A/N:

This is it! This is the chapter most of you, if not all of you, have been waiting for ever since Carlisle's death!

It's happening! Let's go!

Title: The Death of a Prince

Author: MarieCarro

Beta: Alice's White Rabbit

Pre-reader: brierlynn03, AgoodWITCH, LunaEclipse17

Genre: Crime/Family/Drama

Rating: NC-17

Summary: At age 7, Edward Cullen witnesses his father's death. Traumatized and terrified, he blames himself and runs away.

Two minor league criminals stumble upon him when he wanders the streets at night, freezing and starving, and they decide to take him in.

Years later, Edward is confronted by his past and must decide if he'll take his rightful place as the head of the Irish Mob, or remain with those who raised him. Based on the plot for The Lion King, which belongs to Disney.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

CHAPTER 12

I wish I was there to wish him a happy birthday ... x

Before Bella sent the text to Esme, she made certain there was nothing in it that would indicate her whereabouts or why she was absent, in the unlikely event Caius searched through Esme's phone. He'd never done it in the past, but then again, he hadn't laid a physical hand on her either, so there wasn't anything she put past the maniac anymore.

She carefully placed her phone in her jacket pocket, which she zipped closed. Not so much to prevent someone stealing it because the type of people occupying the hole in the wall posing as a pub in one of the poorest parts of Boston wouldn't be deterred by a zipped pocket. She was extra careful because she didn't want to cause a scene if someone did try to steal it.

"You want something to drink yet?" the bartender asked politely but with a hint of annoyance at the fact that there was someone in his establishment who wasn't planning on getting drunk.

"No, thank you," Bella said without taking her eyes off the door. She was waiting for someone, and the last thing she wanted was to be intoxicated when he arrived. Especially considering what trades he'd once dealt with when he worked under Carlisle.

"Certainly not from around here," the bartender said under his breath, but he still respected her enough to move away toward other patrons and leave her alone. Or maybe it wasn't respect. With her chosen attire for the night, Bella knew she didn't resemble a person of means, and since she was a stranger, he couldn't be certain she would pay for herself.

The dress was too short and too tight for her comfort, although the stiletto boots didn't hinder her ability to inflict pain—would the need arise—the outfit served more than one purpose—to disarm the acquaintance she was meeting with her physical appearance, but also put him at ease with the visual lack of places to hide weapons.

An unfamiliar man came through the door accompanied by two very poorly disguised bodyguards. He swiped his eyes over the pub until they landed on Bella, and a hint of recognition flashed across his expression.

"Isabella Swan?"

Instead of answering him, she assessed him up and down. Once she was satisfied, he matched the description her dad had given her, she nodded for him to sit down on the stool next to her. "Jacob, I presume."

He gave her a smarmy smile, which did nothing but make her want to smack it off his face and leave. "Most people call me Jake. You can, too, if you want."

Bella's hand longed to reach for the concealed blade attached to her stockings, but she was there for a reason, and she was in desperate need of Jacob's help. He was the only one who had answered the call when she reached out and contacted those of Carlisle's previous family members who had retained the privilege of breathing, and as much as she despised the thought of being in debt to the slimeball in front of her, she knew she had little choice.

Still, it didn't mean she had to compromise on her stance on older men pouring their sexual ineptness over younger girls. "Now that I think of it, Dad did call you Jake. Were you close with him? You look to be about the same age."

Jacob's smile immediately fell, and he cleared his throat. "Charlie Swan, you mean? I knew of him, but I mostly dealt with one of Carlisle's generals."

"I would expect as much, considering your trade. Which you left once Caius took over. Why?"

"I never left my trade." Jacob gestured toward the bartender, who immediately placed a drink in front of him without asking, and Bella realized why he'd chosen the pub for the two of them to meet. The two men in suits with obvious gun-bulges under their jackets were only a ploy and not the real bodyguards. The place was probably filled with people working for Jacob. "All I did was change location."

She wasn't deterred by his deflecting of her question and continued to push. "True as that may be, there's a reason you left the family."

His eyes flashed with fear at the mention of the family. "You'd do well to not mention … that family around these parts," he said, his words almost inaudible.

Bella narrowed her eyes. "Why is that? It's Cullen territory, isn't it?"

Jacob vehemently shook his head. "No. And it hasn't been for quite some time. Caius lost the slums very quickly after he took over and started focusing more on the criminals within the socialites. Most people around here hate him with a passion since he closed several businesses that provided them with jobs."

"So, who controls it now? The Italians?"

"No one controls it. Caius left them to fend for themselves, and that's what they did. But trust me, the Cullen name won't gain you favors here."

"How fortunate it's not their favor I'm seeking then," she said and gave Jacob a pointed look.

