. If you don't want that, I'll happily take the news back. This is where we're at: you either listen to what I was told to say or I turn around and walk my happy ass back to the settlement I'm at... in one piece and unharmed."
. His head throbbed. No coffee today.
. He hated uppity smart-mouthed women. Hated smart-mouthed men, too. But that little creature inside him curled and shrank at the tone of her voice, whispering: now is the time, pop that bitch in the mouth, show her who the boss is. In front of the people who so adored him, he would be malleable and kind. Outward facing he was The Governor, an apple cheeked politician, laying bricks with the everyman and pulling children from the arms of the biters.
. He would not break character. No matter how badly he wanted to.
. “Now, Miss…” His tone was strained, dripping with disdain, “You don’t seem to understand where you’re at, so let me inform you.”
. He waves his arm in a general arc around the Robert E. Lee pavillion, which was now choked with his thugs. Well, his thugs and their families. The lights had been turned on for this occasion, the drinks chilled, a show of civilization.
. “We aren’t exactly the prime members of society, are we? No. What you see around you are felons, garbage tossers, the old, the sick, the lame.” A chorus of ‘yeahs’ from the crowd spurs him, “Gang members, bikers, anarchists. We don’t take kindly to you walkin’ in here and lookin’ down your pretty little nose at our way of life… do we folks?”
. He points his high-beam smile at her. “No. But if you can cut the attitude for a minute, we can get down to brass tacks. I’d very much like to hear about where you’re stayin’ at. Perhaps in my private office.”
