Page 67 of Manacled Hearts

“You don’t seem too happy about it,” the boy states bluntly, in such a matter-of-fact, casual way, that I twitch in my chair, close to losing my balance, and I swear I hear someone snort to my left.

When I turn my head in that direction, Evelyn’s lips are curled inward and she averts her eyes instantly.

“Aaro!” Annika warns her son. “Sorry, Finnigan. He is… umm… very straightforward.”

I turn back to face them but realize that none of the words I have for them are good. What the actual fuck are they doing here of all places? Then I see Carter stand to their left—he brought them here. Is this why he called the meeting?

My fists clench repeatedly, pushing back a need to drive them into something, anything, until it crumbles beneath them. My temples pulse violently, and my lungs sting at the brink of heaving. I can’t fucking do this, not with them here.

“Annika…” It’s not a greeting, but a request, and she catches onto it right away.

“Aaro, didn’t you say you needed the bathroom?”

“I’ll take you there.” Mamaw June passes by me and ushers them out of earshot.

I turn to Evelyn who’s firmly planted in place, but I really need her to get out of here. As far away as fucking possible, because I can tell by that look in her eyes that she knows she’s getting an insight into me. And she’s staying for it. But this is not fucking happening. I’m barely containing these wretched emotions, but I force them down because I can’t give them the satisfaction. I refuse to let my brother see how he affects me, and I most certainly can’t let the purple-haired vixen any closer. She cannot know me any better. Not now. Not when she looks like she found sin and decided to douse herself in it, pulling me to the brink of deviancy.

Morrigan still sits next to me, watching this interaction, or lack thereof, with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity.

“You must be Morrigan,” my brother says, and when I hear his footsteps, my head whips to him.

He stops halfway between us, his gaze flashing to my angry one, and the redhead jumps off the stool to go greet him, reading the room.

“I am, yes. Hi…”

“Ronan. I’m Finnigan’s older brother.”

I scoff. Yes, technically it’s true, but blood is the only thing tying us together. That doesn’t make him a brother, just a fucking sibling.

“Yes, I’ve heard. Welcome back,” Morrigan greets him.

“Thanks. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to introduce you to my wife, Annika and our son.”

“It’s okay.” She takes a look around the room then meets my brother’s eyes once more. “I think I’ll go find them and introduce myself.”

He nods and Morrigan moves past him.

“Evelyn, how about you introduce yourself too,” I say, turning my head slightly in her direction, my gaze still pinned on my brother.

I don’t hear any movement or agreement and when I finally meet her eyes, I swear the silver in them turned to steel, like she’s forging a dagger she’s about to stab me with. She holds my stare with such intensity, it weighs down in the pit of my stomach. There’s a challenge in there I crave to unpack, but shouldn’t.

“Hi, Ronan,” she says at the same time she breaks my gaze and turns to my brother. “I’m Evelyn. Excuse me, I’m gonna go check on my sister.”

She whirls around and walks out the patio shutting the door behind her before my brother can reply. The annoyance in her step is unmissable, though.

“So, she’s—”

“Morrigan’s friend,” I interrupt Ronan before he dares to insinuate anything.

He doesn’t respond to that, but his cocked eyebrow spells too many words I want to shove down his throat.

“Why did you bring them here?” I ask the burning question lingering like ash in the air.

Only, I direct it at Carter, not my brother. He cocks his head and waits a few seconds before he finally decides he’s replying.

“There was no other way. Something changed, and it was with Ronan’s help that I uncovered it all.”

“Excuse me? Are you telling me that you’re involving him in our business? He’s an outsider!” I snap, dropping to my feet off the chair.

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