Page 35 of Damned By His Angel

“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.”

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