Page 25 of Three Irish Kings

I haven’t wanted to admit it to myself, but with every day that passes, the man who raised me changes for the worse. “I don’t want to do it either, Cil, but what choice do we have? He knows we have her?—”

“We talk to him. We appeal to his better nature.”

Liam barks out a laugh. “What better nature? His better nature died when Ma did.”

The door of the house slams shut, and I turn.

Dare walks up, a determined expression on his face. “We're not taking her to Ronan.”

I glare at him. “You don’t call the shots around here, Dare.”

“No, but you do. And I know you don’t want her hurt. It’s against everything the Hayes clan has ever stood for, Liam.”

I growl, running a hand through my hair.

It’s a bad habit, and I hate it, especially when it makes my hair disheveled. “You might be right, but it is not our call to make. Maggie needs to be dealt with one way or another, and standing here arguing about this is a waste of time.”

“Are we even sure it’s her?” Dare asks.

Cillian frowns. “What are you talking about? You saw the picture. It’s her.”

“Designer bag. Expensive shoes. How would Maggie Sullivan afford all of that if she’s on the run? And why would she show up to the gala in the first place?”

I hate to admit it, but Dare makes a good point. Or at least, it would be a good point if I didn’t know Maggie Sullivan’s dossier backward and forward.

I shrug. “She was probably looking for a new sucker to give her money. You were probably her target.”

“First of all,Iapproachedher, not the other way around. Second of all, it just doesn’t make sense, Liam.” He huffs out a breath. “Look, I’m not sure if she’s Maggie or Isla, but either way, it doesn’t make it okay to hurt her, even kill her.”

Cillian turns to me, his voice low and dangerous. “I agree. I’m not taking her to Ronan’s to be killed. I’ll stop you myself if I have to."

I take a few steps toward him, chest puffed up. “You think you can stop me?”

Cillian doesn’t back down. “Damn right, I can. I always beat you when we were kids, and I can beat you now.”

“Fat chance.”

My vision starts to blur, a surefire sign that I’m going to lose it.

What’s going on with me?

I’ve never gotten this worked up over a target. But then again, none of our targets have been pretty, young women.

Dare steps between us. “Stop it. You two are like a couple of hormonal teenagers. None of us want to break the Hayes code, right?”

I don’t answer.

Cillian nods.

“I didn’t even want to take her, even though she’s a little hellcat.” He brushes his hand across his forearm, hissing.

“Better put something on that. You don’t know what’s under those nails.”

Dare rolls his eyes at my words, but I’m serious.

Maggie isn’t some fucking virgin that us mean, strong men have kidnapped. She’s a jezebel and a traitor.

Dare looks between me and Cil. “Then we all want the same thing. We’ll keep her here, watch her. I’ll stay tonight?—”