Three Men

Raven

I was staring into space, disbelief running through me at the words of these men.

I looked between them, my head shaking. “I don’t believe you. No, there’s no way that happened. No one would believe them.”

The blonde-haired guy entered the room, his phone in hand. He registered the scene before him, the smile on his face instantly wiped off as soon as he took in my expression.

He looked between us. “The doctor is on his way,” he said, joining the other two men who were watching me intensely, his own green eyes fixed on me. “Let me guess. You told her.”

Liam gave a nod. “She doesn’t believe us.”

They were talking about me as if I wasn’t in the room.

Blondie tilted his head to the side. “Understandable. Then we should show her.” He tapped on his phone, handing it to me.

With a raised brow that held curiosity, I took the phone, not liking that the brush of our fingers sent a tingle through my body. I pushed the feeling aside and focused on the video playing on the phone.

My brow furrowed.

It was Ian.

He was standing on a podium, with several mics in front of him. It seemed he was at a press conference of some sort.

But that wasn't what confused me. It was the fact that he was crying, bawling his eyes out.

I’d never seen Ian cry since he was a kid.

“I know you’re struggling with yourself wherever you are, Raven. I know you have it hard, and I can never understand the pain you must be going through,” Ian sniffed into the mic.

My jaw dropped in disbelief, appalled. What the actual hell?

“Come back, Raven. We love you.” He looked directly at the camera, his eyes glassy from fake tears. “Your family loves you.”

I hadn't finished processing what I had just watched when the next video that played was of my fiancée—Marco. He, unlike Ian, wasn't bawling his eyes out, but his eyes were red, giving the illusion that he had been crying. That my disappearance was hitting him hard.

My heart shattered all over again as I heard him speak.

“Raven told me she hated this kind of life—all the glamour and the responsibility given to her through this company. She’d always told me how overwhelming all this felt, and to an extent, I understood her. To an extent, I had thought I would be enough. That I would be everything she’d needed to be happy.” He let his gaze move around the room, as if he were in search of someone in the crowd. “But I guess not. It’s been a month now, pookie. Please come home.”

A sob threatened to break free from my lips.

He had been there, standing watch as the poison had eaten me up. He had done nothing when Selena reached out to me and pushed me off the ceiling. He had told me he loved me just before everything had happened.

And now, he was lying—telling me to come home.

The video stopped playing, and the next was Selena.

“I think that’s enough.”

A hand plucked the phone from my hand before I could hear what she said, his finger pausing the video.

Liam.

His jaw was clenched as he gave the phone back to the blonde. The three of them had their jaws clenched. They were pissed, knowing the truth and how messed up the people I had called my own were—how they’d stabbed me in the back.

I averted my gaze from them, blinking away any tears that threatened to burst through my eyes.

The people in those videos were the same ones who had full-on spite in their eyes on that night.

The same people who made it seem like I was a thorn in their flesh, their very existence.

The same people were crying and pleading for me to come back?

Slow anger started to rise inside me, sparking a fire. And before I could stop myself, I burst out in dry laughter.

The sound caught the three men who had been watching me closely off guard. Liam and the blonde shared a surprised look at my reaction while dark hair’s lips twitched in amusement.

My laughter bounced off the walls, my shoulders shaking as my chest heaved. It was almost like I was a crazed woman.

Then I stopped, my eyes glaring into empty space.

“They should have made sure I died, the three of them.” My fist clenched as my gaze slid to the three men who all held something that resembled fascination. “Because there’s no way I won’t have my revenge. No fucking way.”

A few moments passed as silence took over, the men staring at me, definitely shocked at the different emotions I displayed in the span of a minute. Dark hair didn’t show what he was thinking though.

It was the blonde one who broke the silence. “Sweet. I like her,” he muttered under his breath, a feral grin spread across his face, the glint in his eyes playful. He looked at the others, “I told you I’d like her. I call dibs on her.”

I reared back. “Excuse me?”

Liam looked like he wanted to facepalm himself but held back. “You can’t, and you know why,” he shot his friend a sharp look, his jaw ticking.

There they went, back to talking about me as if I wasn’t in the room.

I shot both of them a glare.

Blondie shot me a teasing smile that both irritated me and, at the same time, did something nice to my stomach.

Liam had a passive look on his face.

The dark-haired one just kept staring at me, something that looked like an impressed expression flashing in his eyes, those dark orbs of his studying me.

It took me what was left of my strength to draw my gaze from the three of them. How could they all be so hypnotic at the same time?

“I need to get out of here.” I started to get up again, taking a deep breath before pushing myself up. My legs wobbled as i did and I gripped the edge of the bed until the dizziness passed. Balancing successfully on my feet felt like a small victory. I reached for the drip still connected to my wrist to take it off when a hand stopped me.

“Wait.”

Liam.

I looked up, and my breath hitched again when I saw how close he was to me. His blue eyes clashed against my hazel ones. The tingles from his surprisingly gentle touch zapped straight through me.

“We can help you make sure the people who hurt you are punished for what they did and get back your position as CEO,” he said, both of his hands on my shoulders as he guided me right back onto the bed.

I looked up at him, confused. “What do you mean?”

He moved back, joining the others. “I mean exactly that. But before we get into that, let’s introduce ourselves properly.” His hands returned to his pockets. “Like I told you earlier, I’m Liam Knight, CEO of Knights Corp.”

My brows flew to my forehead. Now I know why his name sounded so familiar. His company was one of the biggest real estate companies in the country. Owning about fifty percent of the city, Liam Knight was one of those names you whispered about at cocktail parties or charity events.

“Aiden Elgort,” Blondie said with that heart-flipping grin of his. He stepped forward, reaching for my hand and shaking it before bringing the back of my palm to his lips, his green eyes holding some kind of intensity as he kissed it. “It’s lovely to meet you.”

I struggled to keep my breathing even, recognition flooding me.

He had looked eerily familiar. Now, hearing his name, I realized that, of course, I knew him too.

I’d seen his face on countless billboards and in many airport magazines.

He was an actor, one of the most popular actors in the whole of America and, of course, the biggest celebrity playboy who was always on the front page of gossip tabloids.

I pulled my hand away, bringing it to my side, ignoring the tingles that went straight to the spot between my legs. He smiled at my reaction, his grin feral.

I yanked my gaze to the dark-haired one, noting the way he watched our interaction with an unreadable expression. I looked closely at him to see if I knew him too, like the others.

He placed both hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Leo.”

I raised a brow. That was it. Nothing else. Just his first name. A flicker of something cautious passed in his eyes. I didn’t know why, but I had a feeling he was hiding something by not revealing his last name.

The thing was, even if he didn’t, there was this sense of power radiating from him. This aura of authority I couldn’t quite place. It was different from the kind that Liam and Aiden had.

This aura was the dangerous kind. His dark eyes and the way it looked like he could pluck my heart out just by staring deep into my soul told me that.

I held back a shiver at the thought.

These men collectively held a power that I knew my father would be jealous of. Now that I knew this, I had no doubt in my heart that it would be possible to get my revenge with their help, like they said they would.

“I would have introduced myself, but you already know who I am,” I folded my hands across my chest. “How can you help me?” I said to Liam.

Aiden and he shared a look. They seemed to be doing that a lot.

Liam held my eyes, the intensity in them making my breath hitch again.

“Two words. Marry me.”