Page 62 of Depraved

“And his name is Brandon,” I remind him coolly. “I don’t like these aliases, Logan.”

His jaw drops for a moment, then he glares at Brandon. “What the fuck? You told her my real name?”

“I’m not keeping any secrets from Karolina anymore.”

“That wasn’t your secret to tell.”

I wave away the argument before it can truly start. “Who is Costa? Is that the man who threatened me at Brownie Bakehouse?”

“Yes,” Brandon replies. “Sorry, Ghost,” he offers his friend a brief apology. “Did you find anything else?”

Logan’s jaw clenches. He’s still pissed off.

“More might be coming. I found messages between Costa and Ivanov. You were right: they were working together. Others might’ve known about it. You’re in deep shit.”

My blood goes cold. How many of Brandon’s enemies are targeting us? I know he’s strong and ruthless when it comes to protecting me, but even he has his limits.

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” I say, my hand tightening around his with a burst of anxiety.

“No one will hurt me,” he reassures me. “I won’t let them. I have you to come back to. Nothing will separate us again.”

“Who is Ivanov?” I remember how the man who threatened me with the knife spoke in Russian. “My stalker?”

Logan snorts. “Ivanov was an enforcer for the Bratva in Moscow. Your stalker is holding your hand right now.”

Brandon’s face turns thunderous.

My stomach drops. “What’s he talking about?”

“I thought you weren’t keeping secrets anymore,” Logan says pointedly. “Didn’t you tell her about how you’ve been obsessing over her for years?”

“You know I’m obsessed with you,” Brandon says to me. “I already told you how Ghost helped me track you down at UNC.”

But there’s more to it than that. I can read the fear in his eyes.

The terrible truth clicks into place. “You’re my stalker.”

He shakes his head. “It’s not like that.”

I try to yank my hand free from his, but he holds me fast.

“That sick note that Ivanov left me was so different from the possessive texts from my stalker. Ivanov tried to kill me twice. The person who sent those messages would never have hurt me. He thought I belonged to him.”

Oh, god.

Brandon has said we belong together. He’s been fixated on me since we were teenagers.

I wanted to be his, but I never wanted this.

“You manipulated me,” I accuse. “You pretended to be my professor. You took me into your office and promised to protect me, but you were my stalker all along.”

Ice encases my heart at the next realization. “You killed Rich.”

Brandon’s eyes flash. “And I would do it again. He tried to force himself on you.”

Rich flirted with me a little in public, but he tried to steal that sloppy kiss in the privacy of my kitchen.

“How could you possibly know about that?” My brain can’t quite accept what’s happening. It’s too horrific. “No one else was in my flat when that happened.”