He was too busy trying to shove his cock into her ass for him to notice me. I grabbed him around the throat and squeezed so hard my knuckles hurt. His hand flew to his throat, and then his eyes met mine. Struggling to break free of my grip, he slapped my arm, his hard cock hanging out of his dress pants.
Nasty old fucker.
Eyes wide, Rhi spun around, her mouth hanging open in shock. She seemed to forget her lower half was naked and leaned back against the rock. I stared into her eyes, holding her intense gaze as she watched me choke the life out of Cillian.
I should have released my hold on him. He was a Founder, connected, one of us. But I couldn’t let go, not until his body shook, the last bit of his life draining at my hands. It wasn’t until his body went limp that I realized what I had done, what I did for her. There would be consequences for killing a Founder. People would look for him, and his family would want revenge.
How could I ever look Sonny in the eye again without telling him the truth about his uncle? I turned my gaze on Rhi, who was trembling with fear and dropped Cillian’s dead body on the ground.
“Look at what you’ve made me do, Rhi.”
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I lured him here to kill him, but he overpowered me.”
“Tell me why you were fucking this asshole.”
She looked away, ashamed.
My jaw flexed in anger. “You let Cillian put his cock inside you?”
“Marcello,” she groaned. “I don’t expect you to understand the choices I’ve made.”
“Why him?”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Are you jealous?”
“Fuck, no,” I lied. “Why were you going to kill him?”
She fixed her jeans back into place, then dropped to her knees on the sand to grab her backpack, the gun lying beside it.
“What was your plan?” I folded my arms over my chest and studied her beautiful face. “You thought you would shoot a Founder, and then what? Bury him in the woods?”
“I hadn’t gotten that far.” She shoved the gun in her bag and rose from the ground. “I just figured I would leave him here and let someone discover his body.”
She rose to her full height. I moved in front of her, caging her tiny body against the rock.
“You need to use your head, princess. The dumb shit you do will get you killed someday. I won’t be there to save you. This damsel in distress routine is getting old.”
She tugged on my silk tie and pulled my mouth to hers. “I think you enjoy saving me, Marcello. You have a hero complex.”
“No, I don’t.”
I removed my cell phone from my pocket. Before I made another move, I had to consult with Luca. Cillian was a Founder, and because of that, I had to deal with this situation differently.
I dialed his number and raised the phone to my ear.
“What?” Luca said on the second ring.
“I need your help.”
“Is Alex okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. She’s at Wellington Manor.”
Alex was in Devil’s Creek, living with her grandparents for the summer before returning to college with her twin brother.
“Where the fuck are you?” Luca hissed.
“At Finnegan’s Rock. Get down here and bring a shovel.”
“I’ll send Damian and Bastian.”
“No,” I fired back. “This stays between us.”
“What the fuck did you do, Marcello?”
“Cillian Cormac is dead.”
“Fuck,” he groaned. “Who killed him?”
“Just get down here, Luca!”
“You’re a fucking asshole,” he mumbled and then hissed, “Give me five.”
Then the line went dead.
I slipped the phone into my pocket, staring at Rhiannon as I waited for an explanation. Cillian was dead at my feet. His head slumped to the side with his mouth open. Rhi trembled like a tree, her head down as she hugged herself around the middle.
“Tell me the truth, Rhi.”
“Don’t go all alpha on me, Marcello. I didn’t want to involve anyone in this shit with Cillian. So please don’t get mad at me. Don’t blame me for what you did.”
“There will be severe consequences for killing a Founder.”
She slid her teeth across her bottom lip, a pained expression on her face. “I won’t tell anyone. You know me.”
“How am I supposed to cover up the disappearance of a Cormac. Huh, Rhi? How do you suggest I deal with this situation?”
“Say whatever you want. I’ll go along with the story.”
“You were not here tonight.” I bent down until our mouths were inches apart. “Neither was I. You got me?”
“Yeah, I got you. Whatever you say, Marcello.”
“At some point, I have to tell Sonny the truth.”
She shook her head. “No, you don’t. This can be our secret.” Rhi gripped my shirt in her hand. “Just like old times. No one needs to know about any of this.”
“Could you be more pathetic?” Luca growled from behind me. “Jesus, woman. Who haven’t you fucked in this town?”