Page 49 of Manacled Hearts

“Go ahead, sugar, I dare you. Find ten. Find a hundred. Do me a fucking favor so I can get to them all and clean these streets of filth.”

“You wouldn’t,” I say in disbelief.

“Try me. Fucking try me. I will kill each and every one of them until there are none left for you to seek.” There’s a feral look in his icy eyes as he speaks those words, two menacing veins pulsing in his temples, and I swear he got taller… wider, all of a sudden. Not that he doesn’t tower over me already.

“Christ, Finnigan! You don’t want anything to do with me, you made that abundantly clear. Why can’t you apply that to this too?”

“I didn’t save you out of that container so you can disgrace yourself like this. You fought for your sister! For what?! So you can stick a motherfucking needle in your arm and abandon her? Just so you can feel something other than pain?”

“You don’t know anything,” I shake my head, holding back a sob as the pain strips me bare. “You don’t know what your world did to mine. Even if you did, I doubt you would understand.”

He frowns, but I rip my gaze away from his because I can’t stand the scrutiny anymore. He looks at me like I’m a circus animal. With disappointment and anger, intrigue and pity, and I can’t take it anymore. But when my eyes land on the dead man on the ground once more, I whip around and walk away before I’ll take the blame for his death upon me too.

Silly girl, you are already to blame. It is your fault… whether you run away from the thought or not. You may not have pulled the trigger, but it was your finger on it.

I make it a few steps before my wrist is caught in a strong grip and I’m halted.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Home. Let go of me.” I try to wrench my hand out of his just as his other hand grips my waist and pulls me toward him.

“Get in the car, Evelyn.” He points toward the black, boxy SUV a few feet away.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Why? Do you still think it’s a good idea to walk alone, in the dark, in an unfamiliar neighborhood? You really have no self-preservation instincts?”

“Why do you care?” I whip around stepping right in his face.

His chest rises and falls with deep, controlled breaths that look too slow to be calm. No words come, but his gaze on me is so intense, focused to the point that it seems to burrow into me. It digs further and further until I’m afraid it’s going to find a home inside of me. My eyes widen and my chest bursts in uncomfortable prickles.

“Fine.” I roll my eyes and turn toward his car when no answer comes.

Ever the gentleman, he opens the door for me, and before we leave, he pulls his phone out, typing furiously as his gaze snaps between me and his screen.

“Feels like an inappropriate time to text your girlfriends,” I snap, crossing my arms against my chest, hating the tinge of jealousy that slipped through.

Finnigan cocks an eyebrow and I expect a pinch of amusement at the corner of his lips, but it never comes. I can’t tell if I was right or just very wrong.

“Clean-up crew,” he mutters under his breath.

I’m confused for a brief moment until my gaze drifts to the dark alley where the dealers body lays in the shadows.

“Oh.” I leave it at that since I have no idea what else to add. I don’t feel bad for assuming it was one of his women.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I jerk at the sensation, pulling it out in confusion. Maddox Severin lights up the screen, and I stare at it until Finnigan huffs next to me. I shoot him an angry look as I swipe over the screen and answer.

“Are you safe?!”

Maddox sounds anxious. Almost breathless.

“Umm yes.”

“Then what the hell are you doing on Lloyd’s Street?”

“Wait, you know where I am too? Are you guys tracking me?” I turn to Finnigan, but he just cocks an eyebrow like I just asked a ridiculous question.

“Yes. Katya called to tell us she was worried and found out you didn’t take security with you, just left alone. You could still be in danger, Evelyn.” His tone is right on the cusp of guttural, his protective instinct bleeding through. “Why are you there?”

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