Page 68 of Manacled Hearts

“Easy, brother.”

“You shut the fuck up! I told you if you leave, you’re out. You gave up the right to be my goddamn brother eight years ago.” My tone lowers, my voice vibrating through my chest.

Christ, I thought those memories were forgotten. Seeing him now, his sleek blonde hair a shade or two darker than mine, his deeper blues, and features that resemble mine so much, that night comes back to me like a goddamn truck slamming through my chest. That phone call in the car as we were rushing to save Annika and Hanna before they were taken, the moment we reached the empty island and witnessed the aftermath of their abduction, all these moments crash down on me like no time has passed at all. And the blood… so much blood. The anger finally breaks the surface too.

“I came because—”

“You made your goddamn choice!” my voice cracks to the precipice of shouting, interrupting him. “You decided to leave us. And you agreed that you can’t. Fucking. Come back. Now Carter tells me that he’s involving you in our business? Our motherfucking Sanctum? No. Either you leave or I do.”

The man only sighs, standing here in all his glory, his stance rigid and proud, but his eyes… his eyes are the ones threatening to break me. There’s pity, sadness, and regret all balled into one in there, and I fucking hate each one of those sentiments.

“Fine. I’ll go.”

But I only manage two steps.

“No.” Carter stops me. “We have work to do.”

“You don’t understand, Pierce. You’re different and I get it, but—”

“I don’t have to,” he interrupts. “This is important. Ronan is here for a reason. He’s—your family, too. I’m gonna go set up in the office. Follow me.” Carter whirls around and heads toward the room in question, leaving me all riled up.

“I’ll come with you,” my brother says, his tone wearier this time.

“I need air.” I turn and walk toward the terrace, and rush over the threshold, shutting the door behind me.

“Who exactly do you dare think you are?” There’s a chilling quality to her voice, her tone filled with an eerie calmness, but I can practically taste the anger beneath it.

“Excuse me?” I turn to face the purple-haired woman, realizing the grave mistake I made.

I knew she was out here. Why the hell didn’t I go literally anywhere else in this huge house?

“I must have done something wrong if I gave you the impression that you can boss me around as you see fit. And in front of other people, nonetheless. How dare you?” There it is again, that low, calm tone.

Somehow it fills me with even more frustration, fueling the unnatural anger my brother’s arrival instilled in me.

And the dam cracks.

“This is none of your business, goddamn it! All of this!” I wave my hands around. “This is not your world, and whatever the fuck just happened in there has nothing to do with you! You are not part of it!”

She all but sneers at me, her eyes darkening with the type of malice I never thought could mar her features.

“You have no idea what I’m part of. You’re not here to witness it. You haven’t been for a while. You made it very clear that I have no place in your life, not to mention the impression you have of me—”

“Impression? How would you know what I think of you?” I ask, seeping anger through the seams.

She wouldn’t talk to me like this if she knew exactly what I thought of her. If she knew how she filled my dreams. What nightmares she bred. If she found out how depraved my mind truly is. The things I want to do to her, force on her, take from her. And the things I’d beg her to do to me.

She wouldn’t talk to me like this if she truly knew my sickness.

“Because you told me.” She seethes, the only break in her calm tone of voice. “You thought you could pay me off to get me out of here. You thought I would take it, just like that. You think I’m some worthless homeless woman, who can be bought. Though, that’s not exactly what you were doing, was it? You were buying yourself distance—escape.”

She pauses, not for effect, but to give me a chance to intervene. Only, I’m stuck. Not stunned, but actually stuck on her words. Escape.

No. I was buying her escape from Queenscove. A chance to go back to where she was taken from, and I can’t believe she’s still pissy about that. Then again, it wasn’t quite the best idea on my part, and I knew the moment I left the apartment that day. I knew Vassallo and his men were still out there and even though we have no confirmation of this, he could be looking for her. Plus, she doesn’t have custody of Maya yet, so of course it was a bad fucking idea for me to tell her to go back to Fleeton.

But I couldn’t think straight. I never can when it comes to her.

“You’re a coward, Finnigan Hennessey. A coward. You can’t face what’s staring you right in the face. Because you fear it.”

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