Page 160 of Wicked Lord

His head snapped up, eyes wild in the moonlight. For one second, suspicion twisted his face. But he grabbed my hand. “Pull me up. Hurry!”

Rocks bit into my ribs as I tried to haul him up. “A little help, Haversham,” I gritted out. “Dig your fit into the wall and climb.”

An ugly grin stretched across Brock’s face, freezing my blood. “You really are stupidly noble, aren’t you, Axel?”

Before I could move, he jerked me forward.

“Fuck!” Pain detonated through my shoulder, and my arm threatened to tear from its socket as he tried to yank me off the cliff.

A cry echoed behind me.

And then a gunshot cracked through the night.

Brock’s body jolted. Blood burst from his shoulder, warm and wet, splattering across my face. Somehow, I still held onto the bastard.

He stared down at the wound, stunned, as if the laws of the universe had personally betrayed him. “You fucking shot me, Lorelei.”

His grip on my hand loosened.

And he fell.

His furious scream ripped through the night as he vanished, echoing down the cliffside, raw and endless, until the ocean swallowed him whole.

As I shoved away from the edge and used my shirt to wipe Brock’s blood from my face, Lorelei ran to my side.

“What did I do?” Her voice cracked, anguish tearing through every word.

I snapped into action and shot to my feet, taking the gun from her and shoving it in my waistband. “You saved me. That’s what you did.”

Her lip quivered as she stared off into the darkness like I’d done the night Peter died. “But I k?—”

“No.” I cradled her face and forced her to focus on me. That sadistic fuck got what he deserved. “He would have survived that gunshot. He fell off the cliff all on his own. It was an accident. Say it.”

“It was an accident.” Tears streamed down her ashen cheeks as she sucked in a ragged breath. “I thought I lost you.”

“Not happening, blondie. You’re stuck with me forever.” I kissed her forehead and pulled her into my arms, holding her so tightly that her trembling became my own. “Nothing will ever tear us apart again. Not. A. Damn. Thing.”

If anyone ever tried, they’d end up just like Brock.

A dead man.

CHAPTER 64

YOU EARNED THIS

Lorelei

“Hurry up, Ax. I don’t want to be late.” I jumped out of the Jeep, tugging down the hem of my Lily Pulitzer floral sundress.

My voice sounded bright. Totally normal and almost believable.

But the second my sandals hit the pavement, the breeze coming off the bluff cut across my skin, carrying the sharp bite of salt and sea, and my stomach hollowed out. For one awful heartbeat, I wasn’t standing in the parking lot of the Copper Cove Country Club.

I was back on that cliff.

Brock’s eyes were wide. His mouth open. His body disappearing into the black while his scream tore through the night.

My fingers curled into the hem of my dress until the fabric wrinkled beneath my grip.