The Pretty Psycho (St. Vasili’s Academy #2)

32. Adrian

32

ADRIAN

Life was nothing more but a series of circumstances and opportunities that were granted to us, based on the place of our birth, our skin color, our heritage, our looks, and the depth of our pockets. For every man and woman who would ever say that money meant nothing, I would like to ask them to live one day without the money they had.

I bet they would change their tune just how I did.

I was privileged enough to live life with so much money that I had no idea what to do with it. I was a spoiled brat, an asshole who couldn't see further than his own nose—until it all got taken away from me. Until my father—although calling him a father was a stretch—decided to take it all away, forcing me into servitude. He made it seem like this was my punishment, but in reality, he raised me to be a little shit.

He raised me to be spoiled, to think that the world revolved around me. To think that every single man and woman out there existed solely to serve me and that nothing I did would ever be considered as bad, because how could it? I was Adrian Zylla, for crying out loud. I could do no wrong.

My father manipulated me just how he manipulated my brother, whose body now lay rotting on the grounds of St. Vasili's Academy, knowing that by giving us everything only to take it all away, he'd be able to control us. He also knew how much I craved my brother's attention. How much I wanted to be just like him, and when he took him away, he pushed me into a dark abyss of self-loathing and despair because I thought I had destroyed him.

I thought I was the only villain, the only monster in this story, until I went to St. Vasili's Academy. Until I realized what a fool I was. And maybe The Brotherhood started as my own version of a fuck-you to my father, but it evolved into so much more. I had no idea at the time that by creating it I would create the family I always wanted to have.

I had no idea that The Brotherhood would be the reason why I finally found the love I would die for. The woman I would kill for, and as we walked down the dark hallways toward the room where my father supposedly hid, following Aydin, I couldn't stop myself from looking at Vega from the corner of my eye.

Her eyes were narrowed at Aydin's back and I understood that look more than she knew. It was the same look she gave me when we first met, because she couldn't figure me out. She couldn't see if I was being truthful or not. Her lower lip was plumper than the top one and looking at her from this angle gave me an opportunity to see her in a different way.

Her dark hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, and even though she kept grumbling about the length of it, I loved the fact that her hair was reaching her waist now, making it so much easier for me to pull. My hands twitched at the mere thought, but now wasn't the time or place to get lost in her.

My eyes landed on the new tattoo she got just a couple of weeks ago, hidden behind her left ear, and I couldn't help myself this time. My arm lifted of its own volition, wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her closer to me. My lips landed on top of her head as I recalled the moment I saw the anagram she had tattooed while I was too busy trying to wrangle all the soldiers that had come to the Academy.

A Gnar Veida . I remembered how her eyes sparkled once she finally revealed it.

"It's our names, silly," she chuckled, letting me explore and touch the area around the tattoo. "It's us together, but through an anagram."

We already told each other those three little words and I already knew that she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, but I was still filled with insecurities up until that point because I had no idea if she wanted the same. But that tattoo… That tattoo was better than if she had proposed to me.

This tattoo was the proof I needed.

Vega wrapped her arm around my waist, squeezing me lightly. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking up at me, while a million more questions raced through those eyes. "You don't have to do this, you know? We can turn around and leave. We can disappear."

I smiled down at her, loving how protective she was of me—not just over my physical well-being, but my mental health too. Sometimes it felt as if my heart would burst from the amount of love I kept inside, reserved only for her, especially on days like these where she stood by my side, letting me do what was needed, even though it killed her to see me putting myself in danger.

"I'm good, Bambi. I'm more than good, trust me." Her lashes fluttered before she nodded her head once, letting me lead us after Aydin.

The man didn't talk much, but from the brief I got, I knew he was more than capable of handling himself and the team, and even though he worked for my father until today, I somewhat hoped he would end up working with us instead. The belly of the underworld for the criminal enterprises was quiet for now, letting us play and fight between each other, but we all knew that they wouldn't stay silent for long.

We were the new generation threatening to take over what they once thought belonged to them, and the only reason the other ones hadn’t attacked yet was because they wanted us to kill each other. They wanted me to take out my father with the hope that he would somehow kill me as well.

