Chapter 29

Cronos

It's early hours in the morning by the time we land in Switzerland. Bishop got the green light from Ian, Knox and Waverly both agreed that the Da Luca Family and the Re Della Strada would stand behind us on our hunt to bring Amelia home. King had Allison flown back to New York where his sister and sister-in-laws will remain at her side until we all return. Bishop has the whole floor Allison is on blocked off and thirty men standing guard with Luka leading them—they have orders to shoot to kill.

"Nos?" I shake my head and turn to look at London, who is sitting between me and Artemis while King drives and Vincent rides shotgun. King says he won't leave my side in case Meelz calls again. I know it's fucking with his head that she called me and not him. Truth is, I know she only called me because that fucker wanted to hurt her more than he already had by forcing her to end things with me.

"Yeah?" I croak out.

"Whatever it takes, no matter how long, I swear Artemis and I will be by your side. We'll destroy that fucker and tear him apart limb by fucking limb and feed him to our dogs."

"Baby, we don't have dogs," Art interjects. London just shrugs.

"We'll get some dogs then, whatever. My point is, we'll kill every single one of them and make them pay for hurting your feelings."

"Lon, you know that fucker hurt Amelia, right?" I ask. London doesn't do emotions so this is a subject we need to tend to gently or she will clam up and go on a rampage just to prove she has bigger balls than any man.

"Yeah, well, she hurt you too." I sigh and scrub a hand down my face.

"You know she's your aunt, right?" King growls.

"Not by choice." London mutters.

Before anyone can butt in I push on. "London, I love you. You are my best fucking friend but you have to let this shit with Amelia go." Her eyes narrow. "She is important to me and as much as you love me, you love Artemis more, right?"

I can see she doesn't want to answer but when my twin clears his throat she has no choice. "Yes," she grits out.

"Well, I feel the same way about her, Lon. Her and Kingsley are the most important people in this world to me and I will do whatever it takes to get them both back. I need you to let go of the past and accept what this is because she is my future, and I want you to be in my life, but not if you keep hating her. I won't raise Kingsley like that."

Her gaze waivers slightly, which is the only sign I get that my words have hurt her and I feel like a dick for doing it, but she has to know that Amelia is it for me and I won't allow anyone to shame her or make her feel anything less than the fucking queen she is.

"Fine. But if she ever hurts you again, kid or not, I am going to beat her ass." Both King and Vin snort.

"You do know she has years of training on you and put my daughter on her ass, right?" Vincent says. London scrunches her face and shoots him a sour look. Artemis being the pussy pleaser he is, wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her in close.

"I think you could take her, babe," my twin says.

"And I think you could take a bullet from Royal but I guess we both know the outcome of either of those situations for sure," King adds, earning a cough laugh from Vin while I mask my own laughter. My brother may be marrying the heiress, but he still cops shit from her family daily. It doesn't matter if he is the Don of the Greeks, or the reason London is alive today and stepping up to take over when the time comes. He will always take shit from them because that is just the relationship he has with his future in-laws and I guess… they will also be mine someday too.

It's strange to think like that. I never once thought I would put a ring on anyone's finger after Aida and yet with Meelz, it feels like the right next step to take. She isn't like most girls and I know the age gap between us puts me years behind her, but it has never bothered me. At the start it was her that tried to push me away and told me to find someone my own age, but what she didn't realize was age is nothing but a number. I plan to spend the rest of my years showing her how much I love her and will never allow her to see herself as anything less than perfect.

It's been too long since her and I spent a night tangled up in the sheets and fucking like wild animals. She may tease me about my age but she fucking loves how my stamina rivals anyone else she has been with before.

My thoughts are halted when we pull up in front of one of Costa's old houses. We chose to stay here rather than buying a new house and drawing suspicion, in case Colson is monitoring the market. Artemis and I haven't been back here since we left Switzerland, this home holds no good memories for us or any memories really. I spent as little time here as I possibly could. That fucker was never my father, he just happened to be the human whose nut sack I came from.

Artemis lets us out and the others fan out to make sure the house is clear, not trusting my brother or his men who already went ahead and scouted the place out. I smile to myself, knowing Royal is only doing this to fuck with him but I can tell it pisses my twin off to constantly be under minded.

