Page 57 of The Pretty Psycho

"Fuck," he spat out, dragging his hand over his face. "I know. But I don't want to mourn him. I don't want to give him the satisfaction. I am angry, so fucking angry on your behalf, and I'm trying to rein it in because deep down I know that he stopped being my brother a long time ago."

Oh, Adrian.

I didn't want him to hide his feelings from me, just so I would be able to feel validated and strong. I wanted him to share it all, good and bad. If we were doing this, then we needed to be honest with each other.

"Adrian," I mumbled, placing my hand on his cheek. His dark, tortured eyes slammed into me, making me see that this maybe even hurt him more than it did me. "This is not a competition of whose feelings are more valid. You wanted me to let you in, well," I smiled, "this is me letting you in. Am I angry, yes. He did something unforgivable and I'm pretty sure I'm still not processing that shit properly, but your feelings are also valid. Your anger is rightful here and you don't have to hide it from me just so I could have enough space to share mine. My feelingscannot cancel out yours, and vice versa. You need to tell me how you're feeling, otherwise I won't be able to help." His lips were pulled into a thin line, and just as he opened his mouth to say something, he jumped up, dragging his hands through his hair.

"I'm just so angry," he mumbled with barely restrained fury. "This rage," he turned toward me, making me see his hand now on his chest. "It's here, coiled into a tight little ball, and I don't know how to let it go. I am," he stammered. "I am devastated. For you. For me. For anyone who has ever had to meet him. I am sorry, even though I know it's not my place to apologize, but I'm still sorry." His hand wrapped around the glass of water he had poured earlier, sipping slowly. "I am also terrified," he whispered, avoiding my eyes.

"Why are you terrified?"

"Because you know the truth now," he said, finally looking at me. "Because we now know it was my brother who did this to you and I'm terrified you will leave. And I don't know if I'd be able to stop you, Vega."

"Adrian," I said as I stood up, approaching him slowly. He was like a caged animal, pacing, trembling, filled with anger and pain, and I knew I had to thread carefully. "You are not your brother."

"But we share the same blood!" he roared, throwing the glass against the wall, shattering it into a hundred little pieces. I stood there in front of him, calm, understanding better than he could imagine what he was feeling right now. "I don't want you to wake up one day and realize that you shouldn't have stayed with me because I actually remind you of the man who raped you." He shuddered, turning his back to me. "I don't want to let you go, but if being with me after this revelation is too much, then please." He pointed toward the door. "I'm going to need you to leave while I'm not looking because I won't be able to stop myself from stopping you, Bambi. I won't be able to watch you leave."

Every single word was breaking my heart, making me so much angrier on his behalf, because his brother didn't just hurt me—he shattered Adrian.

I wasn't letting Tyler, Dain, whatever the fuck his name was, destroy us. Adrian fought for us, but it was time for me to start fighting as well.

I came up behind him and wrapped my arms around his middle, pressing my cheek between his shoulder blades.

"Please don't give me kindness if you're going to take it away, Vega." His voice was haunted, raspy, completely broken over what we found out, but I wasn't letting him push me away because he was scared I would do the same.

"I'm not going anywhere," I murmured, my voice muffled by his shirt. "I'm not leaving you. Not right now, not because he's your brother. I'm not letting him win, Adrian, and I'm expecting you to feel the same. I'm not letting him break us, okay?"

There used to be a time when I would run at the first obstacle coming my way, because emotions and these connections with people never came easily for me, and the more they tried to push through my defenses, the more I fought against it. But this was different.

I couldn't deny the connection the two of us had from that very first moment our eyes met on the train. I tried fighting it. I tried telling myself I could never trust a man who so blatantly disregarded the fact that he knew who I was. But I wasn't going to punish him for the sins of his brother, because punishing him would also be punishing me and I wasn't ready to let him go.

There were mountains we needed to cross in order to get to where we wanted to be, but this mountain, this hurdle, wasn't going to break us.

"Don't push me away, Adrian," I murmured, tightening my hold on him. "Don't punish us for what he did."

Another shuddering breath ran through him, shaking his entire body. His long fingers wrapped around my wrists, slowly untangling me from him, breaking my heart, because I was sure he was about to push me away. I was sure he was going to try and tell me what to do because he thought it was the best thing for me.

Alas, I should've known by now to expect the unexpected from this man.

His eyes landed on me as he turned around, filled with a fire I hadn't seen since before my attack days ago. Warm palms landed on the sides of my head, lifting me almost to my tiptoes as he lowered his head down, pressing his lips to mine.

I was powerless, completely at his mercy as he pushed, demanding access, his teeth softly biting on my lower lip as he devoured me. Seconds, minutes, hell, even hours could've passed and I wouldn't have moved, because this… This was what I needed right now.

Fear, desire, need, yearning, it was all wrapped in that one kiss, marking me forever as his.

My arms wrapped around his neck, and like a woman on the edge, I pressed myself against him, needing more than just one simple kiss. I needed him to erase the memories, the darkness, and to heal the scars on my soul.

"Adrian," I whimpered as his hand dragged over my back all the way to my ass, squeezing with a groan erupting from his mouth, driving me insane. "Please."

"What do you need, Bambi?" he asked, pressing his forehead to mine.

It hit me then, all at once, as we stood there, both of us breathing heavily, soaking in each other's warmth.

I trusted him. I trusted him more than I trusted myself sometimes, and while the mere thought should have scared me,it gave me the push I needed to reclaim my power. To defeat the demons Tyler had awakened. And I couldn't do it by myself.

Somewhere between hating him and wanting to run away from him, I started trusting this man, this enigma who kept surprising me over and over again. I fought it, I even made myself believe that I didn't trust him, that I wanted him far away from me, but those were all lies carefully concocted so that I could continue living in the shadows, far removed from anything that could hurt me.

Falling for someone like him could destroy me, but what a pretty destruction that would be.

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