Page 89 of The Pretty Psycho

The hand that held the knife pressed it against Adrian's throat now, and instead of stopping me and overpowering me as I knew he could, he let me do it. He let me cut him, and only once I saw the blood dripping down his throat did I look up, finally realizing what I had done.

"Oh my God," I breathed out, dropping the knife and pressing my hands against the cut on his throat. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," I cried out. "I don't know what?—"

"Hey, hey." He wrapped his hands around my wrists, holding me in place. "It's okay. You're okay."

The darkness in his eyes didn't scare me. It felt like home, like sunshine after a decade of rain, and without waiting, I jumped up, straight into his arms, wrapping my legs around his middle and burying my face in the crook of his neck. His hands went underneath my butt, murmuring to soothe me, letting me exorcize all the demons sitting on my soul.

For the first time in my life, I wept for the little girl who was left behind by the person she thought of as family.

I wept for the loss of my innocence and all those years where I let them control me, use me, and worst of all, abuse me because I didn't know better.

I fucking cried from the fear still coursing through my veins, because for a moment there I thought I had lost him. I thought Dain had killed him.

His “I love you" felt like a goodbye, and I wasn't ready to say goodbye to this man.

"I'm here. I'm okay. You are okay too."

"It's over," I whimpered. "It's finally over."

"Yeah, well," he slowly pushed back, letting me look at him, "it’s almost over. Yolanda is still standing there, baby, and she looks… Well, she looks terrified."

Fuck.

I completely forgot about Yolanda. As a matter of fact, I completely forgot about everything.

We were still under attack. We still had no idea where the rest of the teams were. We were supposed to check in with Gabriela and Ethan but I had no idea what time it was and if they were even still alive. Why weren’t they here already? I would’ve thought the gunshots would have alerted them of our whereabouts.

I had no fucking idea which people we could truly trust and if any of those in Gabriela and Ethan's groups were actually on our side.

I slowly slid down his body, turning around, only to see a pale Yolanda, still holding that gun in her hand. She kept staring at Dain's mangled body, and she was still trembling from head to toe.

I didn't want to spook her, but I had to understand what happened. Where the fuck did she learn how to shoot? I thought she had no idea how to defend herself, how to handle guns. What was I missing?

"Yolanda?" I called out, approaching her slowly as if I was confronting a wild animal. "Put the gun down, Yo," I almost whispered, trying to keep my voice calm. It was only then that I saw the blood coating her front, her white shirt almost entirely red. Her face had streaks of crimson, as did her hair, but I couldn't see if she was hurt or if it was somebody else's blood. "Yo, what the hell happened to you?"

She suddenly looked up at me, her blue eyes filled with tears.

"Babe," I said. "Put the gun down." She looked at the weapon in her hand and as if it only had registered then, she dropped it to the ground with a cry, taking a step back quickly.

Adrian swooped in, taking the gun from the ground and switching on the safety. I rushed toward her, placing my hands to her shoulders. "What happened, Yolanda? Talk to me." She started mumbling incoherently, barely making any sense. "Please, Yo. Tell me what happened."

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, before looking at me again.

"It was all my fault," she murmured, when the floodgates opened, her entire body shaking. "He's dead!" she wailed.

"Dain?" I asked, more confused than ever. "Yes, he?—"

"No," she shook her head. "Jax." Her blue eyes connected with mine. "Jax is dead."

29

ADRIAN

The moment Yolandaspoke those words and told us Jax’s location, I ran.

I fucking ran like my life depended on it, because I didn't want to believe that one of my best friends was no longer here with us.

Admin building, she'd said, and I didn't stick around to hear more. There was only one thought in my head and that was to find my best friend and to make sure he was alive. She was wrong. She must be fucking wrong.

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