“Did you not hear the part about my brother being alive?”

“Oh no, believe me, I heard. And honestly? I’m not surprised. Adrian was always a schemer. He made you believe one thing and then turned the tables on you when you were least expecting it.”

I raise my eyebrows, and Milana looks away pointedly. “You forget,” she murmurs. “I’ve known him a long time, too.”

“As I remember it, you were close with him at one point.”

Her voice goes soft. “He was different back then. Quiet. Shy. Very sweet,” she says. “He was your polar opposite.”

“You really know how to make a man feel loved.”

She smirks before her face clouds. “It was an act, though. It was all bullshit.”

“I know I’ve broached this subject before,” I say. “But since a solid chunk of time has passed, I’ll try again. What happened between the two of you?”

Milana shudders, so subtle that I barely notice it. “Nothing that matters.”

“You’ve always had an unusually low opinion of Adrian, before you had a reason to,” I point out. “Something happened between you two.”

She shrugs. “It was a long time ago. I was vulnerable. He tried to take advantage.”

My eyes narrow. “Did he—”

“Try to fuck me?” Milana finishes casually. “Don’t worry, he didn’t get anywhere close to it. I pushed him off me, slapped him across the face, and told him that if he ever tried to kiss me again, I’d cut his tongue right out.”

I stiffen instantly, my hands tight on the edge of my desk. “Why didn’t you ever tell me this before?”

She shrugs nonchalantly, but that’s how she treats everything. I know better than to believe her by now. “At first, it was because he was your brother, and you cared about him. I didn’t want to drive a wedge between the two of you. Afterward, when you stopped getting along, it seemed like the statute of limitations had run out. And anyway…”

I frown. “What?”

She sighs and finally turns her gaze up to me. “I guess I was scared you’d take his side. He kissed me. It wasn’t a capital offense.”

“Then why did you get so upset about it?”

“Because he wasn’t kissing me just to kiss me. If it had been that… well, hell, maybe I would’ve even let him. But he tried to kiss me, and when he did, he looked at me the way… the way all those other men used to look at me. Like I wasn’t human. Just an object put on earth for their pleasure. A cheap whore, nothing more.”

My skin is hot with anger. As if I needed another reason to want to rip my brother’s throat out. “I wish you’d told me.”

“No need. I handled it.” She gives me a reassuring smile. “Anyway, my story isn’t the point. Adrian is.”

I grimace and fall back in my seat, suddenly exhausted beyond measure. “I really believed he was dead, Milana,” I whisper. “What kind of fool does that make me?”