It wasn't much of a slap. She was a tiny girl of a thing, and he a vampire of the White Court, but it stung where her fingers touched his skin. And it would go away in a matter of minutes with how full he was. But he wouldn't use the demon to heal it fully, he deserved even that tiny reminder of what a monster he was. It was necessary to remember. So he looked at Briseis for a moment and dragged his coat back around his shoulders, leaving it open at the front.
"Now you understand," he said quietly, resolutely. And then he stepped out into the warm evening air, fetching out the keys to the Jaguar from his too-tight jeans. And then he slid into the driver's seat, stuffed the key into the ignition, turned the engine over and zoomed out of the parking lot with a shift of gears. Justine would be expecting him. He didn't want to see her like this.