I head into the kitchen to wait for the others, I'm itching to get the fuck out there and start tracking. I know a lot of this mission is resting on Chaos, Sin and Vincent. They are the best trackers the Murdochs have and Vincent's skills are unmatched by anyone except his own daughter, who managed to evade him and earn the name Hellhound. No one around the world knows Vincent Murelo's true identity, except for those in his close circle. To the rest of the world he is known as the Bloodhound, he is the man you send in when everyone and everything else fails to take down your enemy.

"Where can I set up?" Vin asks.

I wave my arms around the room. "Wherever the fuck you want, this place is at your disposal." He nods and waves over two guards, who carry bags and suitcases, then lines them up on the giant size dining table. He pulls out wires, cords, screens and so much other shit I lose track. Sin and Chaos come to lend a hand while the rest of us stand around the room—it's fucking infuriating having to wait for someone else. I hate not having control and being the one knowing everything.

"Okay, I'll narrow down the feeds for the airport and any private airstrip, you two take the northern and southern routes and I'll take the eastern and?—"

"Give me the north." My brows raise in surprise at London's declaration, she lifts her head and shoots me a wink. Vincent hands her the other laptop as she takes a seat between Chaos and Sin. I watch them with rapt attention as they push so many keys on the keyboard I lose track.

"Do you mean what you said?" I look to the side and raise a brow at Royal.

"About?"

"London told me what you said about Meelz in the car." Bishop comes to stand behind his son, I get the feeling he is only here to try and intimidate me, so I nip that shit right in the ass before they can continue.

"I meant every word. You know I love London, always have and always will, I'll protect her with my life."

"I was talking about what you said about Amelia."

"My relationship with her is none of your concern, Royal."

"It may not be his but it is mine. We all helped raise that girl. She will always be special to my family as the first child. You break her heart and I'll break your fucking neck," Bishop threatens.

"I got a positive ID!" Sin calls out, ending our conversation as we all rush to her and fight to peer over her shoulder.

"Unless all you dumbasses want her to shoot you, back the fuck up and give her some space!" Kacey shouts. Given how well everyone knows Chanel and how short her fuse is, we all take a step back and allow Kacey to move forward and stand behind her. "Do you, Sin."

A hush falls over the room as we all listen to Sin and Kacey calling out details to London, Vincent and Chaos. My brother stands behind London and speaks quietly so none of us can hear what he says.

"If you are anything like your brother, you won't have a problem with my family," Royal says low enough so only I can hear.

"If that was the case, why do you keep putting him through the shit you do?" I volley back.

"Because Artemis constantly needs to be tested, unlike you when he marries, he inherits two of the most powerful families in the world as well as his own. Your brother will be the most untouchable man on the earth when he takes over for me and my dad. That power can cause some men to alter who they truly are. I won't allow my daughter to be married to a man who succumbs to power. He needs to show us all that he can keep a level head and block out all the noise to rule fairly."

"Has he proven that to you?"

Royal lulls his head to the side and pins me with a dry stare. "If I didn't think he could handle it, I wouldn't allow the little shit to be marrying my daughter, no matter what my wife said."

"Artemis isn't like me, he will always rise to the challenge and prove anyone wrong who doubts him. Make no mistake, I love my brother but I also love your daughter. If I thought for a second that he was using her, I would end their relationship myself."

"Why didn't you take her from him when you had the opportunity?" he queries. My upper lip twitches. I know this is his way of testing me, to see if I am good enough to be with his cousin so I decide to surprise him by answering.

"Because she was never mine to take. I allowed the demons of my past to cloud my judgment for a short time, that is why I would never be able to lead. Unlike me, my brother is not ruled by his emotions, his only blind spot is London. Nothing else in this world matters to him. He would walk away from all the power in the world to be with her."

"And you wouldn't do that for Amelia?"

"No. Having all that power would mean I could protect her and keep her safe, but it would weigh too heavily on me and given both mine and Amelia's pasts, it would crush us both and I can't allow that to happen."

"If your brother ever falls, what becomes of the Greeks then?"

Ah, there it is, the real question he wants an answer to.

"He would be married to London by then. She can have it all, so long as myself and the triplets are never called back to serve. I would walk away and allow her to have our birthright. You and I both know she was born to lead, she has every characteristic of a true leader. You don't really care about what is happening between me and Amelia." A sly smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth. "You just wanted me to validate what you already suspect about my brother and confirm your faith in your daughter."

"We got a location, let's roll out!" Chanel shouts, every single one of us rush into the entryway to arm ourselves.

I'm coming for you, angel.