Chapter 22

Cronos

Eight weeks later…

"She isn't coping, Cronos. Put a bullet in the cocksucker's head and then get your ass back here!" King snarls down the phone. I roll my eyes at his dramatics.

"How the fuck do I kill this cunt when I can't fucking find him?" I snap back. Vincent, Koby, Knight, Chanel, Chaos and even Artemis have been trying to track this cunt down, hacking into every camera in the city, trying to find him. His Tech company is now nothing but ash. His security firm was to be blown to pieces, but the building was empty. No sign of life or anything inside, but a quick search told me that the fucking place is still being paid for. I've spent the past two weeks trying to track down the owner of the building to get intel from him but he's somehow vanished into thin air as well.

"Where are you?"

"Parked out front of the fucker's security building waiting for—" I'm cut off by the sound of knocking on the window. When I see who it is I growl. "Smooth," I grit out before pushing the button to unlock the doors and ending the call. King slips into the seat beside me, like this is fucking normal. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You're taking too long and the fact we have been shot at twice collecting product and guns from the ports isn't working out well for my brothers. Be thankful it's me here and not Bishop."

I scoff. "I'm not thankful for any of you!" King pins me with a glare but I ignore it. "You should be back in New York looking after Amelia and making sure she is okay?—"

"She left yesterday to go back to Minnesota."

I reel back so hard, I smack into my door. "What?" I yell.

He grinds his teeth as if this is pissing him off just as much as me. "She refused to have the baby in New York and said she wanted to return home ." I grit my teeth so fucking hard my jaw begins to ache. I lift my phone and hit her number, it rings twice before she picks up. King and I remain in a stare off.

"Now, after all this time you want to fucking call?—"

"I told you to stay the fuck in New York!"

"Yeah, well, you weren't there to stop me now, were you?" My nostrils flare in anger.

"Amelia—"

"Cronos!" Regardless of how angry I am with her, just hearing her voice and the way she is sassing me shows that she is finally starting to find her old self again and that has pride swelling inside me.

"Don't push me, angel." King's eyes narrow at my pet name for his daughter.

"I'd do a lot more to you but… oh, wait that's right, you're not here!"

A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. "Someone seems like they chose violence when they woke up today," I tease.

"This someone can't even see their own toes or put socks on anymore, so I am violent every day!"

My anger vanishes. "I bet you still look beautiful though." King makes a disgruntled sound and tears his gaze from mine.

"I look like a house."

"A house I would love to live inside of," I answer without thought, until King snaps his head toward me and bares his teeth.

"I'll punch you in your fucking throat, asshole," he vows. I can't help the laughter that breaks free.

"Is that my dad?" The sound of her voice cuts my laughter short.

"Yup," I say, making sure to pop the ‘ p ' so she knows I am just as shocked about her father's arrival as I am sure she is.

"Good, he got there safely." I recoil for the second time, and this time I smack my head against the window, making my anger rise even further. King winks at me and I grind my teeth, trying to calm down enough so I don't punch my girlfriend's father in the face.

"Why is your father here?" I grit out through clenched teeth.

"Because Mom and I needed him out of the way so he wouldn't hover while we came home to set up for Kingsley's arrival and I thought if he was there to help, then that would mean you could come home sooner." I can hear the slight tremor in her voice at the mention of me coming home but all I heard was one thing.

"Kingsley?" I whisper.

She's silent for a moment as if she has only just realized what she said. "Oh, I uh… I mean I just thought that?—"

"You named our baby?" I whisper. King eyes me and the look in his eyes is calculating like he is waiting for any excuse to strike out at me if I say or do the wrong thing.

"Yeah… Are you mad?" I smile and shake my head even though she can't see me.

"No, angel. I'm not mad. I think Kingsley is a perfect name for our little girl."

"Good, because Max Kingsley gave me the life I thought I wanted and that name will always be special to me so I wanted to pass that on to our baby."

"You don't want to be Max anymore?" King's eyes widen slightly and we both wait with bated breath to hear her answer.

"No. It's time I stopped hiding who I truly am. I am Amelia Murdoch and it's about time I started acting like it."

Pride swells inside me, she is fucking perfect and so strong. "God, you truly are fucking amazing, do you know that?" King scrunches his face in disgust. I wag my brows at him, earning a scathing look before he turns to look out his window.

"Stop it. I'm way too hormonal for you to be all cute and shit." It feels surreal to be on the phone with her and talking about every day shit. Her father is in the next seat beside me, with a small smile on his face like it makes him happy to hear how happy she is. "Oh my God, Cronos, I swear we need to put her in soccer because she is kicking the shit out of me."

