Crowned By the Ruthless Billionaire (Ravenous Royals #3)

Chapter 1

COLE

I lift my wrist and look at the time. Fuck.

I’ve got ten minutes to make it to my father’s house, and we’re sitting in traffic. My father is not someone you make wait.

I ask my driver, “What’s the holdup, Stone?”

He leans his head out the driver's side window, trying to see down the road. “Shit, I dunno. Maybe someone's having car trouble.”

I look out the window, and the worry about meeting my father disappears when I see what’s happening on the sidewalk in front of the animal shelter.

A man is shoving his finger in a woman’s face, and I can hear his raised voice even through the glass, but I can’t make out what he’s saying.

“I’ll be back. Stay here,” I tell Stone.

“Cole… where… what?”

I don’t care that we’re sitting on Main Street or that I have somewhere to be.

I’m a Kingston, and even though I do a lot of wrong things, I will never stand by when a woman is being verbally or physically attacked.

I ignore Stone as I get out of the car and walk over to where the man is still shouting.

As soon as I reach the two of them, I put my hands at the waist of the woman, lift her up, and place her behind me, and I’m shaken as I look into the blue eyes of the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

She’s mad. Fighting mad. I want to soothe her, but first I need to deal with the Neanderthal. I turn back to him. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

The man pounds himself in the chest. “Me? There’s nothing wrong with me! It’s that little bi—”

He doesn’t get the word out. I punch him in the throat, and he falls to the ground with his hands around his neck, trying to catch his breath.

“Cole—” Stone says.

I raise my hand to stop him. I don’t need a lecture right now. I should have known he wouldn’t stay in the car. He may be my driver, but he works for my father, the mafia king of the South, Robert Kingston. And if something happened to me on Stone’s watch, we all know how that would turn out.

Ignoring Stone, I approach the woman. “Are you okay?”

For the first time, I notice she’s holding a white cat protectively against her chest. She blinks up at me. “Yes…yes, I’m okay.”

“What is going on here?” I ask her and instantly regret the harshness of my voice. I fist my tattooed hands at my side to stop from reaching for her.

She takes a step back. “I’m just trying to—”

She stops suddenly and shakes her head, wiping the tears from her eyes. “This is my fault. He owns the building and can do what he wants. I’m just trying to save the animals.”

I put my hands on her shoulders, and she tenses. I hate that I have that effect on her. Yeah, most people fear me and my family, but I don't want that from her.

My first instinct is to lift my hands off her, but I don’t. “Talk to me. Tell me how to fix it.”

She holds the cat tighter, and I realize I need to go about this another way. I release my hold on her and instead run my hand lightly across the cat’s head and down its body. “What’s her name?”

“His. I mean, Leo is a boy.”

The cat starts to purr loudly and lifts his head to look at me. It’s as if he’s judging me, trying to figure me out, and I’m not sure which of us is more surprised, me or her, when Leo stretches and climbs into my arms.

I hold the cat to me, and it curls into a ball against my chest. I can feel the change in the woman standing before me. She steps toward me. “Leo likes you.”

I look into her blue eyes and demand, “Tell me your name.”

She tilts her chin. “Luna.”

The man on the ground starts to shuffle to his feet, starting to cuss again.

Stone stands between him and me. “Cole, your father is waiting.”

I huff out a breath. He’s right. I gesture to the man that Stone is holding back and ask Luna, “What can I do to help?”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Nothing. There’s nothing anyone can do.”

I tilt my head to look at her. “Try me.”

“You can’t—”

Leo moves around and slides into my jacket. I hold him to me and reach for Luna. This time she doesn’t tense. “Tell me. Why is this man bothering you?”

She blows out a breath, and I hate it because her face shows defeat. “I owe him twelve hundred dollars for rent. He’s closing the shelter down.”

It’s my turn to tense. “I’ll take care of it.”

I put my hand on her chin and lift. “Did he touch you?”

I wait for her response so I know if I’m about to kill a man or not.

She shakes her head. “He didn’t touch me.”

I nod and reluctantly release my hold on her. “Stay here.”

I walk over to Stone and the man and tell my driver, “Stand with Luna over there.”

Stone shakes his head. “Cole…”

I glare at him. “Stone, I got this. Go and stand with Luna.”

He doesn’t want to, but he walks over to Luna. Only when I know she’s safe do I turn to the man that is still trying to recover from the jab to his throat. He looks a lot less cocky than he did when he was just facing Luna. “How much?”

He shakes his head. “How much? I’m going to sue you for assault and—”

I step toward him, and he almost falls backward trying to get away from me. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”

He blinks, unsure. “Who.. who are you?” he stutters.

I jut my chin at him. “Cole Kingston.”

Luna gasps behind me just as the man pales and recoils, stepping away until his back hits the brick building behind him.

I trail after him. “So you see, suing me will get you nothing.” I sigh. “Dead, maybe, but nothing else.”

He peeks around me. “I’m sorry, Luna.”

I should be happy he’s apologizing, but hearing her name coming out of his mouth makes my blood boil. I’m about to punch the asshole again when the warm body I’m holding in my jacket stretches, reminding me Leo is still in my arms.

I’m fed up with this. I don’t want to talk to this asshole anymore. “How much for the building?”

Luna gasps again, louder this time. I hear Stone talking to her, but I focus on the man in front of me. I can see him working the numbers in his head. He wants this, but he doesn’t believe it. “You’re fucking with me.”

Bored with the whole situation, I shrug my shoulders. “Sell me the building today or I’ll have the inspector down here. I wonder how many other of your buildings are in disrepair like this one? I can shut down your whole operation. Your choice.”

He blurts out a price. It’s high for what I’m looking at, but I also don’t care at this point. I want this over.

I nod. “Meet me at the Hometown Bank at two o’clock.”

His eyes widen in shock, and just as he starts to relax, I step toward him again.

“On one condition. You don’t ever say Luna’s name.

You don’t talk to her, you don’t come see her, you don’t even think about her.

” I lean in and whisper, “I’ve killed men for less than what I saw you do today, and I’m promising you that if I hear you’re around her again, I will end you. ”

The man is holding his breath, and I hover over him. “Do you understand?”

He nods quickly. “Yes, sir, Mr. Kingston.”

I pull the cat out of my jacket, and Leo looks up at me like he’s bored with the whole conversation too. “Leave,” I tell the man.

He walks quickly away, and I take a breath, trying to calm myself before I turn to face Luna. I don’t want her to see the monster I can be.