Page 5 of Wicked Lord

“Not yet.” The friendly smile dropped from my face as my fingers coiled around his throat. His gaze darted left and right, quickly realizing my big frame blocked him from sight.

As his face reddened, he attempted to break my grip.Please. I was a fucking football star, while he played water polo, and sucked at it.

“Dude, what the hell?”

“You know all those scary rumors about some of us Sigma Delts?” I leaned in closer and winked. “They’re true.”

Panic eclipsed his brown eyes as he choked, a vein throbbing in his forehead. “I’m going… to fucking… pass out.”

“Stay away from Cordelia Chesson.” My thumb dug into his Adam’s apple. “Got it?”

Charlie tried to nod. “Y-yeah. G-got it.”

I released him and smoothed his collar. “You should get some fresh air. You look a little faint.”

The Kappa O bolted into the crowd, casting a terrified glance over his shoulder. Cordi would kill me if she knew I threatened a guy away from her. But he only wanted to use her.

I wanted more. I wanted everything.

She just needed to believe I’d never hurt her.

A groan tumbled from my mouth, and I dragged a hand down my face. This girl had me by the balls. I needed to get a grip before I did something regrettable, like beg her for a real chance.

I left the bar and headed down one of the hallways branching off the main room in search of the bathroom. My broad form cast a massive reflection on the polished marble floors, like alumbering monster ready to pillage and eat. Which reminded me…

Damn, I was hungry.

As I turned the corner, contemplating the spread that would be laid out somewhere inside, someone smacked into me, and I caught a familiar figure in my arms. “Whoa, Battenberg, slow down. Did the wife of an old billionaire just croak? In a hurry to sink your claws into him?”

“Screw you, Axel,” Lorelei hissed in that venomous tone she always had cocked and loaded.

But there was something different this time, something not quite right.

Her words cracked and fine tremors raced through her body. Those brown eyes, usually full of contempt or boredom when she looked at me, were wide and watery, rimmed in red as if fighting back tears.

“Are you okay?” As I pulled her into me, scarlet marks on her neck became apparent, and I could see that a few crystals on her dress around the top were torn off.

The thin blond tried to escape my hold. “I-I’m fine. Like you’d care, anyway.”

Now that I was bigger than most, I had this impulse to protect those smaller and weaker than me—as long as they weren’t in my way like Charlie. Maybe it was because I knew what it felt like to be picked on. Or maybe it was some demented attempt to make amends for what I did.

Either way, something was very wrong with Lorelei Battenberg.

I gripped her chin and lifted it, forcing her to meet my penetrating gaze. “Did someone hurt you?”

CHAPTER 3

DID SOMEONE HURT YOU?

Lorelei

Did someone hurt you?

Axel’s loaded question echoed through my mind, a relentless drumbeat pounding through my skull, drowning out the soft music and incessant polite chatter that filled the hallways.

A tiny crack raced across my heart, splintering into a dozen fissures, and unwanted emotion tightened my throat. What was it about that look in his eye? Like he actually cared. Unlike everyone else in my life.

“Lorelei?” Those piercing blue eyes delved deeper, as if he stared long enough, he could pry the secret out.