The Zylla Empire held more territories and more companies that were the front for our real dealings than most of the other families. Arseniy, Jax and Dante all came from different families, and while Arseniy had managed to remove his father from the equation, Jax, and Dante still waited for their turn, hoping it would come soon. Ethan, on another hand, had a completely different type of problem, but the more I tried talking to him about it, the more he locked down, refusing to utter a single word about his family.

He came from a long line of paid mercenaries, assassins for hire, and the moment he was strong enough to hold a rifle, his father got him one. He might have had a better relationship with his father than the rest of us, but that meant nothing when the demons his family passed on to him kept him awake at night.

"What the fuck?" Aydin whisper-hissed, stopping immediately.

Vega stepped away from me, crossing the short distance toward Aydin as I followed her, nerves wreaking havoc on my insides. I didn't like the tone of his voice. I didn't like the stench of fear in the air as I came closer, and most of all—I didn't like the tiny device attached to the wall we would've missed if it wasn't for the red light that started appearing the moment we came closer.

And I knew.

All three of us knew.

"Is that a—" Vega started.

"—bomb," Aydin finished for her, his eyes plastered to the device. "And not just any bomb."

"This one has a motion sensor, doesn't it?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer. We used the same type of bombs on my missions back in the day when I still worked for my father. Hell, I was the one setting them up more often than not, and I knew there was no way to deactivate them without the main remote.

The remote that was no doubt in my father's hands.

"Get everyone out of the building," I said, not looking at Aydin but at the bomb.

"Adrian?" I could feel Vega's eyes on my face, but I couldn't look at her right now. She was going to hate me for what I was about to do, but if things didn't go well, I wanted her to live, even if it meant living without me.

"Every single person, Aydin," I pointed out as I looked at him. I didn't need to explain it to him. I didn't need to point at Vega to describe what I meant.

She had to go.

"He's behind that door down the hall." Aydin pointed at the metal door not too far from us. "It’s unlocked."

"Good. You'll have ten minutes to get every single person out."

"I know."

Vega kept looking between the two of us, her head going back and forth as we talked, and I just hoped she wouldn't hate me for what I was about to do. But these bombs started ticking the moment the motion sensor got activated, and I had no idea if this was the only bomb or if my psychopath of a father had planted more of them.

I turned toward Vega just as Aydin walked slowly behind her.

"I love you, Bambi."

"Adrian?"

"I love you more than anything in this entire world." She started shaking her head, slowly realizing what was happening. "I need you to be a good girl for me. I need you to be my strong girl, Vega."

"No," she mumbled, her voice trembling with fear. "Don't."

"Remember how much I love you," I said as I took a step back, trying to ignore the slicing pain in my chest at the sight of the fear in her eyes. "I'll always love you."

"Adrian, no." She stepped toward me when Aydin wrapped one of his arms around her throat and the other around her waist. "No!" she screamed, her eyes pleading with me, but she couldn't stay here. She didn't need to die for this. "Don't do this!" She choked against his hold, thrashing, trying to get free, but for all her strength, Vega was physically weaker than Aydin. She was also shorter, which was why I knew he'd be able to take her away. "You fucking fuckface!" she screeched, but Aydin was already pulling her out.

Away from me.

Away from this makeshift tomb my father was creating.

"Adrian! Goddammit. Goddammit, Adrian!" I closed my eyes as Aydin managed to pull back all the way to the entrance to this little hallway, disappearing with her. Vega's voice echoed throughout the space, slowly killing me with the anguish in every word, but this had to be done.

She was going to hate me. She was going to kill me herself if I managed to survive this, but I needed her safe if I was going to meet my father and deal with this insanity he had created.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, and turned toward the door Aydin pointed at.

It’d been months since I last saw my father, and as I closed the distance between me and the door, I couldn't help but feel anxious over this meeting. The last time I saw him it was clear he wasn't well. It was clear he was spiraling down the road of madness, but I didn't pay attention to it. I didn't want to, because his well-being wasn't my concern.

