Page 31 of Damned By His Angel

“If you think I had anything to do with this decision, then you clearly don’t know how fucking stubborn your daughter is.” I scowl at my family as they all begin to mutter under their breath, even my parents are joining them. I pin each of them with a look that promises retribution. My aunt and uncles are the first to close their mouths and smile sheepishly, my parents follow suit.

“Can we maybe… go inside and talk?” I ask. Everyone begins speaking at once. I jolt backward and smack into Cronos. I look up at him to find a smile on his face.

“Still here, angel,” he reassures me. Some of the panic that was rising inside me begins to ease. Nos interlocks our fingers as we follow after the others, I haven’t been here since the night Uncle Bishop granted me my freedom from the family. It feels weird and kind of like a full circle. When I left here, I was adamant that I would never return and Amelia Murdoch would never see the light of day again. Now, as I enter the home I grew up in I feel… at peace. I don’t need to be Max Kingsley anymore. If I’m going to raise a strong independent woman, then I need to lead by example and show my daughter that I was strong enough to face my fears and not give a fuck what the rest of the world thinks about my last name.

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.

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