Page 77 of Vengeance Becomes Her

“Yes, in his study. Why?” Samara was watching her intently.

“We’re going to make it look like he ran out on your family. We’ll take some of the money and some of his belongings. We’ll make it look like he was leaving town without plans to return.” Rhiannon ran her fingers through her hair as she worked out the details in her mind.“Do you think that plan will work? Would it be possible that he’d leave?”

“Well, he and my mother have a strained relationship, and he’s been even more distant since everything that happened with Silas. I guess she would believe it. They never were an especially happy pair.”

“You go into your house and grab the money. I’ll save it for you so you can use it for whatever you’ll need on the road. You stay here with your family and I’ll go back to the inn. We’ll continue on with our plans as we were going to before.”

“I can’t stay in this house and look my mother in the eyes.” Samara’svoice quivered.

“You can and you will. There is no other way, otherwise it would arouse suspicion.” Rhiannon was standing in front of her staring at her intently. “Unless, that is, you want to be charged with his murder? I promise you I will not take the fall for that. I have no regrets about saving you, but I have bigger plans than to be hanged for the murder of that piece of shit.” She jerked her finger toward the now-clear river.

“Fine.” Samara started walking back to her house.

Minutes later they’d exchanged the money and Rhiannon was on her way back into town, her cloak wrapped tightly in an attempt to hide the evidence of the life she’d just taken.

Rhiannon was soaked to the bone as she crept into the room as discreetly as she could. She’d tried to wash off the blood from the front of her shirt and pants, but it had settled deep within the fabric. She ripped off her clothes, dropping them in the tub before strolling into the room. She was so relieved to be indoors and out of those clothes that she didn’t even notice Tristain had come in.

“Where have you been and why do you have blood on you.” His voicemade her jump.

“Why did you sneak up on me? And who do you think you are, my keeper?” She was tired and irritated, in no mood for an interrogation.

“Apparently, I have to be. Leave it to you to find yourself in the middle of violence.” He shook his head. “What happened?”

Rhiannon tried to gather her thoughts, but under his judgmental gaze it was impossible to prevent the words from spilling out. “He would have drowned her if I hadn’t been there. I didn’t have a choice but to get involved. I killed him. Threw him in the river in the forest on the north side of town. She agreed to help me cover it up. We have a plan.”

“You’re too quick to kill. You do know murdering people doesn’t solve everything. In fact, it doesn’t solve anything. You would know that if you’ve ever seen real conflict and the destruction left behind.” He threw his hands in the air, overcome with frustration. “Why did you have toget involved?”

“She would be dead if I hadn’t.” She wasn’t going to apologize for what she had done. It was necessary—andhe deserved it.

“These are the kinds of things that should be handled by the proper authorities.”

“The authorities don’t give a damn about women like us. If anything, we’re an inconvenience that needs to be dealt with. A nagging voice that needs to be silenced.” She felt like she was really looking at him for the first time. “I never took you for naive, but you must be if you really believe that we have anyone but one another to have each other’s back.” She was trying to control her voice, but her fury was getting the best of her.

“What do you think is going to happen when they realize he’s dead? They’re going to be looking for someone to blame. His daughters and wife will have no one to protect or care for them now. Do you think they’ll be grateful for your so-called favor?” He was looking at her like shelost her mind.

“I did do them a favor. That man wasn’t protecting anyone but himself. And now that he’s gone, they’ll be much better off. He still has the money your brother gave him, most of that will go to them. He won’t have a chance to come take it back. I’ll make sure of that.” She narrowed her gaze on him. “There’s no reason for them to look for a body. And if it does somehow turn up, we’ll likely be longgone by then.”

That stopped him mid-pace. His head snapped up. “We don’t know how long ‘til it turns up. Who knows where it’ll end up and when it’ll surface, washed up somewhere.”

She smiled when she remembered his traitorous body getting dragged along the bed of rocks and down the river. “The current is hard enough that he should travel a good distance before anyone finds him. And there’s little chance they’ll tie him back to this village.”

She took a seat as some of the tension left the room. “And in the meantime, it will look like he took off on his family. Samara and I took a decent amount of money from his stash and packed some of his things he would need if he were leaving. Her mother will assume he ran out on them, which will make it easy for us to avoid unwanted suspicion for a bit. We can’t leave right away, especially because Samara has decided to come with us. That would raise suspicion. But we should still have plenty of time to get out of here.”

“And what if you’re wrong,” he snapped.

“Then we adjust the plan. But I don’t think I am.” She kept her tone controlled, refusing to concede any emotions. “I don’t know what you want from me, but if you’re expecting me to profess that I’ve made some big mistake or that I have regrets, you’re going to be severely disappointed. I told you before and I meant it. I will not hesitate to end a man who is a danger to the women around me. I will not stand for it. As long as I can wield a blade, I will not turn my back to let another woman suffer. That is a promise I will keep until my dying breath, no matter how much blood stains my hands.”

He watched her carefully a moment, not ogling her nakedness but really seeing her. He nodded once and pulled her into an embrace. “We’ll figure it out.”

Against her wishes, her muscles relaxed into him. They stood like that for several minutes before the chill of the night on her bare skin was too much.

“I need to bathe andget some rest.”

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