6. Robert
ROBERT
I’m trying to catch my breath and not flatten my wife at the same time. I pull out and lie down next to her. I’m not ready for this to be over. I haven’t been able to hold her in months, and I don’t want to let her go now.
I gather her in my arms and draw her to me, wrapping my arms and legs around her.
I let out a contented sigh as I nuzzle my nose against her neck.
We’re both quiet, and that’s when I notice that Eleanor is a little too quiet. I lift my head and search her eyes. “You okay?”
She assures me, “Yeah, I’m good. I’m better than I have been in a long time.”
I let out a sigh of relief. Thank God.
I clench my eyes shut and then open them. “You know we need to talk about today and what happened with Victor Sterling.”
She tries to pull away from me. “I didn’t go there on purpose—”
I stop her. “I know you didn’t. I’m saying we need to talk about it. It’s my fault. Obviously he feels like he has the right to talk to you when he doesn’t, and I’m going to take care of it.”
She opens her mouth but closes it quickly.
I stroke my hand across her cheek. “I can’t let him get away with what he did today.”
She blinks. “I know.”
I go up on my elbow and look down at her. “You need to tell me, baby. Did he touch you?”
She shakes her head. “No. I would tell you if he did. He didn’t.”
Relieved, I nod. “I’m buying the Italiano.”
Her eyes widen. “What?”
I nod without hesitation. “Yeah, I’m buying it. If you want Italiano, you get it.”
She rolls her eyes and pats me on the chest. “I don’t need it that much. That’s crazy, Robert.”
“Nope,” I tell her. “It’s Bobby to you.”
She smiles at that. “Fine. That’s crazy, Bobby. You can’t buy the Italiano.”
“I can buy anything I want,” I mutter.
She laughs softly, and damn if it’s not my favorite sound in the world. I kiss her forehead. “I’m also going to start buying up midtown. The Sterlings think they’re moving closer to us? Fine. I’ll beat them to it.”
She traces her finger across my chest. “So you’re going to buy up midtown, and the Sterlings are doing the same thing. Eventually we’re all just going to crash into each other.”
My jaw tightens. “Yeah.”
She studies me for a second. “You’re worried.”
“I’m not worried,” I answer automatically.
Her eyebrows lift.
I sigh. “Fine. I’m worried about you.”
Her expression softens instantly. I shift onto my side so I can see her better. “Victor wasn’t after just lunch today, Ellie. He was making a statement.”
She shakes her head. “There’s no way he would have known I was going to be there. I just kept walking and decided to go when I saw the sign.”
I grit my teeth. “He could have ignored you, but he chose not to. No, he made a big deal about approaching you, knowing it would get back to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he arranged for people to take pictures and video of you two together. It was a statement, Ellie.”
She asks, “To you?”
“To everybody.” I grit my teeth. “He wanted people to see my wife sitting with him. He wanted people talking.”
Her face twists. “Well, people are probably talking. The pictures were all over social media.”
Rage spikes through me all over again. “I should have killed him years ago.”
“Bobby.”
“I mean it,” I snap. “He scared you.”
She reaches for my hand. “I’m okay.”
“But you weren’t,” I point out. “You were standing in a restaurant with Victor Sterling blocking the damn door, and I wasn’t there to protect you.”
Her hand squeezes mine. “You can’t protect me from everything.”
“I should.”
She lets out a soft breath, and I know she’s trying not to argue with me. But it’s who I am. Protecting her is as natural to me as breathing.
I brush a strand of blond hair behind her ear. “Come home.”
The words are soft, but everything in me is riding on them.
She goes still in my arms, and I already know before she answers.
“Bobby…”
Pain slices through my chest, but I keep my face blank.
“I’m not saying no,” she says quickly. “I’m just not ready yet.”
I look away from her and stare at the ceiling. Every instinct inside me wants to push and demand she do what I say. It’s on the tip of my tongue to remind her that she belongs with me, but ignoring her needs and wants is what got us here.
I force myself to relax and look back at her. “Okay.”
She blinks at me like she expected a fight.
I cup her face in my hand. “But I want security outside this building at all times.”
“Robert—”
“Ellie,” I warn.
She sighs. “Fine. But I don’t want to be followed everywhere.”
I don’t answer.
Her eyes narrow. “Bobby.”
I pull her against me and bury my face in her neck so she can’t see my expression. “We’ll discuss it.”
She bursts out laughing, and the sound calms me.
Fuck, I’ve missed us.
Her fingers slide through my hair, and she whispers, “I hate this.”
I pull back enough to look at her. “Hate what?”
“All of it.” She gestures vaguely. “The danger and always looking over our shoulders. We never know who is watching.”
Guilt punches me square in the chest. “I built this life, and somewhere along the way, I stopped noticing what it was costing you. My job was to protect you from all that.”
“Our life,” she corrects softly. “Not just yours. Ours.”
The word hits me hard. This is our life and not just mine alone.
I close my eyes briefly before opening them again. “I guess I forgot that at some point.”
Her forehead creases. “Forgot what?”
“That it was supposed to be me and you against the world.” I swallow hard. “Not me shutting you out while I carry everything alone.”
Emotion flashes across her face, and I know I got it right. That’s exactly what happened to us. It wasn’t one big thing; it was a thousand little things.
I pull her tighter against me. “I fucked this up, Ellie. But I’m going to fix it.”
She presses her lips against my chest. “We’ll fix it.”
We lie here quietly, and for the first time in months, I feel something close to peace.
But then Victor Sterling’s face flashes through my head again, and just like that, every muscle in my body goes tight.
Eleanor notices immediately. “What is it?”
I stare up at the ceiling. “Victor isn’t going to stop.”
Her body stiffens against mine.
“He was testing boundaries today,” I say flatly. “Seeing what he could get away with and figuring out just how fractured we really are.”
She lifts her head and looks at me. “We’re not fractured.”
I hold her gaze.
“No,” I agree quietly. “We’re not.”