Page 40 of Dating the Don

“I thought we had reached an agreement last night,” I answer with a sneer of my own.

“No,youthought that you were getting your way! You do not get to control me, Cristiano! Ada and your mother might be fine staying in that house behind the front lines, but my eyes are open now. You can’t keep me out of the action because you’re scared to lose me. If I need training, then train me. But you’re right, we don’t have time for this now.”

My mouth snaps shut.

She’s right. She’s her own woman. Given that her temper is something that has always appealed to me, I can’t try to blot out her light now. I have to give credit where it’s due. I needed a fierce woman at my side to help me lead this clan. I can’t expect a wallflower to stand by my side and make the hard choices. I’ve never been subscribed to the idea of a traditional housewife. Maeve has always been so much more than that, and I want her to be.

“Fine,” I acquiesce. “One chance.”

Maeve smirks. “If that’s your version of an apology, it’s a shitty one.”

“Would you rather I get on my knees?” I smirk back.

The answering look that she gives me warms my blood. We don’t have time for the things that expression implies.

“I think I will have you on your knees, Cristiano, as soon asIfinish this job,” Maeve hands out her hand for one of my guns. “You better show me that you’re truly sorry. I want actions. I want you to stop that toxic bullshit and thinking that I’m goingto wait for a prince charming. Which, you are charming, but you are not that.”

In spite of myself, I smirk.

She’s right after all. Whether I like it or not, she’s right.

I pull out my extra gun and hand it to her. “Do you even know how to use it? It’s loaded.”

Maeve shocks me then. She instantly checks the chamber and the clip to ensure that it’s in working order, just like I would expect any of my men to have done. She winks at me mischievously when I am struck speechless by her actions. “What?” her grin widens. “Don’t tell me you actually think Ada and I go clubbing on our girls’ nights?”

Yes, that’s exactly what I thought she was doing.

It’s a hell of a lot more attractive than I want to let on at the moment.

“Are you just going to keep gawking at me all morning or are we going to go and get this done?” Maeve answers as she holds the gun out in front of her, keeping it low as she heads toward the door.

“Remind me to talk about this at a later time,” I say as I follow her out of the room. At least I know that if I’m behind her, I can cover her back at all times. “Did you at least remember the way that you were led up here?”

Maeve casts a bitter glance over her shoulder as she follows the direction Al headed in just a second ago.

“Do you have any idea how many men are in here?”

“Keiran and my father for sure, plus a dozen or so men from what I saw, standard security like what you have at the estate I think,” Maeve shrugs.

“Well, that’s better than it could be. I had only been expecting to find Keiran here, but it looks like we’re going to kill two birds with one stone at the very least.”

“Kieran’s father has to be here somewhere too.”

It makes sense that Hugh Doyle would be here but something in my gut tells me that it would be entirely too simple to have everybody that I want dead the most in one place at one time. There has to be a catch. Something about this has to be a trap. I learned from my father very well and I know from personal experience that if it appears too good to be true, then that’s because it usually is too good to be true.

I would venture to say that is doubly true for cases of revenge like this.

I never thought that I would be placed in a situation where I might hesitate to get revenge for what was done to my father. That final kill, Hugh Doyle. The man behind every moving part that I’ve been missing over the last handful of years, so close to being done.

I just have to make sure that neither of us gets sloppy.

CHAPTER 23

MAEVE

We immediately catch up with Al, and I give him a swift tap on the back of his shoulder. We need to go upstairs. I hum gently to encourage them both to follow me, so when they do, I'm a little taken aback. I expected greater resistance from them.

The adrenaline coursing through my veins is unreal.

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