Page 101 of Three Irish Kings
Isla stretches, and her shirt rides up, exposing her navel.
I look away, my dick twitching in my slacks. I’ve never felt so feral about someone before, wanting her all the time. It should scare me, but I’ve never felt this rush before, and all I want is more.
With how delirious I am from lack of sleep, I’m thankful Liam’s here. Otherwise, my big mouth might betray me and lay it all on the table for her, forcing her to outright reject me.
It would kill me.
And it would ruin our friendship if Liam knew how I feel about her.
He pretends to dislike her, pretends that she’s just a target, unimportant, but I know him. I know he sees she’s so much more.
Having grown up with him as my brother, I’ve never fought with Liam like this, he’s never been this abrasive. He’s struggling with his feelings for her, just like I am, and it’s clear as day.
They are still cuddled up on the couch, and Liam doesn’t even pull away immediately, waiting for Isla to stand before he shifts and looks up at me.
“What happened?”
“I found her.”
His eyes widen, and he sits up straight. “You did? Where is she? In the trunk?”
I swallow hard. “The morgue. Bullet through the head.”
Isla stares at me, shell-shocked. “She’s dead?”
I nod tightly without looking at her. If I look at her I might pull her into my lap, tell her that I’m crazy about her and seeing someone that looked like her on a slab in the morgue was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.
Liam frowns. “Are you sure it’s her?”
“Here.” I hand him my phone, and as he looks at the pictures, something flashes across his face, brief, and then his expression shutters.
“Good.”
But I can tell that he’s conflicted, it’s in his blue eyes even if he’s trying to hide it.
Taking back my phone, I put it in the same pocket I took it from. “You think it could have been one of your da’s other men? Maybe he got killed in the process and that’s why it wasn’t reported. Or hell, we weren’t Maggie’s only enemies.”
Liam nods, looking off into space instead of focusing on me.
“Liam?”
His gaze snaps to mine, but he doesn’t speak.
I frown. “Are you all right?”
“Fine.” He stands, brushing off his clothes.
He usually can’t stand to be rumpled, but here he was, cuddling with Isla fully clothed on the couch, not a care in the world about how his clothes fare.
Fuck, I’m jealous. Should have been me.
On the other hand, Liam needs this as much as, if not more than, I do.
The darkness that swallows me whole all day, every day, haunts Liam too. But in his case, he has the future of the clan on his shoulders to add to his troubles. The fact that Ronan is not himself and makes Liam’s life harder than it should be is not helpful either.
If it comes to it, it’ll shred me to pieces, but I’ll step aside so that he can have this one good thing in his life.
He never relinquishes control, and having witnessed this moment between them, even as my heart breaks, makes me happy for my brother.
