Page 8 of Three Corporate Kings and a Hands-Off Bride

Cade, Eli, and Baxter usually hosted business dinner parties at the penthouse. She usually stayed in her room to save herselffrom dying from boredom listening to corporate jargon. She stayed out of the way and Alfred always brought her up food to save her from going downstairs.

Still in her tattered t-shirt, in cyclops mode, she smiled at the servers who she jump-scared and headed to their study, where she knew she would find them.

Dressed in black bespoke suits that accentuated every single muscle they sported, she could smell just a hint of their cologne from where she stood, were her three men who were going to change her life.

“What the hell happened to your face,” Baxter roared at her, as if he were angry at her for getting hurt and worried that she was hurt.

“Alicia, what happened? Who did this to you?” Eli tried to keep his voice in his usual calm demeanor but failed.

“Talk,” Cade barked.

“Okay. You have to hear me out. Don’t say anything until I finish speaking, okay?”

“Start with who did that to your forehead right now or we’ll have to—”

“A glass wall, door, whatever. I ran into it at a warehouse that sells second hand tea-sets.”

“What is—” Cade started.

She could hear the impatience in his voice and see it in both Eli and Baxter’s expressions. She knew what they needed her to say.

“Holly took me to the doctor. I’m perfectly fine. It doesn’t even hurt anymore… that much. But, hear me out, please. So I wentto buy this precious little tea set that I needed for my new manifesting project.” They opened their mouth; she held up a hand to silence them.

“There was no parking. I was going to be quick. I parked my car in a no-parking zone. And then I saw a tow truck, and I thought it was for me, so I started to run, while still in this huge warehouse.” She spread her hands, so they knew how big it was. “And then suddenly, this glass wall came out of nowhere and I ran straight into it and knocked myself out. A sweet old lady from across the road saw this happening to me and she came to my rescue. The warehouse was empty and the only two staff I saw didn’t even know what happened to me, so I could have just died for all I know if that sweet lady hadn’t come to help.

“Turns out she’s also a fortune teller and she told me my fortune while I waited for Holly to pick me up.”

“You called Holly instead of us?” Eli asked.

“It wasn’t a big deal, okay? People walk into glass doors all the time. Anyway… she told me my fortune. She said she saw marriage in my future. She said I was going to marry a king. Not a prince but a king. And then I thought I don’t know any kings, so clearly, she’s a con, but then… it hit me. I have to marry you.” She did not wait for them to interject.

“I have to marry all three of you. You’re my kings. Don’t you see?” She cried.

“That woman didn’t know me from a brussel sprout, but she said I was going to marry a king, and I know she means you three collectively. Cade Kissinger. Eli Nicholson. Baxter Gardner. The ‘ki’ from Kissinger. The ’n’ from Nicholson. The ‘g’ from Gardner. King. King Industries. You own King industries. You’remy three kings rolled into one.” She didn’t stop talking now that she was on a roll.

“After you took myV Card Nixedscrapbook, I realized you were right. I should be looking at marrying someone so I can have a consistent supply of him.” Actually, because she needed to read the letter her mom had written her, one that she could only receive on the day she got married. They didn’t have to know that.

“Then I immediately started a scrapbooking manifestation forThe Marriage Clinch. I wanted the tea-set to be part of my vision board. I had to go all the way to that warehouse, to bump my head,” she said, pointing to Ms. Cyclops on her forehead. “Only to meet the woman who would tell me exactly who I needed to marry.”

She took a breath, with her tattered t-shirt, messy hair and lump on her forehead shining like a lighthouse, she dropped to her knee.

“Will you marry me, Cade Kissinger? Will you marry me, Eli Nicholson? Will you marry me, Baxter Gardner?”

Her mom would approve of this. She loved Cade, Eli, and Baxter as much as her dad had. This was who she was meant to marry.

“No.” They all said in unison.

“Why not?” she asked, getting up off the floor. “It’s perfect. I don’t think you know exactly what a good wife I can be.”

“We’re not going to marry Tom’s daughter because she bumped her head a little too hard and now thinks we’re her knights in shining armor,” Baxter said.

“We’re not knights, Alicia,” Eli said dangerously soft.

“And we’re most certainly not kings,” Cade added as they all three came toward her, stealing the air from her lungs. So close she found herself drowning in their cologne now, where before it had only been hints of their scent. Dear god she could see how beautiful they were, how thick their eyelashes were, how angular their jaws were. She’d never really paid attention to their looks, or maybe she had, and she’d completely brushed it aside.

A wave of heat covered her body. Her bare nipples poked from the thin threadbare cotton of her t-shirt. There was a slickness between her thighs now that she couldn’t explain. A heaviness between her soaked folds.

A shuddering breath escaped her lips.

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