Page 68 of Declan

“Then just tell me what happened,” I press, determined to find out something that may lead me to the killer.

“It’s not my story to tell, so you’ll just have to take my word for it,” Matt says seriously, and I glare at him, taking a step toward him before Dare steps in my way, pushing me back with a hand against my chest.

I turn my gaze to Dare, my hands coming up defensively as I say, “Come on, man. You’re just going to sit back and let him play this ‘I can’t tell you’ bullshit with me?”

Dare shakes his head. “I know it’s not ideal, Dec, but if Matt says he can’t tell you, then that’s because he can’t tell you.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I shout. “I could go to fucking jail for a crime I didn’t commit, and we’re going to accept ‘I can’t tell you’ from Saint Matt.”

Tony winces but then says, “Calm down, Declan. You’re not going to go to jail. You’re being dramatic.”

My eyes just about bug out of my head as I whirl on Tony. “Dramatic? Someone could literally clear my name right this moment, and you’re calling me dramatic?”

Tony has the decency to look a bit sheepish, but Matt is still standing in the same spot with the same bored look on his face, and my blood boils.

“Why won’t you just fucking tell me?” I yell, wanting nothing more than to repeatedly punch him in the face until he tells me what I want to know. “Whose story could it possibly be that you’d put their secret before my fucking freedom and my wife’s safety?”

“That would be mine,” a new voice interjects from the doorway, a feminine voice, and this time, we all turn toward the door, our jaws dropping in shock to see a woman standing there.

All three of us look at each other, and then we turn our collective gazes back to Matt, who’s sitting there rather smugly. When he doesn’t say anything, we all turn back to the doorway, where the woman is still standing, and after a moment, she enters the room, shutting the door behind her.

“Let me tell you a story.”

26

The Snake in the Grass

Jessica

Two-ishMonthsAgo…

I’ve been fielding calls from various news agencies ever since Declan stepped onto Issa’s stage, and my ability to disengage, redirect, and blatantly lie is starting to wear thin.

When he called me asking for tickets to the show, I knew he would pull some kind of crazy stunt, but I truly had no idea how huge it would be.

Which is a huge oversight on my part because this is Declan Hughes we’re talking about. His knack for getting millions of people to talk about him is legendary, and his ability to come out on top of whatever scandal he’s started is unheard of.

I’m just preparing to head home when the door clicks open, and I look up, expecting to see Issa. I’ve been avoiding her calls for days, so I’ve been expecting her to corner me at some point.

I’m startled when the eyes I meet aren’t Issa’s and then annoyed that Bobby is standing there, looking as sleazy as ever.

“What do you want?” I practically snarl, wishing he would piss off and never darken my doorstep again.

He walks further into the room, his expression ugly as he sneers, “You need to fix this.”

I stop shuffling papers on my desk and look up at him, frowning. “Fix what, exactly?”

“This shit with Issa and that douchebag Hughes.”

I roll my eyes and laugh. “That sounds like a you problem.”

He blinks in surprise, then his typical smug expression is back as he retorts, “Oh, this is definitely a you problem, Jess. Assuming you value your reputation at all.”

My brows rise, my anger increasing at his intentionally vague wording. “If you have something to say, Bobby, for the love of fuck, just say it.”

His smug expression intensifies, and he pulls his phone out of his back pocket, tapping on the screen a couple of times before holding it out to me. I extend my hand to take it, but he pulls it back, and I’m forced to lean over the desk in order to see the screen clearly.

First, he shows me some still images, and though they’re a bit blurry, I do a double-take, and my stomach drops as I recognize myself. But then, his smile becomes nastier, and he swipes the screen, revealing a video.

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