Her comments left him with more to ponder, given that they had only decided at the last minute to go to the ball. And it wasn't as if they had advertised their attendance, the only ones knowing being a couple of the girls in the cafe at Cottonwood, and whoever Rhiannon might have told. So it seemed that while it was planned, it wasn't planned specifically to happen there, that just presented the perfect opportunity for the attacker to do the deed and disappear into a crowd. His mouth tightened as he thought of what he'd like to do to the smug-faced coward Rhiannon had identified as Katherine.

"Cowards send in someone else t' do their dirty work, and this one's a coward if ever there were one," Cian growled, a great deal of self-control being used to keep his body at ease, and his face calm. "Hidin' behind th' skirts 'f his paid lacky."