Even the anxiety now had nothing to do with my need for him to be well, but the fact that I wanted to survive this. I had so much to live for, so many things I wanted to do, and if he was insane enough to place all of these bombs around the place, with no obvious exit, then it was clear to me that things weren't going as well for him as he had hoped for.

He always danced on the line between madness and sanity, but for a young kid like me, he was the hero. He was my hero for so long that I missed the signs pointing at him being the villain. It wasn't until my mother died that I realized I had worshiped the wrong one all that time.

But it was too late by then.

He already had his claws inside my chest.

I pushed the door open, letting the sound of it echo around me, and as I stepped inside the room, I didn't expect to see Gerard Zylla standing in the middle of it, waiting for me with the smile on his face.

"Adrian," he all but breathed out, almost relieved to see me. "You're here. You're finally here."

Dark circles marred his face, making his obsidian eyes so much more sinister. So much more insane, and I tried remembering if I had ever seen him like this. He was never a massive man, but just like me, he always had enough muscles on his body. He took care of his health, but the man staring at me looked nothing like the father I used to know.

His hair was in disarray, missing chunks of it on the side, as if he kept pulling at it until the pieces started falling out. His cheeks were hollow, leading to chapped lips so dry it looked like they were about to break and bleed as he smiled at me. His physical appearance was enough to make him seem insane, but the bombs he had strapped to his chest were the pinnacle of his psychosis.

"You're finally here. Yes," he murmured, talking to himself. "Finally with me. With me, my son. You're here, with me." The door clicked shut behind me, and as I turned around to look at it I realized there was no getting out from here. The only other door was on the other side, right behind my father, and something told me I wouldn't be leaving until he wanted me to.

"I'm here," I said instead, keeping my voice even.

"Yes, yes." He chuckled, taking a couple of steps toward me. "Finally here. Finally home. You're home." His entire body trembled, and I had no idea if it was the excitement at seeing me or something else. "I knew you would come. I told your brother you'd be here, but he said you were angry with us. I said, 'Nope. No, no, no, your baby brother will be here, Dain. He always comes when I call. He always, always comes.' And there you were." He pointed at the four screens mounted to the wall to his right. "You were at the entrance. But you were with that girl," he spat out, as if the mere mention of Vega bothered him. "But it doesn't matter. She's not here now. She's not, no. Only us." He looked at me again. "Only our family."

"What family?" I asked. "The one you've managed to destroy? The brother who almost killed me? The mother you killed?"

"No." He shook his head, chewing on his thumb. "That's not… No. Our family is here. Look." He pointed at the sofa pushed against the wall to my left. "They're there. Your mom, your brother." He kept on smiling. "We're all here."

"They're not here, Father." But my words fell on deaf ears. He… He was completely mental. Completely off the rails, and for a second I regretted coming here, wasting my time, because it was obvious this man wanted to get destroyed.

His mind was working against him, and the way he kept on mumbling, the way he kept on talking to Dain and my mom, it made it obvious how far gone he truly was.

This man didn't need me to destroy him, he had already destroyed himself. All I needed to do was wait for his end.

"What are you doing with those bombs, Dad?" I asked, trying a different approach.

I didn't want to end up like him. I didn't want to die here.

There was a girl out there—an angry one—my girl, and I wanted to spend many more years waking up in her arms. I wanted the entire world to know that this empire belonged to me and not to the unstable man in front of me.

"Bombs?" he asked as he looked down at his chest. "Oh." That lunatic smile took over his face again, before he looked up at me. "I'm taking us both home, Adrian. I'm taking us home, my boy. We're finally going to be together. Fully together."

"What do you mean?" I didn't move from my spot. I couldn't fucking move. "Dad?"

"Your mother is waiting, boy. She's waiting, yes. Dain is also waiting. I'll finally have my kids in one place. We will finally be together. Forever and ever, Adrian. Forever and ever." He kept mumbling, petting the bombs strapped to him. "I just had to make sure you were here first. But you're here. Everything will be okay. Everything." He moved away from the sofa where, in his mind, my mother and my brother sat, waiting for us. "You're my good boy. My best boy. I love you so much, my son."

He moved to touch me, but I couldn't bear it. I didn't want his touch, even if it came under these circumstances. Even if it came because the weight of his regrets and his past deeds destroyed what little mind he had left. I didn't want anything from him.

