Page 27 of Broken King

Ava agrees with her but adds that getting money from the guy isn’t going to change things. The Kings have billions. A few million more isn’t going to make Ronan’s hand reappear. It’s just money, and when all you want is something money can’t buy, winning some lawsuit doesn’t really matter much.

I wish so much I could do something to help him get back what he lost.

CHAPTER TEN

Ronan

I knowwhat Ava’s up to. She thinks she’s being clever or sly, but I see right through her plan. She thinks inviting my ex-girlfriend over here is going to make me want to leave my room more often. She’s probably hoping I’ll want to talk to her. I can see her actually telling Kate how good it would be for me to see her.

Well, she’s wrong. It’s not fucking good. It’s torture. There she is looking as beautiful as ever sitting downstairs, just like she did when we were together. Even seeing her brings back a million memories of all the good times we had. I’ve never loved anyone like I loved her.

Except those days are long gone.

Then I was a high school kid with big dreams and a belief I could have anything I wanted. She was completely out of my league, but I didn’t think twice about asking her out. Kate Abbott got great grades, was gorgeous, and was as sweet as any guy could ask for. I was just a jock who came from a family with a lotof money. Still, I never doubted myself when I asked her out that first time.

Why would I? I had the world by the tail.

I push away the half of my turkey sandwich left, disgusted by how dry it tastes without mayonnaise. But I couldn’t hang out down there even long enough for Eleanor to slap some on the sandwich because then Kate would see once again how fucking broken I am. It’s only a matter of time before she realizes the truth and doesn’t want to be anywhere near me.

Better for me to save us both the time and stay away.

My mind drifts back to seeing her downstairs, no matter how much I try not to think about that. She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. I wonder if she’s still single. If so, then the entire population of males in this area have lost their minds.

I look down at my own left hand and think about how I imagined I’d marry her. She was my first girlfriend, but I didn’t want anyone else. I’d found the one for me. My brothers could do all the comparison shopping for women they wanted. I didn’t need to do that once Kate and I were together.

All that went away that New Year’s Eve. Even if I wanted to try again with her, I can’t think about that. She’s the whole package. Smart, sexy, beautiful, and kind. And what am I? A guy with no right hand and no future because the only thing I ever wanted to do is now an impossibility.

She deserves better than a life with someone like me. All I can offer her is money, and why would she give a damn about that when she has so much more to offer a man?

I walk into the bathroom and catch a glimpse of my face in the mirror. I’ve definitely let myself go. Fuck, I look like some goddamned mountain man. Not that I can do anything about that. I haven’t gone looking for a razor, but I doubt my brother, Ava, or Eleanor left one in here.

What’s it matter anyway? Who the fuck am I shaving for?

Just as I suspected, when I open the medicine cabinet, I see nothing sharp. There’s not much at all, other than those pills they gave me that I won’t take. The doctor claims they’ll make me feel better. All they ever did was make me feel like my damn head was three feet above my body.

Frustrated, I slam the cabinet door and storm out into my room. I’m not a fucking child. It’s not like I’m planning to slice myself up right here in my childhood bedroom with my brother, Ava, and my nephews in the same house. It would probably be Eleanor who found me anyway, and I wouldn’t do that to her. She’s been like a mother to me, for fuck’s sake.

Maybe there’s one in Marius or Kellen’s rooms. They made Theo’s room into the nursery, but I overheard Matthias say to Ava that they won’t be changing my other brothers’ bedrooms to the boys’ rooms until they’re older.

I look out into the hallway and don’t see anyone, so I hurry over to Kellen’s room to look for a razor. You’d swear these things are made of gold the way they’ve hidden them from me.

Even as I think that, I know that isn’t the reason. I get it. I tried to off myself. That was a rough period for me. I swore to Matthias I wouldn’t try it again, especially here. You’d think they’d believe me.

Kellen’s bathroom is so spotless you could eat off the floor. Eleanor probably had one of her people scrub the place down after he stayed here for a couple days when Ava had Theo. Nothing but towels in the linen closet, and when I look in the medicine cabinet, it’s empty. Not even a damn Q-Tip.

If I’ve ever needed Eleanor and her staff to be slackers, it would be now.

I make my way down the hall to Marius’s room, but it’s the same story. Nothing but a perfectly clean floor and surfaces with nothing left behind anywhere.

My last chance is Matthias’s old room. Actually, there are probably a few razors in the room he and Ava share that used to be our parents’ bedroom, but I’d rather not try there and have to answer for what I’m doing if Ava walks in.

Matthias left nothing in his bedroom when he moved down the hall. Damn. You’d think in a house that once had five young men living here that I’d be able to find a single razor.

So much for trying to shave. Not that I know if I can even do it since I’ve never shaved with my left hand. Ava helped me with that right after I came here, but since then, I’ve let it grow until now I look like I’ve been lost in the outback for weeks.

Feeling defeated, I start back to my room but run into Sabrina. She intentionally avoids making eye contact with me, probably because of what I said yesterday out on the patio. She might know where I can find a razor, though.

“Hey.”

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