Page 39

M y fingers tremble as I scroll to Fintan’s number in my contacts while trying to keep an eye on the road. The car veers slightly as I make my way downtown to Clover Ink, hoping they will be there. It’s just past ten and thankfully there are very few cars on the road.

The call rings a few times before he picks up. “Hello?” he answers, and his voice still gives me goosebumps like it did that first time.

“Fintan, it’s Alex. I—um, I need to see you. I’m on my way to your studio. Can you meet me there? Please, it’s urgent,” I say, my voice trembling from my panic attack that hasn’t fully passed yet.

“We closed an hour ago. What do you want?”

“Fuck. Please meet me there. I will explain when I see you,” I plead before cursing under my breath as I speed over a red light I didn’t notice.

“Get fucked! You don’t call the shots anymore, Alex. After your fucking stunt the last time we saw each other, why the fuck would we want to see you?” he growls over the line, and I can hear the anger in his disembodied voice.

“God, Fintan! Please just meet me there!” I yell as tears start running down my face again. “I’ll be there in ten minutes. It’s important. I need to ask you about Hush.”

“I’m not taking orders from you. Go fuck yourself, Alex,” he says in a cold tone before hanging up.

“Fuck, fuck, FUCK!” I scream, hitting my hands on the steering wheel in frustration. I pull over to the side of the road, the tears blurring my vision too much to drive.

I take a few deep breaths to calm myself before deciding to text Kieran instead.

My voice will be too shaky if I try calling.

I type out a message explaining the urgency of the situation and begging him to meet me at Clover Ink.

The seconds feel like hours as I wait for his reply, my heart pounding in my chest.

Finally, a notification pops up on my screen. Kieran has agreed to meet me. Relief floods through me as I wipe away my tears and pull back onto the road. The drive to the studio feels both endless and fleeting.

As I arrive at Clover Ink, I see Kieran standing outside, illuminated by the glow of the streetlights. I quickly park the car and rush towards him, my footsteps pounding against the pavement.

“Alex, what’s going on?” Kieran asks, apprehension and concern etched in his features as he takes in my disheveled appearance.

“I’m sorry for just texting out of the blue like that. I need your help,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. “It’s about Hush.”

Kieran’s eyes widen in surprise, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face. Without another word, he gestures for me to follow him inside the studio.

“Where’s Fintan?” I ask as I hesitantly follow him through the door. “He’s upstairs, why?”

I clear my throat and take a deep breath to steady my nerves. “I called him from the road, but he refused to see me and hung up… I wouldn’t have called or texted if it wasn’t important.”

Kieran is silent for a moment, and I follow his gaze to a door at the back of the studio, his brows drawn. “He didn’t tell you I called, did he?” I ask.

“No,” he clips as he turns his attention back to me. “You said this was about Hush?” he presses, and I can sense his anger bubbling up as he looks at me for long seconds. It’s the same look he gave me when I let them go.

“Kieran, I know I can never undo what I did to you, both of you, and I’m not here to ask for forgiveness nor am I here to offer mine,” I say in a low tone before continuing. “I have no one else to turn to with this…”

“God, Alex, just spit it out before I regret meeting with you,” he hisses.

Just as I’m about to articulate the questions raging in my mind, Fintan walks through the back door with a murderous look in his eyes. “What the fuck is this?” he growls as he stomps toward us.

I am fuming as I walk up to Kieran and Alex. “What part of ‘go fuck yourself’ made you think it’s a good idea to show up anyway?” I growl. Kieran immediately steps between us as I stare daggers at her.

“I’m sorry! I texted Kieran when you hung up on me. I need your help. Please, just hear me out and answer my questions then I’ll go,” she whines. I notice her red cheeks and the streaks of makeup that has all but dried on her face.

Fuck, she looks just like she did when we made our video. No. Don’t fucking go there. She is not the same innocent little Dove from before that night.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Kieran whispers as he steps up to block me from getting closer to Alex. He must sense that I want to hurt her. I tear my eyes off her and find Kieran’s but the look in his eyes has my fury burning brighter.

“Why are you protecting her after what she did?” I yell as I push him backwards with my hands on his chest. He stumbles back and the look of sad confusion he gives me, grips my heart in immediate guilt.

“What? Like what you boys did to me ? I may have taken it a bit far but at least your video never made it online, unlike mine!” Alex screams as new tears flow from her eyes. “We all fucked up here! Just help me! I—I’ll owe you!” she cries.

Kieran and I look at her in a brief moment of silent shock when the words leave her mouth. “Hmm, you must really be desperate,” I say, watching her break.

What a beautiful sight.

“Please,” she sniffles, unable to look at us. Kieran turns to me with a serious look, and I huff out a sigh, nodding to his silent request: “Let’s hear her out.”

“Fine. You win, Darlin’,” I whisper to him before stepping around him and heading toward the leather seats in the waiting area. “You two coming?”

Kieran follows my lead and takes a seat next to me while we wait for Alex. “Sit. You have our undivided attention,” Kieran says and the hint of sarcasm in his tone has me smirking.

