Page 100 of Our Little Dove

“What can I do, darlin’?” he asks smoothly, ignoring my irritation.Seems like the roles have reversed again. I was comforting his ass less than two hours ago. Fuuuck!

“I just need to get over it. How the fuck did Alex get over what we did to her?” My voice cracks before I steady myself.

“That is a good question… I think you just watched her way of getting over it,” Fintan says, chewing on the words.

Taking a few deep breaths, I start again. “We can’t just take revenge. The cycle will never end, and we’ll destroy all of this in the process. I know you’re not over it either… Should we—”

“What? Don’t tell me you want to ask Alex how we’re supposed to forgive her?” Fintan cuts me off, his voice bitter and sharp.

“Why not?!” I straighten in the chair, nearly knocking Fintan on his ass as he stumbles back. “If wereallyare in this together, we can’t keep avoiding this shit, Fin. We need to talk through this before things go too far.” Feeling a renewed sense of determination, I explain, “I want this. You want this. She wants this… This is going to take work.”

Fintan stands but remains silent as he mulls over my words.

As if summoned, Alex slides open the door. “You’ve been out here for a while… I got worried,” she says sheepishly as she walks closer to us. She looks at me, her face full of unspoken apologies.

“Fuck it,” I mutter.

“I’m having trouble with getting over that day and the footage is definitely not helping. I know this was my idea, but honestly, Alex, how did you go from the vengeful bitch in that video to this?” I ask, gesturing at her.

She takes a deep breath, her eyes flicking between us. “You’re both not okay with this, are you?” she asks, rubbing her arms.

“How observant,” Fintan barks.

I shake my head before staring daggers at him. “We’d like to know what you did to get here. We are in this shit, and we all need to be fine for this to work.”

Fintan may refuse to ask for help, but I won’t.

“I guess I felt like I had to take back what I lost that night. What you took— my control and my choice. I wanted to recreate what you did to me, give you a taste of your own medicine, but I had to get creative since I was obviously outnumbered,” I say, breathing heavier with each word. “I may have taken it too far, and for that, I am sorry.”

The guys stare at the ground, silent and reflective.

“Hey, please stop that,” I say as I step closer to them. “I may have apologized for that day but I sure as hell will never apologize for what happened because of it.”

I take their hands in mine. “We are here. We are… us because of what we did, and honestly, I don’t care how our story began, but I want this to be good. For all of us.” Without giving them a chance to respond, I pull them close and wrap my arms around them. It doesn’t take them long to reciprocate, and we stand here like this for long moments before Fintan lets out a sigh.

“Should we get back to it?” he asks, both of us eyeing Kieran for his reaction. Kieran’s lips tilt into a smile, and he nods, although I don’t miss the glint in his eyes.

We head back inside and as soon as Kieran slides the door closed behind us, he clears his throat, stopping us in our tracks on our way to Alex’s office.

“Everything okay?” Alex asks in a sweet voice, but Kieran doesn’t respond. Slightly confused, I step toward him to ask the same question.

“Darlin’, are you—” He cuts me off mid-question, clamping his hand around my throat so fast that I nearly lose my footing. Alex gasps from somewhere behind me, but all I can focus on is the hungry, sadistic expression on Kieran’s handsome face.

“I think it’s time we play another game. Only this time, I make the rules,” he growls as he inches closer, catching my bottom lip between his teeth with a predatory smile I thought he had lost since the night we took our little Dove.

I am stunned, amused, and judging by Alex’s silence behind me, I’d say she is too. My lips turn up at his sudden change in demeanor, feeling my body heat with excitement before apprehension and doubt clouds my mind.

“What do you have in mind?” Alex asks curiously while I challenge him with a look that dares him to try whatever he’s thinking.

“Take off your clothes and crawl to me,” he responds to Alex while meeting my challenging gaze. His tone is serious and low. “Hmm, mind letting go so I can watch?” I chuckle.

Kieran’s grip tightens and his smile grows wider. “Beg,” he demands, and when I do not comply, he forces me to my knees, grips tighter than before with a warning smirk.

After witnessing me bringing Fintan to his knees for not doing as he is told, Alex decides to be a good girl for me and starts undressing with her unwavering eyes on me.

She lowers down until her knees meet the floor before starting toward us. Pride blooms in my chest as she comes to a stop next to Fintan.

He is staring at me, but the smirk ghosting his lips assures me that he is too curious to do what he always does.

---