Chapter 4

Lydia’s POV

I dropped the phone onto the floor, my breath hitching as the silence of the room rushed back in.

My reflection in the mirror was a stranger, eyes bloodshot, lips swollen, dressed in a crimson silk nightgown meant for a man who didn't give a fuck if I lived or died.

I didn't pack a bag. I didn't change out of the silk. I just grabbed the keys to Julian’s matte-black sports car, snuck past the master bedroom where the muffled, disgusting groans were still echoing, and bolted out to the garage.

The sports car tore out into the midnight rain, the tires screeching against the asphalt as I pushed the engine to its absolute limit. I didn't give a fuck about the speed limits. I didn't give a fuck about anything.

The address Zane had flashed to my phone was a fortress of concrete and glass overlooking the cliffs on the edge of the city.

The massive iron gates rolled open automatically the second the headlights hit them. I slammed the brakes in the driveway, threw the keys on the dashboard, and marched up to the towering glass front doors.

Before I could even reach for the handle, the door swung wide open.

Zane stood there, his dark silk shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest, his eyes burning through the shadows.

Behind him stood Kian and Cassian, their jackets discarded, shirts rolled up to their elbows, looking like a pack of wolves waiting for their prey.

"You're late, Lydia," Zane growled, his hand instantly wrapping around my waist, dragging me across the threshold.

"Fucking shut up and touch me," I snapped, my voice raw as I slammed my lips onto his.

The door clicked shut, and the world dissolved into pure, aggressive madness. There was no gentle preamble, no sweet talking.

They carried me straight to the massive leather sofa in the center of the dark living room. Kian’s hands were on my thighs in an instant, ripping the thin crimson silk of my nightgown right down the middle with a sharp, violent tear.

"You wanted it rough, sweetheart?" Cassian hissed, his teeth sinking sharply into my neck as he pinned my hips down against the leather. "We're going to break you tonight."

"Do it," I choked out, arching my back blindly into his heat, my hands clawing at Zane's shoulders as he came down over me. "Fucking ruin me!"

The friction was brutal, heavy, and utterly merciless. Zane pinned my wrists above my head with one massive hand, his dark eyes blown out with an unhinged, predatory hunger as his body slammed violently into mine.

A sharp, breathy scream ripped from my throat, echoing against the high concrete ceilings. The sheer physical force of it hit my chest like a freight train, completely erasing the image of Julian's betrayal, burning away the humiliation, replacing it with a dizzying, suffocating wave of pure, unadulterated possession.

"Harder!" I cried out, my fingers digging so deep into Kian’s back that my nails drew thin red lines across his skin as he took Zane's place, his movements fast, relentless, and deep. "Don't stop!"

They traded me between them without a single shred of mercy, their heavy, sweat-glistening bodies pinning me down, driving me wild with an exhausting, fierce intensity.

Cassian lifted my hips, anchoring his tattooed hands onto my waist, his thrusts savage and rhythmic, making the leather couch groan beneath us. I was completely consumed, drowning in a chaotic storm of heavy breathing, skin slamming against skin, and raw, feral demands until my vision blurred into a white-hot explosion of pure ecstasy.

Hours later, the storm had settled into a heavy, suffocating quiet.

The room was pitch black except for the cold moonlight filtering through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. I lay tangled in the messy, silk sheets of the master bed, my body deeply sore, every muscle aching from the fierce, relentless demands of the three billionaires sleeping soundly around me.

Zane's massive arm was heavy across my waist; Kian’s chest was pressed against my back, and Cassian’s hand rested possessively on my thigh.

I stared up at the dark ceiling, my heart heavy as the numbness of the alcohol finally washed away, leaving behind a cold, sharp clarity.

The physical marks on my skin would fade, but the sudden, terrifying realization hanging in the air wouldn't. Being back in their arms, feeling the fierce, protective heat of their bodies... it wasn't just about escaping Julian.

My mind drifted back, flashing through the dark, forbidden memories I had spent four years trying to bury deep in the shadows of my soul.

We never stopped loving you. Not since years ago. Zane's words echoed in my head, heavier than the guilt crushing my chest.

I looked at the sharp jawline of the men holding me hostage in the dark. We had a history. A beautiful, dangerous, and tragic history before my father traded me away to Julian like a piece of meat.

But it wasn't just my marriage that had separated us. A cold shiver ran down my spine as the grim images of that fateful night flashed behind my eyelids the blood, the screaming, the horrific betrayal that had shattered everything we had built.

I closed my eyes tightly, a single tear slipping down my cheek into the pillow.

I was back in their bed, and I would use them to destroy Julian. But as I felt Zane’s grip tighten around my waist even in his sleep, a suffocating dread clawed at my throat.

How could I ever truly be theirs when I still didn't know the complete truth about the horrific incident that tore us apart all those years ago?