Page 38 of Wicked Lord

I never expected an answer at this time of night so when the little dots zipped across the screen, I watched with bated breath.

Ax: Don’t worry about me, blondie. I’m not scared of little old Brock Haversham, I can handle myself.

Me: I figured you could. What are you doing up so late?

Ax: I wasn’t.

Me: Sorry, I woke you.

Ax: No problem. That’s what the best boyfriends are for, right? ;)

Me: Night, Ax.

Ax: Sleep tight, babe <3

I laughed out loud as the heart emoji came through. Axel was right, he could handle Brock. The oil tycoon was probably justa bunch of talk anyway. I slid back down under the covers and skimmed the dozens of angry messages from my never-would-be fiance. I’d have to deal with those tomorrow. I stopped when I scanned another name I dreaded.

Dad.

Ugh. I clicked on the message.

Dad: I just heard from Lloyd Haversham and he’s furious. What the hell did you do? Call me first thing in the morning.

Great, another pissed off asshole to deal with. Tossing my phone onto the nightstand, I loosed a frustrated breath and squeezed my eyes closed.

I guess it was time to officially introduce Axel to the family.

CHAPTER 17

PLENTY OF SECRETS

Axel

Vaughn drummed his fingers against the mahogany desk, his dark eyes drilling into me like he wanted to crack my skull open and suck out my brain. He’d called me into his basement office of the Sigma Delta house to rehash the conversation he started after finding Lorelei and me hooking up.

What else was there to say? She was done with Brock.

“I just don’t know what to do with you, Axel.” His perfectly styled chocolate brown waves shone under the lights hanging from the coffered ceiling. “I told you to stay away from Lorelei, and you even assured me nothing was going on. Then I find you two almost fucking at a charity event.”

I folded my arms over my chest and matched his glare. “Who I’m with is none of your concern, and you never gave me an official order to keep away from Lorelei.”

“As your Domnus, I asked you for a favor, and you blatantly ignored it.” He twisted the lavish diamond ring on his pinky, hislips curling in contempt, reminding me too much of Sebastian Davenport.

This was his former office, and Vaughn kept the same ominous dark gray and black décor after it had to be remodeled from Killian’s total meltdown last year.

I poked the serpent and dagger tattoo on my forearm. “Brock isn’t part of this. My needs and desires come before his, so if I wanted to steal Lorelei from him, I have every right to.”

Vaughn gave a dry laugh and stood, strolling to the wet bar on the left. “Would you like a drink?”

“No, thanks.” I’d like to get the fuck out of this dungeon. I had better things to do than argue with him.

He filled two crystal tumblers anyway. “You’ll have one.”

I jammed my fingers through my hair, biting my tongue against the insults I wanted to hurl at Radcliffe. He was still the Domnus and had the power to make my life hell for the next year. If I didn’t show at least a modicum of respect, he wouldn’t think twice about messing with me.

He set a glass of scotch in front of me and then folded back into the oversized black leather chair on the other side of his desk. “We share plenty of secrets in the Serpents & Daggers, don’t we Ax?”

“Yep.” I swirled the scotch before taking a sip.