Page 32 of Knuckles & Knives
“I spent five years thinking I was alone,” I say without turning around. “Five years believing that everyone who mattered to me was gone, that I had nothing left but revenge and the need to rebuild from nothing.”
I can feel them listening, waiting, the predatory stillness of hunters who’ve caught the scent of something important.
“Days ago, I found out my father left me an empire worth over a hundred million dollars. I discovered that Marcus has been protecting me for five years without my knowledge. Not that long ago, Kieran told me his family wasn’t responsible for my father’s death. And last night, Dom kissed me like he’s been waiting his whole life to do it, and it wasn’t our first kiss either.” I turn back to face them, letting them see the resolve in my expression. “I also know that Axel has been watching me formonths, showing up wherever I am with perfect timing and that look in his eyes that says he knows secrets I haven’t figured out yet.”
Axel’s grin falters slightly, surprise flickering across his features.
A man with shaggy black hair with a natural streak of silver and multiple piercings including a brow bar and several ear piercings is not exactly forgettable. It took me a bit to realize that the man watching me was the fighter before me, but I put two and two together.
“Yes, I noticed. I notice everything.”
“What’s your point?” Dom asks, though his voice has gone rough.
“My point is that for the first time in five years, I’m not alone. For the first time since my father died, I have people who matter to me, who I trust, who I—” I pause, the word catching in my throat before I force it out. “Who I care about.”
The admission costs me something, strips away a layer of armor I’ve worn for so long I’d forgotten what it felt like to be without it.
I refuse to believe I’m naïve. I can’t dare try to reclaim my father’s empire and forge it into my own without allies. I’ll be killed and buried next to my father if I go alone.
If I trust the wrong people, I die.
But if I don’t trust anyone, I lose everything my father built.
“You want me to choose,” I continue, my voice steady despite the way my heart is racing, “but here’s what I’m realizing. I don’t want to choose. Not between Dom’s fierce protection and Kieran’s dangerous intelligence. Not between Marcus’s steady devotion and Axel’s wild unpredictability.”
The silence that follows is deafening. I can see shock written across their faces, followed quickly by calculation, desire, and something that might be hope.
“Raven,” Marcus says carefully, “are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“I’m saying that traditional doesn’t work for me. Normal doesn’t work for me. I’m Vincent Blackwood’s daughter, heir to a criminal empire, trained to fight and kill and rebuild from ashes.” I meet each of their eyes again. “Why would I want a traditional relationship?”
“Because it’s insane,” Dom says, but there’s no conviction in his voice.
“So is everything else about my life.” I move back to the sectional, but I don’t sit. Instead, I stand in the center of the room where they can all see me clearly. “I’m not asking you to share me like I’m some object to be passed around. I’m telling you that I want all of you in different ways for different reasons, and if that’s something none of you can handle, then we end this now.”
“And if we can handle it?” Kieran’s voice is carefully neutral, but I can see the hunger in his ice-blue eyes.
“Then we figure out how to make it work. Together.” I let the weight of that word settle over them. “But I need to know that you can handle seeing me with the others. I need to know that this won’t destroy the trust we’re building.”
Axel laughs, the sound sharp and bright. “You want to know if we can play nice and share the toys?”
“I want to know if you can be adults about something that goes against every possessive instinct you have,” I correct. “If you can’t, this ends now, and I walk away from all of you.”
The threat hangs in the air like a blade. I can see them processing it, weighing their desire for me against their territorial natures, their need for exclusive claim against the possibility of losing me entirely.
If I have to walk away… I don’t know who I would turn to next for help.
But deep down, I don’t want to walk away. I will if I must, but that’s not an avenue I want to stroll down.
Dom is the first to speak. “What exactly are you proposing?”
“I’m proposing that we try something unconventional, that instead of competing with each other, you learn to work together. That instead of seeing each other as threats, you see each other as allies in keeping me safe and helping me reclaim what’s mine.”
“The Blackwood empire,” Marcus says quietly.
“Among other things.” My smile has to be sharp and dangerous. “I have enemies, gentlemen. The people who killed my father would be very interested in killing me if they knew I was planning to take back what they stole. I could use four deadly men watching my back.”
“And in return?” Kieran asks.
