Page 39 of The Pretty Psycho

I dragged my hand over my face, hating this. I didn't want to leave her, not just yet, but duty called, and if I wanted us to move past all of this I needed to get to work. But Yolanda should be coming soon, and I was glad that Vega at least wouldn’t be all alone.

My father was probably already assembling his people, planning an attack, and since we didn't leave this place I knew it was bound to happen any day now. The members of The Brotherhood were flying in today and it gave me a moment of peace to know that we would have our people here. We'd be able to put them on guard at the front gates and we would be able to train the newest members as needed.

Every member of The Brotherhood had their own lives and their own organizations, but when the bell rang, or as Jax lovedto joke, when the Bat signal called, they would have to answer. We were strong individually, but we were unstoppable together, which was why I came up with this idea in the first place. Well, that and the fact that I wanted to throw out the old masters and set the new generation up for a better life.

I was done trying to appease men and women who had no idea how to lead anyone, least of all organizations who could make or break this world. Jax, Dante, Arseniy, and Ethan felt the same.

I scrolled through the messages, my eyes catching on one in particular.

"Speak of the Devil," I whispered, seeing Ethan's message on the screen.

"ETA, two days. Have a job to finish." I grinned from ear to ear, knowing that we would be at full force with him here.

We all met at the Academy, each of us carrying the burden of our parents. Sometimes it felt like the rest of us had it easy compared to Ethan. His family only consisted of him and his two uncles, who were professional hit men back in the day, hired by most of our families to deal with their dirty laundry. Ethan never wanted this life, but he had no choice just like the rest of us.

"Adrian?" Vega mumbled next to me, her brilliant eyes searching mine. "What time is it?" she asked with a yawn, pressing herself against my side.

"Eight," I answered, draping an arm over her. She practically climbed on top of me, pressing her cheek to my chest and wrapping her arm around my middle. God, I could die a happy man now. Right here, right now.

"Too early," she grumbled. "Sleep."

"I can't." I chuckled. "I need to go and meet Jax, Dante, and Arseniy. We need to come up with a plan."

"No." She pouted. "Plan later."

"I wish I could." God, I really, really wished I could, but I had to go. "Go back to sleep." I pressed a kiss to her hair, slowly sliding her off me. "I'm gonna come back in a couple of hours to pick you up. Just rest and let me know if you need something." The only reason I was even remotely okay with leaving her here, out of my sight, was because the grounds were covered with our people, our guards. The entrances and exits were sealed and there was no way for anyone to get in or to go out without us knowing.

Her eyes blinked open, that cute wrinkle etched between her dark eyebrows. "Don't look at me like that, Bambi," I grunted. "I will be back later."

"Good," she smiled brightly. "You can be my slave and Jax, Dante, and Arseniy can deal with the rest." But they couldn't. We both knew they couldn't.

"Go back to sleep," I said, slowly getting out of the bed. "I'll be back soon. Fridge is full, Yolanda took care of that while we were at the hospital. I'll send her here as soon as I see her. Does that sound good?" She nodded, her eyes already closed.

My heart felt as if it was growing in size, expanding, making more room for her and all these things she made me feel. I had no idea if this was love or something else, but whatever you called it, I yearned for it. And I wanted her to know everything.

I fucked this whole thing up by keeping things from her the first time around and I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

"We still need to talk, Bambi," I murmured as I bent down toward her.

One eye opened, glaring at me. "Do we need to do it now?" she asked, making me laugh.

"No, not right now. But later. I don't want to wait, and I don't think you do either. And, Vega," I leaned closer to her ear,"no running, baby. If you feel like running, I just want you to remember that I'll chase you to the ends of the earth."

"Is that a threat?" She smirked.

"Oh no." I bit down on her shoulder lightly, making her yelp. "It's a promise." She better not run.

I hated leaving her not just because only yesterday she was discharged from the hospital and she was still injured, but also because there were too many things up in the air between us, and until we cleared it all up, I didn't want to leave her side.

A few hours wouldn't kill me, but as I moved away from the bed and toward the bathroom, ready to get this shit over with, I already started counting the minutes until I'd be able to have her by my side again.

Jax,Dante, Arseniy, and Dimitri looked like shit, for lack of a better word. Jax kept in touch with me via messages throughout last night, letting me know they had made a command center in one of the old classrooms that was never used up on the second floor of the main building. But it was obvious by the look of all of them that they slept like shit.

"Well, don't you look like Little Miss fucking Sunshine," Jax grumbled, glaring at me.

"Nah," Dante said. "He looks like he slept, unlike the rest of us." His glare was all bark and no bite, which only caused me to laugh.

Arseniy had his eyes narrowed at me, Dimitri kept on yawning, while my other two friends kept bickering like an oldmarried couple, trying to one-up each another on who could fuck with my mood more.

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