I flex my hands into fists, and my jaw clenches.
“You knocked out my security?” I ask quietly.
Victor shrugs. “He’ll live.”
That calm response nearly pushes me over the edge. I take a step toward him and immediately feel Eleanor’s hand wrap around my arm.
“Bobby.”
Just her voice is enough to stop me from doing something I shouldn’t.
Victor’s eyes flick between us, and a smile spreads across his face. “You know, for a couple that was supposedly falling apart, the two of you seem pretty attached.”
I stare at him. “You come near my wife again, and I won’t just kill you. I’ll dismantle everything you’ve built piece by piece until there’s nothing left.”
For the first time, the smile slips slightly from his face.
He glances over my shoulder as more of my men spread across the street. “Looks like I’ve overstayed my welcome.”
“You were never welcome,” I snap.
Victor looks back at Eleanor one last time. “Be careful, Eleanor. Kingdoms fall every day, and the Kingstons are next.”
It kills me that I just have to stand here and watch him walk away. I want to end him right now, but I can’t. Not with all these people watching.
I pull Ellie against me. “Fuck, Ellie.”
She wraps both arms around my waist and presses her face against my chest. “I’m okay.”
Knox walks toward us while helping Paul to walk. “He’s got a concussion, but he’ll be all right.”
I nod once. “Take him back to the estate and get a doctor there.”
Paul looks stricken. “I’m so sorry, Eleanor.”
She waves him off. “This isn’t your fault.”
Bennett’s gaze shifts toward the end of the street where Victor disappeared. “What do you want us to do about Sterling?”
I don’t answer right away because right now all I care about is the woman trembling in my arms.
Finally, I look at my son. “Victor Sterling just signed his death warrant.”
Silence falls between us because he knows exactly what that means.
I carry Ellie to our SUV and hold her in my lap the whole way back to the Kingston estate, where I take her straight upstairs.
The second we step inside our bedroom, I lock the door behind us and pull her into my arms again.
“I should’ve never let you go there alone,” I mutter against her hair.
She leans back enough to look at me. “First of all, I wasn’t alone. And Bobby, you can’t blame yourself for this.”
“The hell I can’t.” I cup her face gently. “You were standing on a sidewalk with Victor Sterling while I wasn’t there.”
Emotion flashes across her face, and then she says, “But you came for me.”
I hold her cheeks in my palms. “I will always come for you. Always.”
