Crowned By the Broken Mafia King (Ravenous Royals #4)

Chapter 1

ELEANOR

I walk into my apartment and slip out of my high heels.

The sound of them falling onto the hardwood floor is loud and echoes off the walls. I drop my keys onto the counter, and the metallic clang is deafening.

Since I walked away from the Kingston family home, this is the one thing that always sticks out to me. This life is quiet. Most times, it’s a little too quiet.

I move through the apartment and try not to think about the loneliness.

I chose to be here. It was my choice to leave Robert Kingston, the Mafia king of the South.

I’m the one that wanted to leave my husband, the Mafia, the guards, the drivers, and the people that were always watching me.

I married into that life, and I knew what I was getting into.

But over time, it had become too much. When Robert and I were first married, it was me and him against the world.

But now it’s like all decisions are made before I can even voice my opinion.

I was just there… and I couldn’t deal with it any longer.

I look around my apartment. I should be happy, but I’m not.

Because even though I asked for this, I miss my husband.

We’ve been married for thirty-five years, and I feel his absence.

I miss the way he used to look at me. I long for the way he’d slip his hand into mine like it was the most natural thing in the world. Heck, I miss just sitting in his office and watching him work.

My phone buzzes, and without even looking at the caller ID, I know it’s him. It’s as if my body is attuned to him or something.

I dig through my purse, glance at my phone, and see Bobby’s name flashing across the screen. I smile at the nickname. There’s no way I would call him that in front of anyone. To the rest of the world, he’s Robert, but to me, he’s always been Bobby.

I debate whether to answer it. I’m in no rush because I know if I don’t answer, he will just call again. I also know that if I don’t answer it at all, he will come looking for me.

I sigh. As much as I want to see him, I know that I’m not prepared to.

I don’t have the strength to keep him at a distance.

I’m weak, and if he comes in here demanding I come back home, I’m not sure I have it in me to say no right now.

Not with him touching me and while I’m looking into his big brown eyes.

When the phone starts ringing again, I answer.

“Hey, Robert,” I say, using his full name to try and keep some kind of distance.

It sounds like he lets out a breath. “Ellie.”

I clench my eyes shut, hearing my nickname from his mouth. He knows the power he has over me, and he’ll use it to his advantage.

I try to keep my tone professional. “What do you want, Robert?”

He grunts. “Really? You need to ask me what I want? You know what I want. I want my wife, at home, in my bed.”

I walk over to the big bay windows and look down at the city below. “Well, I’m not coming home, so if that’s all you need, there’s no reason for us to continue talking.”

“Wait,” he hurries to say, as if he’s worried I’m going to hang up. “Ellie… Please… Talk to me.”

I sit down in the chair. “Fine. I will talk to you but not if it has anything to do with me coming home.”

He pauses. “Fine. Uh, Cole seems happy.”

I lean back in the chair and play with a strand of my hair, thinking back on our youngest son’s wedding. “Yeah, he is. Happier than I’ve ever seen him. Luna is good for him.”

Robert’s voice is gruff. “She reminds me of you. She thinks she can save the world.”

I shrug. “Maybe she can.”

His voice drops. “You think they’re going to make us grandparents soon?”

I chuckle. “Yes, I guarantee it. Probably sooner rather than later.”

He huffs out a breath, and I don’t have to see him to know that he’s running his hand over his face. “So maybe I didn’t fuck up as bad as I thought I did.”

I sit up at that. Robert has never been one to second-guess himself. He always does what he thinks is best, and as far as I know, he never thinks about it again. It’s not like him to question his actions. “What do you mean?” I ask.

His voice is strangled. “I uh, told the boys they had to get married.”

He’s silent, as if he just dropped a bombshell, and when I don’t react, he comments, “You already knew.”

I stand up and start pacing the living room. “Yeah, they told me.”

When I don’t say anything more, he asks, “And? What are you thinking?”

I close my eyes and shake my head. “You know, in the past, you would have talked to me about something like this before you did it instead of after the fact.”

He bursts out a laugh. “Yeah, well, that’s sort of hard to do since you’ve left me.”

“I didn’t leave you,” I blurt out but just as quickly follow up with “Not really. Not like that.”

His voice is void of emotion. “Well, that’s sure the hell what it feels like.” He grunts. “You’re my wife. You sleep in another house, another bed. I don’t ever see you. It sure as hell feels like you left me.”

I lean my head back and look at the ceiling. “I needed a break.”

“From me?”

I throw a hand up. “From everything, but you know what, this is a perfect example, Robert. You can say you didn’t talk to me about this because I had moved out, but if I was there, you would have made the decision on your own without asking me what I thought.”

“Ellie, you know it’s not just us. We have the whole family to think about, and right now we look weak.”

“Because of me,” I blurt out. “You think we look weak because I moved out?”

Instead of answering, he urges, “It’s time to come home, Ellie.”

I blow out a breath. “I’m not coming home just because you’re worried about keeping up appearances.”

He raises his voice. “I don’t give a fuck what people think. I want my wife back.”

I count to five to try and keep myself calm. But as soon as I finish, I blurt out, “You don’t want a wife. You want someone to stand next to you and make your life easier. You want to take, take, take and give nothing in return. Well, that’s no longer the life I want.”

“Ellie, this is enough. You’ve proved your point.”

I laugh out loud. “No, obviously you’re not listening to me. I’m not trying to prove a point. I’m taking a break.”

There’s no hiding the annoyance in his voice. “You knew what you were getting yourself into when you married me, Eleanor. You knew what living the Mafia life entailed.”

Slowly, I answer, “Yeah, I did. But I didn’t know that I would be losing myself along the way.”