Not his apologies.

Not his hugs.

He had a chance to be a father and he fucked it all up.

He had a chance to make things better, but he instead made it all worse. He chose to attack us when we least expected it, cementing my decision.

I stepped away from him, putting much-needed distance between us. "For how many minutes have you scheduled the bombs, Father?"

"I-I don't?—"

"Think!" I barked. "How many minutes?"

"T-Twenty," he stammered as if he was trying to remember. "I think. Yes, yes." He grinned. "For twenty minutes."

Twenty minutes. I had maybe five more minutes to figure out a way out of here. Just five fucking minutes.

My God, I should've left him. I should've left with Vega and Aydin, but something was pulling me here. Something told me I needed this, to see him, to destroy him. My own ego fucked me over, because I wanted to be the one to kill him. I wanted to be the one that would see the light going out of his eyes.

And for what? For some petty revenge that wouldn't give me absolution. A revenge that couldn't bring back my mother or my childhood. So instead of fighting with him, instead of aggravating him further, I said the last words I ever thought I would say to him.

"I forgive you, Father," I said, looking straight at him. "I forgive you for being incapable of love when I needed it the most and I forgive you for taking almost everything I ever loved away from me." I came closer, pulling him into my arms. He was tiny compared to me, fragile, and I knew that this was the end. I had no idea what to do with the war raging inside of me, where my anger and my sadness went against each other.

I spent so much time being angry at this man that I forgot that once upon a time I used to love him. Once upon a time he was my best friend. Once upon a time I couldn't wait to get home from school just to show him everything I’d done, or to tell him about the things that had happened.

Once upon a time I looked up to him, asking him for advice, because he was my father. He was my dad, and it took me a long time to realize that he wasn't the saint I painted him to be. I think the worst part was the anger that consumed me, because it once used to be love I had for him, and there was nothing worse, nothing more painful, but a child's love turning into anger, eating you from the inside out.

"I forgive you for showing me way too early what monsters are made of, and I forgive you for wanting to control me more than you wanted to love me. I forgive you, Dad." I squeezed him tight even when he tried pulling back. I squeezed him even as the tears ran down my cheeks, allowing me to release everything I held for so many years. "I'll always be thankful for the things you taught me, even when you maybe didn't want to. Even when you taught them through pain and suffering, because they made me the man I am today."

"Adrian," he mumbled. "I-I…"

"But I'm not going to die for you. I'm not going to die for this family, Dad. I'm not going to destroy myself just to appease you. So, please," I took a deep breath. "Please let me go. Please let me get out."

"No." He shook his head.

"Please."

"No!" my father bellowed, pushing me away as he stumbled backward. "You belong with us! With your family. Your mother?—"

"My mother is dead!" I yelled out. "You killed her. You squeezed her neck right in front of my eyes."

"No, no, no." He kept shaking his head, moving backward.

"You created a monster when you pushed Dain out, and I had no idea what you did to him after that, but whatever it was had pushed him into a state of insanity."

"You're lying."

"I'm not, and you know it. And instead of letting me go, instead of letting me live my life, you're trying to kill me as well."

"I'm saving you!" he roared. "This world is filthy. It's scary. It's?—"

"It's the world you created, Father. The rest of us are just figuring out how to play in it." He opened his mouth to say something, when the unmistakable sound of the door opening behind me tore through the room. "Wha?—"

The door opened fully, revealing my angel. My little savior, whose brows were pulled into a frown and those eyes blazed with so much anger directed at me, that it took me a second to see the rifle in her arms.

"Vega?"

"Stop fucking talking," she bit out, focusing on my father. "Move it, Adrian."

"What?"

"Move your ass, babe. I love you, but right now I want to kill you. So move your fucking ass out of this room. Right. Fucking. Now!"

I took a step toward her, but I should've known my father wouldn't like it.

"No!" he screeched, running toward us. "You can't take him. He's mine. He's my son. We're supposed to be together. We're supposed to—" The sound of the two gunshots reverberated through the air with the sound of a body falling to the ground seconds after them. My father screamed in pain, and as I turned around, I saw the wounds on his thighs, bleeding as he knelt on the floor.

