Page 98 of Wicked Lord

“You know nothing about my girlfriend.” He stalked toward the library exit, and I raced behind him.

“You mean my fiancée.”

“She’ll never be yours.” Axel’s footfalls became quicker, more agitated until we reached a quiet spot at the edge of the library parking lot. The same spot he’d attacked Micah not long ago. I squeezed my eyes closed, not needing to dredge up those dark memories right now.

“And yet, the contract in my hand says otherwise. Signed by Senator Battenberg himself.”

“My father can’t do that,” I ground out. “He can’t just sign me over to someone. I’m a human being, not a thing to be bought or sold.”

“My dad’s lawyer will shred that contract to bits, Haversham.” He slammed his palm against a tree, and the whole damn thing trembled. “You don’t have a leg to stand on, and you know it.”

“There are other ways to force your hand, Vanderhart. Perhaps other secrets I could unearth that would be more precious than the warm pussy wetting your cock.”

Axel’s teeth gnashed, and a whisper of fear slid up my spine. He couldn’t possibly know about whatever this mess was that my fake boyfriend had been acting so sketchy about. Ever since we broke into that mansion, I knew something was going on, but I didn’t want to press. I figured Ax would tell me when the time was right.

“You don’t know shit. Your desperation is showing.”

“You’re treading dangerous waters, Axel. You better be careful, or you might find yourself going head first over a cliff into the murky depths below.”

His face blanched, a sickly pallor blanketing his features.

“Stay away from him, Brock,” I snarled. “You’re not the only one who can make threats. I can tell everyone what a sick fuck you are, preying on innocent young girls.”

He barked out a laugh, and my gut roiled. “There’s nothing innocent about you, Lorelei, and we both know it. And besides, it’s your word against mine. I technically never assaulted you. There’s no crime against consensual sex. Rough or otherwise.”

My thoughts flew back to the time he forced me to suck him off in the bathroom at that gala. Bile clawed up my throat, and I barely resisted the urge to gag. There was nothing consensual about it.

“I’ll give you until Friday to return my property, Vanderhart. I’ll be in Copper Cove this weekend, and I have every intention of claiming what’s mine.”

The call cut off, and a thick silence descended over us. I dropped to the bench just behind us, my knees nearly giving way before I hit the weathered planks.

“Shit, I’m so screwed,” I muttered. “He’s never going to give this up.”

“Well, I’m right there with you, blondie.” He slumped down beside me, and the bench creaked beneath his massive weight.

“What was he talking about?” I pivoted toward him, searching for answers in that wary gaze. “Does he really have something on you?”

The hard set of his jaw, along with the deep furrow of his brow, revealed the answer before he opened his mouth.

“If you tell me what it is, maybe we can find a way around it?”

His expression hardened to stone, the flirty, smirking guy I’d come to know and really care for disappearing.

“There’s no way around this, Lorelei. I told you I fucked up big time, and it looks like I’m finally going to pay for my sins.”

“Absolutely not. This is my fault. You never would’ve gotten in Brock’s crosshairs if it wasn’t for me.” I barely concealed the tremor in my voice as I spouted the dreaded words. “I’ll just agree to the engagement then he’ll leave you alone.”

“No! No way in hell,” he snarled. Red-hot fury flashed across those typically serene sky blue eyes. “I’ll never let that asshole lay a hand on you again. I’d rather go to jail myself.”

“Axel…” The emotion in his words reached all the way down to my soul, piercing the careful barriers I’d been building all my life.

Also, what the hell did he do that was bad enough to go to prison for?

“I mean it, Lore. I’ll never let him have you. Maybe it’s time for me to finally face the past. I can’t hide behind the protection of the brotherhood forever.”

Hot tears pricked at the back of my eyes. God, I did not deserve this man in my life, as a friend or more. No one had ever stood up for me like this. I glanced up to meet those blazing irises, and my heart sank as the realization slowly snuck in.

I loved Axel Vanderhart. I’d done the unthinkable, broken every rule I’d drawn up.