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palm on the table.   “Enough of this,” he ordered.   “I want answers.”
    Taylor ignored his outburst and casually took a seat at the table, grabbing the third ale.   “Answers to what?” she asked after taking a deep drink of the brew.
    “He wants to know why I thought the ring was stolen,” Jared told her.
    “And how he knew the ring was made of silver,” Slane added quickly.
    “He used to work for lord Sullivan.   Of course he knows what the ring looks like.”
    Slane’s gaze shifted from Jared to pin Taylor to her seat.   Jared tensed, but then quickly remembered that Taylor was not one to squirm.   Not even under the piercing glare of an angry lord.   “How did you know it was Sullivan’s ring?” Slane asked.
    The grin never slipped from her lips.   “I know his crest.   I worked for him once, too.”
    Jared smiled inwardly.   She was a quick thinker and it made him proud.
    Slane sat back in his chair, but the suspicion still shone in his eyes.   He crossed his arms over his chest.   “That still doesn’t explain why he thinks it’s stolen.”
    Taylor imitated him, leaning back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest.
    It took all Jared’s will not to burst out laughing.
    “Well,” Taylor answered, “if Sullivan doesn’t have it then it must have been stolen.”
    Slane winced.   He leaned toward her over the table.   “How come you have all the answers?”
    Taylor leaned toward him.   “Jared and I have talked about it,” she said simply.
    A rumble of laughter sounded from Jared’s throat.   When Taylor and Slane shifted their gazes to him, he covered his amusement by clearing his throat and looking away from them toward the door.
    His humor died quickly as he saw their prey enter the inn, flanked by four rather large men.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    Taylor watched the mirth leave Jared’s blue eyes as he gazed at something over her shoulder.   A tingling raced across the back of her neck and she turned.   When her gaze locked on Irwin, every muscle in her body tensed.   A sudden surge of anger rushed through her, followed just as quickly by resolve.
    Jared’s hand covered her own.   “Don’t do something rash,” he warned her.
    “I never do anything without thinking it through,” she replied coolly, forcing the words through tightly clenched teeth.   She never took her gaze from Irwin.
    “What’s going on?” Slane wondered.
    Taylor could feel her blood pounding through her veins.   She attempted to rise, but Slane grabbed her arm.
    “Where are you going?” he asked, turning his gaze back from the men entering the inn.   “I’m not paying you to settle the score with an old lover.”
    “This one’s on the house,” she quipped with her usual sarcasm and attempted to pull her arm free.   But when Slane didn’t release her, she turned her enraged glare on him.
    “It will do me no good if you’re dead,” he said.
    “It’s not me who’s going to die,” she replied.
    “He has the ring you’re searching for,” Jared broke in.
    Slane’s gaze slid past Taylor’s shoulder to again eye the men who were now moving into the inn.   “A man?” he murmured.
    “Stay out of it,” Taylor warned.   “This is my fight and I wouldn’t want that pretty face of yours to get messed up.”   She smiled at him with her still swollen lips before pulling her arm free.   She turned to face Irwin.
    As soon as Taylor stood, Irwin’s gaze locked on her.   Dread filled his pinched features, and his beady little eyes glanced nervously from side to side.   For a moment, Taylor would’ve bet he was going to run.   But apparently the four men behind him gave him courage because he suddenly straightened up and approached her.
    Her eyes narrowed, and she licked her lips in anticipation of giving him a taste of what he had done to her.
    “Well,” he smirked.   “I see you enjoyed being taught a lesson.   Back for more?”
    Taylor had to take a deep breath