[Dio doesn't hold back. He never holds back, unless there was something on the line, and here there was no harm in some boisterous laughter, so that's how he answers. Strategy he says.]

Fair enough, my friend! Far be it for me to interfere in your machinations, then. I offer you my apologies, and you should treasure them, for they are rare things.

[He liked this one, and so he should apologize, not for returning that vice-like grip, but simply for grilling him further. Let it be known that Dio wasn't one to try to attempt a man to spill his secrets, not without some cause.]