Page 41 of Our Little Dove

I see her, making her way toward the large doors, her silhouette cutting through the chaos like a knife through butter. Time slows to a crawl as I watch her go, a sense of excitement burning bright in the depths of my soul, a high that I’ve been chasing since our night together.

She’s slipping through my fingers, and I can’t bear the thought. With a surge of determination, I follow in her wake, my heart pounding with each step as I chase after the one thing that makes me feel something other than shame and longing.

Maybe Fintan had a point. I don’t know if I would have kissed him if it wasn’t for her, or the circumstances. The heat of the rolling cameras can make anyone do things they wouldn’t normally do…right?

Fintan grabs my arm before I get too far into the crowd and snaps me out of it. Deciding to keep Alex’s brief proximity to myself, I return to the bar with him and have more drinks, attempting to drown these feelings she breathed life into with her presence.

Has she made me realize my feelings for Fintan stem from more than just our closeness?

Was I projecting my feelings for Fintan onto her, because it felt…acceptable?

Our bond as “brothers”?

Fuck, my stomach lurches every time he calls me that. It feels so fucking wrong, I don’t know if I can admit the truth, even to myself.

The glow of the laptop screen casts an eerie light across the interior of my car as I watch the live feed from the club’s security cameras.

I’m trying not to draw attention to myself as I sit in my car, parked in the parking lot next toH.P.and no one seems to notice which is perfect. The whole city must be drunk and celebrating.

This must be fate. This is a great night to execute my plans. Why the fuck did I think taking tonight off would help me relax? This is perfect!

Joel would kill me if he knew I hacked his system. He should really look into beefing up his security, this took me less than ten minutes.

I’ve been preparing for this since the studio. Neither God nor the devil himself could stop me from getting my revenge.

Fintan and Kieran are at the bar, knocking back shot after shot with reckless abandon. A bitter smirk plays on my lips as I witness their descent into drunken oblivion.

With a few keystrokes, I switch to the camera focused on the bar, zooming in on the unsuspecting duo. They’re laughing, oblivious to the danger that lurks in the shadows, a danger of my own making.

Ah, luck is on my side!

I laugh at the irony.

Getting lucky on St. Patrick’s Day. Wow, what a cliché.

A drunk girl I bumped into earlier on my way out, stumbles out of the club with glazed eyes and a look of willingness to do anything for a thrill.

I place my laptop on the passenger seat and rush out of the car, heading straight toward her.

“Hey, want to make fifty bucks and help a girl out?” I say, urging some tears to my eyes.

“Fifty? Sure!” she slurs.

I hand her the vial I’ve had tucked into my bra every day since I formulated this plan.You never know…

“Hey, you see those two guys at the bar?” I gesture subtly toward Fintan and Kieran, my voice low and conspiratorial. “The one with the dark hair, Kieran, he is my boyfriend. But he’s cheating on me. Do you see that shot glass? Pour this into it.” I hand her a small vial.

“What is it?” she asks, holding the vial up to get a better look at it. “It’ll just knock him out cold. He is out with his friend, and I want to embarrass him by making his friend think he can’t handle his liquor.”

I pull out my phone and show her the photo I snapped of Kieran through the studio window weeks ago and go over the plan once more to make sure she won’t fuck it up.

I can’t have her drugging some random stranger in there.

The girl nods eagerly, a mischievous glint in her eye as she saunters over to the door and heads straight for the bar, hermovements calculated but stumbling from the copious amounts of alcohol.

I jump into the car again and glue my eyes to the screen next to me. I watch with satisfaction as she engages Kieran in conversation, her words a siren’s call that leads him closer to his inevitable downfall.

Sure enough, moments later, I see her slip the contents of the vial into Kieran’s drink, her hand lingering on his arm as she whispers something in his ear.