Page 107 of Three Irish Kings

“Just rest,mo chuisle. Everything will be all right, aye?”

His Irish lilt is soothing and sweet, and it’s not long before my eyelids start to drift closed.

But my mind won’t shut up until sleep takes me.

All I can hope is that I’ll get to have some alone time with each of them before I leave, because Iwillleave. Soon.

But it’ll break my heart to do it.

Chapter Twenty-Six

DARE

My eyes seemto have a magnet that pulls them constantly to the clock on the dashboard.

I huff out a breath.

Sitting in my car, I’m just waiting for my phone alarm to go off already.

Soon, it’ll be time to go for my shift with Isla, and I’m so ready I can’t stand it. Every minute feels like an hour.

Being away from her, even for twenty-four hours, is torture, and I know that’s a problem.

Might as well admit it to myself, anyway. I’m in love with her. For a while, I thought it was just infatuation, maybe even limerence, but the more I get to know her, the more I see the truth for what it is.

I wish someone had told me how insane I’d feel when I finally fell in love. I never thought I would. I thought I’d be a lifelong bachelor, living the high life with a different woman on my arm every week.

That was my life BI, Before Isla. I’ve never even had a steady girlfriend, except for a brief couple of months in college before I dropped out.

Even then, we mostly just met at night for booty calls and barely spoke.

It’s not that I don’t believe in love. I do, even though I’m not sure I’ve ever personally seen it. It’s not like my parents were in love, far from it.

But God, lovehurts. It aches all over my body.

I long for her, yearn to see her, talk to her, see her smile.

The ding of the alarm startles me.

I start the car and rev the engine, loving how loud it is. This has a V-8 engine, after all, a muscle car I rebuilt myself. I’m hoping to take Isla on a ride, show her how I can open it up on the highway.

I grin just thinking about it. The two of us, windows down, bass booming, the wind in her dark hair.

I haul ass to Liam and Cillian’s childhood home, excited to see Isla and knowing that Cillian will be waiting on the couch, probably staring into space.

I pull into the driveway, parking the car.

Cillian’s car is parked in the garage, the door open.

I bound up the steps, unlocking the door and listening for Isla, hoping she’s awake even though it’s the crack of dawn.

I can’t help but be excited.

Now that we know Isla Quinn isn’t at all connected to Maggie, and Maggie’s gone, it’s like we have a new lease on the relationship.

Things can be different. She doesn’t have to be our prisoner anymore. She doesn’t want to leave, anyway, not anymore. I can tell, even though she won’t say it.

And though we haven’t said the words yet, she loves me, too. I just know it. She’s going to choose me, and we’re going to be so happy together.