"Angel, she is going to be a nun and live life in a church."

Amelia's laughter has warmth spreading through my chest, I didn't realize how much I have missed her until this moment. I made sure not to call or text so I wouldn't be distracted—she is a blind spot for me. Whenever she is around or on my mind, I lose focus of everything else, she becomes my gravity, my home, my everything.

"You can't lock her away. She is going to meet a man some day and let's just hope he isn't a creep and weird."

"No men!" I growl. King shakes with silent laughter from beside me. I shoot him a glare, the asshole just pins me with a bored look.

"Coming from the dickhead on the phone to my daughter?" Fuck !

"Not the same thing!" I snarl at him and turn to look at the building in front of me. Suddenly Meelz's voice becomes white noise in the background as I watch a guy approach the front door.

"Angel, I have to go," I say, then end the call and leap out of the car with King hot on my heels. This is the first time I have seen anyone enter this building since I came here weeks ago. We both rush across the road and rather than following straight in after the guy, King and I move toward the back of the building. Once we are out of view of the public, we each pull our guns out and lean against the wall on either side of the back door.

King looks at me and holds up three fingers. I nod and wait for him to count down to zero. I maneuver and kick the door in, rushing inside with King behind covering my six. The instant we enter the main room I freeze. A young guy around my age sits on a single metal chair with a puffer jacket on and shaking like a leaf. It isn't just his shaking that makes me pause, it's the sweat that is dotting his brow and the fact he looks like he is on the verge of tears that has me tensing, King comes to stand by me and eyes the guy with the same scrutiny as me.

Something is fucking off!

"Who are you?" King asks as he continues darting his gaze around the room. I do the same, making sure to keep my head on a swivel. People think that ignoring your gut feeling is the right move but they are wrong, my gut has saved my life more times than I can count and right now, my gut is screaming at me that this is a set up.

"You're looking in all the wrong places." King and I share a look before turning back to the kid who upon closer inspection looks like he is a… teenager.

"What does that mean?" I press.

"You forget I worked with your family, I know Luka doesn't watch part of the city and know how to play in the blind spots."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I shout.

"He's a messenger." I turn to look at King who looks… shaken. "This was a tactic we used years ago to send a message to our enemies." The weight of his words slams into me, I've heard about this type of shit before. You find some no name schmuck off the street, pay off their debt, so they can send a message without the source ever being present. Most of them speak as if they are the source but that isn't all… my blood runs cold.

"What's beneath the jacket?" I grit out.

The kid gulps, his eyes dart around the room and he looks scared, but I can tell he is trying to mask his fear by faking confidence. "You have a choice to make, your majesty."

King's jaw locks, I dart my gaze between the both of them, my gut is telling me that King's sudden appearance here in Chicago didn't go unnoticed by the fucker I have been tracking.

"I don't do well with ultimatums," King growls.

"You will have a choice to make, refuse my offer and you will lose them both."

Suddenly my own bravado begins to waiver, I swallow audibly as my mind starts to conjure horrific images.

"Lose who?" I force out through clenched teeth as I take a step forward, but still instantly when he raises his hand and I see a detonator clutched in his grip. My eyes widen, the puffer jacket makes sense now—he has a fucking bomb strapped to him!

"No sudden moves!" the kid bellows. King shifts his gun ready to fire but the kid pushes on. "The moment my heart stops beating it goes off." King waivers slightly but doesn't lower his gun, I look around the room trying to find an exit or a place to take cover but it's futile, it's a fucking concreate room and the only windows are behind the little fucker.

"Okay. I'm listening, what's your terms?" King snarls, but I can hear the slight edge of worry in his voice.

"You need to choose," the kid responds.

"Choose who?" King roars.

"The one you love most or the one who saved you from yourself." I furrow my brow confused as fuck but King seems to understand exactly what the kid is saying.

"You touch them and I will fucking slice you open and feed you your intestines, you little cunt." I turn to him and raise a brow in question but the stricken look on King's face has worry churning inside me.

Fuck no!

"Amelia and Allison," I say, barely above a whisper. King's jaw locks but he nods subtly confirming my fear.

"One may live, you get to choose which one," the soon to be dead little cocksucker says.

"You touch my wife or daughter?—"

"You never gave my family a chance, I wasn't given a choice!" the kid yells. "Choose, your time is running out. Fail to make a decision and they both die." Before the little fucker can utter another word, I pull the trigger. The bullet hits him between the eyes. We have mere seconds before his heart stops. I grab King's arm and drag him after me as we rush for the exit. We manage to get out of the room and around the corner before the bomb goes off and everything comes crashing down.

The last thought I have is of my girls and praying that Allison can save them both.