Page 195 of Three Irish Kings

I kiss the knuckles on the hand I’m holding. “More than my life.”

Liam scoffs. “Took you long enough to tell her.”

“Bet I still beat you to the punch.”

Isla huffs out a breath. “Are you boys still fighting?”

Liam grins. “No, we’re family now, aren’t we? Family argues.”

Isla looks at him with a beaming smile, and a stab of jealousy rushes through me.

“What are we gonna do now? The cops are going to show up.” I bring it up mostly to keep Isla from making goo-goo eyes at Liam.

I guess jealousy never really goes away.

Liam waves a hand. “I’ve got a few of them in my pocket. I’ll use my resources and get you discharged. We’ll get to Doc and see what kind of long-term care you need.”

“And after that?” Isla bites her lower lip.

“After that, we disappear.”

Cillian balks. “We can’t go, Liam, not with your father in the condition he’s in.”

Liam turns to him, a pained expression on his face. “As much as I’d love to help him, I’m ready to leave this life, and he’ll never accept that, not for me, but especially not for himself. So, what will you have me do, brother? Give up my happiness for what should be a few more years, risk my life, our lives, while he is alive? Then what?”

Cillian lowers his eyes.

Liam sighs. “I won’t abandon him; I’ll just support him from afar, distance myself from this life I never wanted. A life I know you never wanted either. Besides, he has an at-home nurse, and I’ll make sure we always have someone close to him we trust. He’ll be fine. And the truth is, we are doing more for him, even after we leave, than he ever did for us. He only ever saw us as tools. You know that.”

Cillian looks lost in thought for a moment, and then he nods. “You’re right, boss.”

Liam lays a hand on Cill’s shoulder. “I’m not your boss. Never was. You have always been my brother.”

Cillian looks up at him, shocked, but then a half-smile appears on his face.

“Where will we go?” I ask.

Isla’s touch, even if it is just her hand on mine, is healing, makes me forget about the pain.

I try to adjust my position in bed, and pain shoots through me. I grit my teeth not to cry out, but I can’t avoid the wince.

Liam frowns. “I’ll call for more pain meds. You’ll both need them since we’re leaving soon.”

“So soon after surgery?” Isla’s voice is low and worried.

I give her a smile, but it’s probably weak. “I’m all right,a ghrá.”

Cillian’s hand tightens on hers when she looks at him. “So am I.”

Liam heads to the nurse’s station, and thirty minutes later, they come in.

Cillian waves them off him, and they head my way with a shot that makes the world feel happy and warm.

My eyelids start drooping.

Cillian’s voice comes from the end of a tunnel. “Where will we go?”

Liam chuckles. “Anywhere we want, aye? We have enough money pooled among the three of us to go anywhere. I can run my business long-distance, and you two have a hell of a nest egg.”