Page 8 of Manacled Hearts

There’s an internal struggle happening, bleeding through her distant gaze. She’s tired. Still alert, but on the edge of disorientation.

No words leave her full, berry-colored lips, but she looks weary. Almost scared.

“It’s okay, Evelyn. He just came to check on you and Maya,” Katya says, breaking the silence.

“I’m sorry to wake you,” I say to her, forcing my voice to steady so I don’t make her more uncomfortable than she already is.

Only… I can’t break eye contact. I try, but the little voice in my head tells me she might never look me in the eye again if I do. For some reason, that bothers me.

“Did something happen?” Evelyn asks.

Christ, her voice is so soft. The tonality like cashmere, brushing dangerously pleasant against my ears. Her gaze is more focused—but luckily still fixed on me.

“Nothing happened. I wanted to see how yo—both of you are doing.” I think I forgot how words work.

She notices, and I swear she looks a shade brighter.

There’s no denying she just woke up. Her wheat-colored hair is messy and wrapped in a bun above her head. Stray strands fall around her delicate, slightly gaunt features. She looks sun-kissed with her medium-toned olive skin. It makes her eyes pop—golden sun-burst seeping into ash, followed by a thick, dark ring.

She is…

She’s quite something.

I shake the thought away before it has a chance to linger. This is far beyond dangerous territory. It doesn’t just touch on the forbidden, it’s smack bang in the middle of it.

“He brought me flowers!” Maya exclaims, pointing enthusiastically at the bouquet on the coffee table and pulling all of us out of this tension.

Her sister isn’t impressed. On the contrary—There’s suspicion in her eyes.

“We’re okay,” she adds. “Ekaterina has been good to us.

We’re the reason why Katya has been good to them, we arranged it all, and made sure they were taken care of and provided for.

But I say nothing to her.

“If you’re here to find out how long we’ll be staying, we will leave as soon as we are able to. I just need to—”

“I’m not here to make you leave,” I interrupt. “Stay as long as you want. We can find you a place of your own when you feel safer—”

“No. We’ll be fine. Thanks.” She cuts me off before I can continue.

Her gaze finds other interests, like the top of her sister’s head, or the floor. It flickers from her feet to me. Almost like she’s stealing looks.

A discomfort seems to settle in her.

Considering what she’s been through, I can’t blame her. Though, she hasn’t shared much about that. Only details about the kids, what she saw and heard, but nothing about herself. She brushed all those questions off like they were irrelevant. Maddox was the one who found her that night, and in the chaos of the rescue, I didn’t lay eyes on her. He said if she has anything to share, she will, but we won’t force it out of her.

“It’s no bother at all. We’re more than willing to help.”

“We don’t need any more help from people li—We’re fine.” Her tone is firmer, with an edge of disdain, and her eyes don’t meet mine anymore. I don’t fail to see the aversion in her expression, though.

Well, what the fuck was that?

To say I’m a little confused is an understatement. Seconds ago, she was watching me like a hawk. I could have sworn her cheeks even flushed.

I take a step around the kitchen island, and she tightens her hold around her sister as her eyes shoot to mine, but it’s for a few moments and she averts them again.

Those moments were enough to send all the wrong sensations through me.

---