Maria burst out laughing, she couldn't help it. Cassandra was such a strange mix of self-awareness, but she also had a child-like innocence about her. "I'm not upset," Maria assured her. "I'm starting to understand that you and Nic have a very special relationship. I have no desire to come into the middle of that."
"Oh, you won't," Cassandra assured her, sinking back onto her own lounger. "If you try it, I'll just trick you into believing we're friends then stab you in the back while you're sleeping and blame it on one of Nic's enemies."
Maria's mouth fell open so hard her jaw creaked. Cassandra held a straight face for a solid thirty seconds before bursting into laughter. "I really love that you don't know whether or not to believe I'm capable of murder," she giggled and slapped her bare leg.
"You... you are utterly terrifying," Maria spluttered. For fucks sake, she still wasn't sure if the other woman was being truthful or not.