Chapter 20

Cronos

I expected the rest of her family to make themselves scarce but apparently I was wrong, we're all ushered into Bishop's office. King and Allison claim their seats on the sofa and leave the space between them open for Amelia.

Fuck that!

I tug her down onto the couch beside me and wrap my arm around her shoulders. King shoots me a glare but says nothing. Carlina, Knight, Gage and Rook claim the spare seats around the room while Bishop sits behind his desk. This doesn't feel right and I can tell from how stiff Meelz is she isn't comfortable with this setup either.

"Do all of them need to be here for this?" I say to no one in particular.

"Given the fact she made a call about an ambush, yes, they all need to be here because it was their lives and the life of my brother in law on the line that night." Meelz immediately lowers her gaze to her lap at Bishop's statement. I want to tell him to fuck off but in truth, I understand his reasoning because if that was my brothers and London I would feel the same way he does.

"Meelz, can you tell us what's going on?" Rook asks gently.

"You got something to tell us, Cronos?" King grits out. I look at him trying to decipher his meaning but when he flicks his gaze to Meelz's belly, I stiffen a fraction and shake my head trying to tell him without words not to push her on that. He looks like he wants to say more but thinks better of it when Amelia slowly lifts her head and faces him.

"I fucked up… badly," she admits. Pride swells inside my chest, she's fucking strong and courageous. Not a lot of people would be able to sit here and face a room full of powerful people like she is.

"How?" Allison asks.

"I—I think I need to start from when I left." I squeeze her shoulders gently.

"You start from wherever you are comfortable, sweetheart," Carlina adds lovingly. Meelz takes a deep breath and squares her shoulders but still keeps her gaze lowered. My anger peaks at the sight of her feeling ashamed. I reach out and grip her chin, forcing her to look at me.

"You have nothing, I mean not a goddamn fucking thing to be ashamed about, do you hear me?" She searches my gaze for a second before melting.

"Okay," she whispers. I release her and slink back into my seat, ignoring everyone's gazes on me, their opinions mean nothing. She turns back to her father, who is still glaring at me. "Colson Salvatoro found me in Chicago." At the mention of his former employee, King faces his daughter looking murderous.

"He's a dead man," King forces out through clenched teeth.

"Agreed," I mutter.

"The guy from college?" Knight asks. Meelz nods. "What does he have to do with any of this?"

"He and I were… sort of…" She exhales and closes her eyes for a beat before finally continuing. "Colson and I were an item, dating or whatever you want to call it." King's face morphs into a picture of rage like I have never seen before, his hands clenched on his lap. Allison appears to be battling to stay calm, almost like she knows exactly where this story is going. "Things went wrong a few months into the relationship and Colson… changed."

"Changed, how?" Bishop snarls. The force in which he utters those two words shows me why he is still the Don.

"He became unhinged and…" Her bottom lip trembles as she looks to me for help.

"The cunt hurt her in more ways than any of us can comprehend or want to imagine," I answer for her. She instantly huddles into my side when the room breaks out into chaos. All the males are yelling and planning ways to kill this cunt while the two females are sitting there staring at my girl with tears in their eyes. Allison ignores the men as she…

Holy fuck!

She drops to her knees in front of Amelia, grabs both her trembling hands and kisses the top of each of her knuckles. Meelz stares down at her mother as tears trail down her cheeks.

"I am so sorry, my daughter. I should have been there?—"

Meelz cuts Ally off before she can continue. "Mom, no?—"

"Amelia, I am your mother and I should have known!" she screams. Silence encases the room at her outburst. "I know you hate this life. I thought accepting what you wanted and letting you go would be the best thing for you. I was so fucking wrong and I will never forgive myself for that but, you also need to know that Colson signed his own death date when he laid his hands on my beautiful little girl." A sob claws its way out of her. Meelz pulls forward and drops down in front of her mother, wrapping her arms around her and holding her close as they both cry.

I cut a glance to King, who is staring at both girls on their knees crying, he looks like his heart has just been ripped out of his chest and put through a meat grinder. "I want his fucking head on a spike out front of my house," he snarls. At her father's declaration Amelia pushes back from her mother and looks at her father.

"No."

King's face turns red as if ready to argue, before this shit can turn into a battle ground between Meelz and her dad, I cut in. "He isn't yours to end, he's hers, so the choice remains with her," I declare.

"What the fuck do you have to do with any of this, Cronos?" Bishop snaps.

"He's with me and if you don't like that, then too bad!" my angel says in my defense. I know she means well, trying to speak in my defense, but given the information she has just dropped, her family won't accept my presence easily and that's okay. I'll show each of these fucking Murdoch's that I'm not temporary, I'm here for the long haul.

"Clearly my presence isn't up for negotiation, so how about we get to the part where we tell you that Colson Salvatoro knows your pick up times, the place and when for each month," I say.

"You fucking ratted us out!" Knight roars.

"You're dead, you fucking snitch!" Rook adds.

"Take him!" Bishop orders, but before any of them can move to follow the command of their don, Meelz speaks up.

"He didn't rat on anyone… I did." The looks on everyone's faces at her admission is priceless. The guys look torn between wanting to strangle her and betrayed. Carlina and Allison both stare at Meelz with understanding as if they know why she did what she did. In the eyes of the mafia, Amelia just committed the greatest act of betrayal. Most families wouldn't allow you to live. I'm banking on the Murdochs not going with that option, because if they decide that is the route they want to go, then a war will ensue because I'll never allow them to harm her.

"Why?" King whispers brokenly. "Do you hate me that much that you wanted not only me but my brothers and Vincent to get killed? Do you want your cousins to grow up without their fathers?" His questions may be valid but I know Amelia and I know she can't take much more of this shit from her family—she isn't the same girl they once knew. I rise from my seat on the couch, drawing their attention to me and off her. I keep my gaze on the males as I offer Meelz my hand blindly. She places her hand in mine and slowly rises to her feet beside me.

"Hate is a strong word, she never meant to hurt any of you!" I roar. Each of them jerk back at my harsh shout. "Did you miss the fucking part where you were told that she was beaten? How about the part where he not only physically abused her but mentally fucking destroyed the woman you once knew? Pull your fucking heads out of your ass or you will be the ones growing old without her."

"Is that a threat, you little cunt?" King snarls as he steps forward, Bishop and Gage hold him back when Amelia huddles into my side and hides her face.

"It's a promise," I say with such conviction no one can dispute that I speak the truth. "You felt what she is hiding." King's face hardens.

"You took advantage of her?—"

I cut her father off before he can continue his bullshit. "Much like her mother, I will love that little girl the same way Allison loves Amelia. There may not be an ounce of my DNA in her little veins but she is mine , make no fucking mistake of that, and if you or your family put either of my girls in harm's way, I will take them both from you. You and your family do not scare me, I've been to hell, King, and believe me, I'd go back again if it meant keeping my family safe."

"What the hell is he talking about?" Allison breathes out as she climbs to her feet, she looks to her daughter but Meelz keeps her face hidden in my side.

"Ally–"

"Shut the hell up, King," Allison snaps, she looks scared and that isn't a look I would have expected to see on her face. "Amelia, what are they talking about?" The pleading tone of her voice has me snapping out of my anger. I gently shift Meelz so she is in front of me with her back to my chest. Her mother runs her gaze up and down her, looking for signs of injury but the second I rest both my hands on her bump, Allison stumbles back a step and covers her mouth with her hand.

"Mom—" Meelz is silenced when her mother shakes her head. My temper flares. How dare she judge my angel.

"I'm going to be a grandmother!" At Allison's outburst I reel back, Amelia even tenses, that was not what either of us were expecting her to say.