Page 60 of Manacled Hearts

Which means Maddox has the experience.

“I’ll give you that.” I shake my head, wondering if I should try harder in the future to mask my emotions. And patterns.

“When’s Maya next in with Dr. Moss?” she asks.

“Tomorrow.”

“I presume before the party?” Lulu asks.

“Yes, at one o’clock. I spoke with Mamaw June, and she’s coming over after we return. She’ll watch her for the evening.”

“Sounds good. You deserve to let your hair down a little.”

I’m not sure if Morrigan’s surprise birthday party will be the best place for me to let my hair down. Not with the knowledge that I may be seeing a certain blue-eyed man.

Every time I walk in here I wonder if he’s going to be around. Even if I go to Morrigan’s apartment, I still wonder if he’s going to drop by without warning. But it’s been weeks now without setting eyes on him. Weeks since I found out I was living in his building while he screwed other women there.

The way I feel in my skin now… it might as well have been years.

And I still don’t know if I’m ready to see Finnigan.

CHAPTER 13

FINNIGAN

I’m still pissed. Though the chill, fluttering inside my chest is different from any anger I’ve experienced in the past. I get it—it’s Morrigan’s surprise birthday party, and it’s for family and close friends only, but I’m desperate for the distraction tonight. One girl is all I asked for, a date to hold my attention.

Though, it seems I may be in luck. I’ve been here, at Morrigan’s apartment, for about an hour now. We’ve already surprised the birthday girl, though her reaction to our enthusiastic screams showed a tinge of knowledge. And I have been watching her accept wishes and hugs from everyone.

Cillian, her red-haired pain in the ass of a brother, wrapped her in his arms and spun her a few times, and put quite a smile on her face. The man is actually quite decent, but I just like to give him a hard time. He helped us save his sister a few months ago from a really shitty situation.

A bunch of our people are here too, Katya, Raven, Beau, and Tina, since Morrigan has become friends with them. Her bartender from Metamorphosis is here as well. And of course, Maddox and Carter. But no Evelyn… thank fuck.

Though Carter has been watching me peculiarly since I got here. The man is peculiar all around, so it shouldn’t flag as strange, yet there’s something in his weird hazel eyes. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s like he knows something I don’t, and it’s making me uneasy as fuck.

Come to think of it, Katya has been giving me some strange looks tonight, too. I want to ask about it, but I’m more focused on the fact that the wheat-haired woman is absent. Maybe she’s gone. I want to smile about it, I want to rejoice, but… for some reason that thought fills me with something that doesn’t evoke relief. The chill in my chest seems more like icicles stabbing into me. I think I need to cut this party short. I’m nearing Morrigan when Lulu sweeps in and wraps her into a tight hug.

She has been running around like crazy to make sure the party is perfectly planned for her best friend. Though, I’ve gotten to know Morrigan pretty well in the last few months, and I’m certain she won’t care if all this turns into a clusterfuck. She only cares that we’re together. That’s something that surprised me about her. My expectations were set a few years back by my brother and his wife, and I waited for the moment Morrigan took Vincent away from our Sanctum. Only, the opposite happened with the wild redheaded vixen. She fits right in. Lulu too, even as she rejects it.

The two women burst out laughing and as I approach, I catch snippets of their conversation.

“You knew, didn’t you? Did Vincent spill? Or did that brute?” Lulu’s smile falls ever so slightly as she looks beyond Morrigan, straight at Madds.

And he scowls right back at her.

I have a sound theory about these two, but I’ve been told by Vincent to keep it to myself if I don’t want the wrath of both Dietrich and Severin upon me. Loreley’s family is old money crime syndicate. The Dietrich mafia legacy is one built on blood, bullets, and a fortune bigger than my family’s. Even though Lulu pulled out of the family business, her blood is theirs, and I see that ruthless spark in her eyes. I won’t dare step on her toes.

I wait patiently until the two women finish talking, then swoop in. I don’t want to prolong this night more than necessary. Evelyn might have left town, but why risk it if she didn’t?

“I have a confession to make,” I say to the woman.

“Go on…” She eyes me wearily.

“I didn’t like you at first.”

She dramatically presses her hand to her heart as her mouth drops. “Oh my! I had no idea!”

I can’t help but roll my eyes at the theatrics, but the need to smile prevails. She’s taking it much better than I thought she would.