"Listen, old man." Vega stepped inside, holding the door open. "I've had a couple of fucked-up months. Like," she chuckled darkly, "really, really fucked up. So that whole 'look at me, I'm insane' game, doesn't really do anything for me. As a matter of fact, if you'd really like to see insane, I can play that game as well, but let me make one thing clear." Her eyes filled with so much hatred toward him. "Adrian does not belong to you, you psycho. Do you know why?" She laughed. "Because he belongs to me, and there's only enough space for one unstable person in his life. I'm sorry to say that the spot has already been filled by me. So if you don't mind." She looked at me this time. "Move your motherfucking ass, because we have less than five minutes to get the fuck out of here."

"No!" my father yelled out. "You can't. You cannot take him. You can't—" But his pleas fell on deaf ears, and before I could change my mind and try to save him, Vega was pulling me out of the room, letting the door close behind us.

She didn't speak, didn't say a single fucking thing, as she started running, pulling me with her, leading us toward the exit. But we weren't fast enough.

We were almost there, almost completely out, but just as we stepped through the exit door, everything went to shit.

The sound of an explosion coming from an area where my father was had me wrapping my arms around Vega, and as the blast hit my back, I made sure to protect her even if it killed me.

We tumbled down the remaining stairs, with me behind her, and her trying to push me back, to protect me, but there was no use. We were on the ground within seconds, my body still covering hers and both of us breathing heavily.

My ears rang from the aftershock. My back throbbed, and I could already feel my arms bleeding from where I wrapped them around her. The gravel underneath us definitely didn't do anything to soften our fall.

I pulled back to look down at her, only to see her frantic eyes dragging over my face and her mouth moving, but I couldn't hear shit.

"I'm okay," I said. Or at least I think I said that, but my head was getting split in two and my body felt like it went through ten rounds with an MMA fighter. "Everything is okay."

Sweat dripped into my eyes, but her horrified expression told me it wasn't sweat.

"I'm bleeding, aren't I?" I asked, still looking down at her. She nodded quickly, trying to extricate herself from me, but I wasn't having it.

The buzzing in my ears slowly subsided, just in time for me to hear her voice.

"You're bleeding. For fuck's sake, Adrian. Get off of me. I need to get you medical help."

Voices boomed around us, people panicking, some shouting, some giving out orders, but I just wanted to stay here.

"Adrian!"

"Goddammit, Vega," I groaned. "There's no need to yell."

"You can hear me?" She smiled.

"A little too well," I mumbled, closing my eyes. "Use your inner voice."

"My inner voice says you're bleeding, you big oaf," she admonished. "You need to move. I need to look at your wounds."

"I'm fine," I grumbled, moving slowly off of her, but she was right. I was definitely bleeding, and I was definitely hurt, but I didn't want her to worry. "You saved me." I grinned, knowing I probably looked like shit.

"Again," she said, pushing herself up. "I saved your ass again, even after you made me so angry." She smacked me on the shoulder, making me yell out.

"What was that for?" I exclaimed.

"For being a fucking idiot," Vega answered.

I was. There was no doubt about that, but as we sat here with all this pandemonium around us, I didn't want to waste another second.

Pulling her onto my lap, it was her turn to grumble, but before she could say anything, my lips claimed hers, swallowing the moan threatening to slip out as my hand wrapped around the back of her throat.

"I love you, Bambi."

"I know," she said grumpily, eyeing me with that lingering anger.

"Say you love me back." I chuckled.

"No."

"Bambi." I pouted. "Say it," I urged her as my lips descended on her cheek, then her throat, then her chin. "Say you love me." I kept my mini assault, until she turned putty in my arms, wrapping her own around my neck.

"I love you," she finally said. "I'll always love you." She kissed me quickly before she moved back, frowning at me. "But if you ever do something like this again, I'm going to kill you myself."

She would. I knew she would, but there was no need for something like this ever again, because I was free.

Free of my father.

Free of his expectations.

Now was the time to build the life I wanted to have with her. Now was the time for our future.