Page 56 of The Pretty Psycho

"What?" I asked, quickly standing up. "What are you talking about?"

"Dain is Tyler, Adrian," she said, gritting her teeth as tears fell down and down and down, until I could no longer stand being this far from her. I pulled a chair closer to hers, taking thephoto from her and dropping it to the table. "Dain is the one that raped me, Adrian. Your brother."

I’d been in a car accident once and I never forgot the sound of the brakes screeching in the darkness of the night. The same sound shot through my ears right now, finally hearing what she was saying.

My brother… My brother pretended to be Tyler.

My brother who I thought was missing was the one who pretended to be her friend, only to hurt her like this years later.

"What the fuck?" I breathed out, pulling her to me. "It can't be."

"I'm sure of it," she bit out, her anger resurfacing. "He's the motherfucker who pretended to be my friend. He came to The Schatten before my first mission. I don't know, I think I was maybe twelve." Which also coincided with the time Dain had disappeared.

All this fucking time I blamed myself for what happened to him, but he never went missing. He was buying himself time to destroy me.

That motherfucking son of a bitch.

18

VEGA

Adrian kept lookingat me and constantly asking if I wanted water, tea, juice, coffee, or something to eat, all the while pacing the length of the cabin while we waited for Jax, Dante, Arseniy, and Dimitri to arrive.

I was in shock. I think? Or maybe not shock but something close to it, because I could not believe my own eyes.

The moment I saw that photo, the oxygen intake cut off and my emotions started bouncing between complete sadness and anger I could no longer control.

His brother pretended to be one of the lost kids that had nowhere else to go, befriending me, making me believe in a fucking fairy tale, letting me think that I had someone in my corner. And for what? Only to use me years later. Only to destroy every last piece of innocence I clung to.

I had no idea what made me angrier—the fact that someone I loved turned into someone I hated, or the fact that Dain was the first connection I ever had with Adrian.

"I want him dead," I deadpanned, making Adrian stop his pacing.

My eyes found his, seeing the same anger living and breathing inside my veins.

"I want him to suffer worse than I had suffered. I want him to choke for air as my blade cuts through his motherfucking throat, while I laugh on top of him, making him feel smaller than he ever felt." I wanted him to taste just an ounce of what I went through. "But before that, I want to fuck him with a massive dildo, without any lube, until he passes out, until I rip him from the inside out."

Adrian swallowed heavily, simply nodding as I continued talking.

"He does not deserve to exist in this world and I'll make damn sure he never touches another woman ever fucking again."

"And we will find him, Bambi. You'll get your revenge."

"And you won't stop me?" I asked, because I had to know. If he was going to stop me, I needed to leave. Now.

"Why would I stop you?" He frowned, coming closer to me.

"Because he's still your brother," I said. "And because you've spent so much time blaming yourself for his disappearance."

He kept quiet until he sat down on the chair next to mine, pulling me along with my chair to him. "Vega," he mumbled. "He stopped being my brother the moment I realized what a monster he was. He doesn't matter. You do. If I have to chase him to the ends of the earth just to bring him to you so that you would get the revenge you needed, then I would do it. But don't you ever think that I would choose him over you. That's not happening."

"Okay," I whispered. "I just want you to know that I won't stop until he pays for what he did to me. Hell," I laughed brokenly, "I wouldn't be surprised if he had done the same to other women as well." I was so fucking pissed. My rage was a living, breathing thing, spreading through my body. "I fucking mourned him, you know?" I looked up at Adrian, hating the worry in his eyes, because I had a feeling that he worried I would flee again. "I mourned him because he was the only friend I used to have. I've spent years begging them to send me to theAcademy just so I could find out what happened to him. And now this," I spat out. "My heart is completely shattered, Adrian, and I would never be able to forgive him for what he did to me. Not just now but all those years ago when he made me believe in all his lies."

"I know," he said, rubbing my knee. "I can't forgive him for lying, but what I'm feeling about him is nothing compared to the pain he put you through."

He was putting my needs before his, and I didn't want that. Dain was still his brother and learning that all this time, he was out there, living his life and plotting against Adrian must hurt.

"You know." I lowered my voice. "You have the right to mourn him and to be angry as well as sad. You're not a bad person for wishing things turned out differently, Adrian."

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