I’m proud of him for standing up to her. Hell, he even stood up to me earlier. I can’t wait to fuck him again when she leaves.

Alex wipes away her tears before taking a seat near us. She takes a few heavy breaths, and I can see the chaos of her mind swallowing her whole.

“Do you know anyone else who works for Hush?” she starts, clearing her throat. “Their names…”

Kieran and I share a look and he responds with his brows drawn in confusion. “No, everyone at Hush is contracted to remain anonymous in case the content ever made it to the cops. Signing an N.D.A. is the first thing they ask you to do when you become a creator for them.”

“Why do you ask? Did you recognize someone?” I ask, my curiosity piqued. She flashes me an annoyed glare as she shakes her head. “No, I—um, I heard something about someone close to me and I just can’t wrap my head around it,” she admits. The betrayal in her eyes almost make me feel bad for her.

Almost.

“Who?” Kieran asks.

“My friend…” she starts before I cut her off.

“Molly Bensen?”

“Yes, Molly. Anyway, she was dating my cousin and they broke up because she caught him making payments to Hush. Why would he be making payments? Is he working for them or is he paying to watch?” she stammers.

Her voice hitching as she spits out the questions as fast as I imagine her heart is beating.

“How the fuck are we supposed to know, Dove?” I ask. She looks from me to Kieran with unmistakable pain in her teary eyes.

Aww, does miss Alex Peterson not like our nickname anymore?

“Did she see or notice anything else? Like the payment reference?” Kieran asks her. She sniffles a few times before answering. “No, I don’t know, but when I called him and asked if he works for Hush, he hung up on me,” she explains.

Kieran turns to me with a questioning expression. “What do you think?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper. I shrug at his question, but it doesn’t sit well and I chew my lip as I mull it over.

I lean back, running a hand through my hair as I think about what Alex just told us.

Could her cousin be involved with Hush?

The thought sends a cold shiver of unease down my spine.

Has he seen the video of his delectable little cousin?

“We need to find out more about your cousin,” I say, breaking the heavy silence that settled between us. “Joel, right?” I ask and she nods.

Kieran hums in agreement, his jaw clenched tightly. Alex looks at us with a newfound hope in her eyes, grateful that we’re willing to help her despite everything that’s happened between us.

“I can talk to Molly and see if she knows anything else,” Alex offers, wiping away the last traces of tears from her cheeks. “Remember, you owe us for helping you and our time won’t be cheap,” I say as I lean forward in the seat, watching her every move.

She regards me with a weary smile before picking at her fingernails nervously.

Kieran clears his throat, his expression softening slightly. “The more we know, the better chance we have of figuring out what’s really going on.”

As we sit there in the waiting area of our studio, a sense of determination washes over me. We have our own demons to battle, but helping Alex uncover the truth about her cousin’s involvement with Hush could help us too.

We can watch her even closer than we have been since she let us walk and we might get her out of our systems for good.

Kieran and I need to get her out of our heads and our lives. We shouldn’t care about her, and yet, here we are back in her orbit of chaos. She will be the end of us but why do I like having her close? Our destructive little Dove.

“Let’s get to the bottom of this,” I say firmly, locking eyes with both Kieran and Alex. She catches us both off guard as she leaps from her seat and throws her arms around both our shoulders in a hug. “Thank you,” she whispers next to our ears before she straightens and clears her throat.

“Oh, don’t thank us yet, little Dove,” I say as she steps back and her already weak smile falters before she speaks again.

“I need to get going. I left Molly at my house, and I’m supposed to pick up some pizza,” she says nervously as she starts walking toward the door.

“Hmm, what do you think, Kai? Pizza seems like a good place to start making up for what she owes us,” I tease, and she freezes with her hand on the door. Kieran chuckles, “I could eat.”

“What, you want me to buy you a pizza?” she asks in confusion.

“Oh… No, Dove. We can all have pizza at your place. I think it’s time we meet Molly, and we can go over all the information together,” I say with a grin as I get up from the leather chair and face her.

Alex’s eyes widen at my suggestion. “You can’t be serious,” she says and when I only offer her a smile that screams: ‘ deadly ’, she quickly masks her hesitation with a forced smile of her own. “Sure,” she says, trying to appear nonchalant as she leads the way out of the studio.

We pile into her car and the tension is deliciously thick. I take the back while Kieran settles into the passenger seat before we take off. Alex fidgets with the stereo, trying to fill the silence as we drive through the city streets.

‘Flatline by Left on Red’ starts playing and I smile, realizing that there is so much we don’t know about our Dove. Kieran watches her like a hawk, and I glance at the window we smashed the night we took her.

She fixed it. It looks brand new as if nothing has happened. I wonder what she told the repairman. Did she say it was a bird, someone threw a rock, or did she mention my Darlin’ and his crowbar?

Ah, it’s fun to think about…

She doesn’t speak to us the whole drive except when asking what toppings we wanted when she stopped to get the food.

This is going to be one very interesting night.