He leaned away from her, but not even the distance helped him read her any better. "Why exactly did you reach out, Miss Swan? What is it you want?"

"I need to know why Caius allowed you to live. Are you loyal to him?"

"I wouldn't say that."

"Then why?"

"I have a knack for speaking for myself in life-threatening situations."

Bella smiled. "So, you fooled him?"

Jacob shrugged. "I'll neither confirm nor deny it."

"That's good enough for me. Then we can actually talk about what I'm here for, but let me be very clear"—she leaned close enough until her lips almost touched the shell of his ear—"if I'm notified that a single word of this conversation reaches Caius's ears, I'll happily castrate you with a spoon."

Jacob shuddered, and as Bella leaned back again, the fear in his eyes told her he knew she was serious.

—{(DP)}—

Jasper and Emmett walked into the pub with Edward in tow and waved to Marcus behind the bar in greeting, who gave them a nod and gestured toward their usual table before returning his attention to the customer before him.

They each took a seat with a sigh of relief and perused over the evening's selection of patrons. Emmett locked his eyes on two stern-looking men wearing suits and lightly elbowed Jasper to get him to look.

"Take a look at those two. Can you imagine walking around in that kind of getup all day? Looks ridiculous."

Jasper shrugged, and Edward turned his head to see what they were looking at. "I don't know, dude. Nothing wrong with a good suit. Wish I could afford that one of these days."

There was something uncomfortably familiar about the two men that caused Edward to clamp up and turn back around to stare at the worn tabletop. He was certain he'd never seen the men before, but the way they were standing, their hands carefully placed in front of them to reduce the sight of bulk under their jackets, he just knew they were carrying.

Emmett and Jasper continued bickering, as they too often did, but they were beginning to notice how quiet he was.

"You okay, Junior?" Jasper asked.

He tried to shake off the heavy feeling rolling over him like a wave at the thought of the two men. In the part of Boston he'd called home for the last fourteen years, it wasn't out of the ordinary to see petty criminals and street rats carrying guns, but these two looked nothing like the aforementioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said and waved Jasper's worry away before masking his uneasy feeling with a grin. "Since both of you are just gawking at me, does that mean I'm in charge of getting us the drinks?"

Emmett leaned back in his chair and held up his hands in surrender as if his suggestion wasn't already on both their minds. "Well, if you insist, who am I to stop you?"

"You're of age now, kid," Jasper said and gave him two friendly slaps on the back. "That means no more freebies."

Edward shook his head and headed up to the bar. "Hey, Marc! How's business going tonight?" he called for the bartender who immediately looked up in recognition of the voice.

"Eddie, man, good to see you! Heard you're all grown up now. Congratulations." He put the freshly poured drink in front of a sleezy-looking dude sitting with a young woman with her back to Edward. He couldn't see what she looked like apart from her long, dark hair, but she was dressed like a woman on a mission to scam the dude of all his money.

It caused Edward to smile in amusement. The pub was a hot spot for Boston's lawless, so it wouldn't be the first time a man walked out of there sans his wallet.

Marcus came up to him, and they clasped hands over the bar. "Twenty-one years old, huh?" He nodded toward his companions by the table. "Don't you think it's time to ditch those two for more attractive company?"

"I'm not exactly a keeper in girls' books for anything more than a night or two," Edward said with a smirk. "We'll have our usual order."

"I'd be surprised if you didn't." Marcus was already placing three bottles between them. "Open tab?"

"For now. We'll see where the night leads us." He winked and took the drinks back to the table.

"Damn," Emmett said as he looked toward the bar, barely noticing the beer Edward placed in front of him. "You don't see many of her kind around here," he continued and kept on staring.

Jasper rolled his eyes and explained to a confused Edward. "He hasn't been able to tear his eyes off the girl at the bar."

"You mean the one with the sleazeball?"

"Look at that long brown hair. I'd like to wrap my hand around that and give her the ride of her life."

Edward shook his head and met Jasper's look, much more interested in having a bit of fun. "Ten on that she'll have sleazeball's wallet within thirty minutes."

Jasper contemplated and smiled. "I'll take that bet. She doesn't look like someone who'd stroke his ego for pocket change."

Fifteen minutes later, Edward, very disgruntled, handed Jasper one of the few tens he had when the man stood up and left, wallet in hand while the girl hopped off the stool onto scary-looking stiletto heels.

"Fucking hell," he said. "It's like you can read minds or some shit like that."

Jasper accepted the bill with a victorious grin. "I'm just good at reading people."

"I'll never bet against you again." Edward grabbed his beer and took a large swig of it in pure annoyance.

"Oh, no. What the fuck does he think he's doing?"

Edward looked at Jasper, saw he was looking past him toward the bar, and turned to see that Emmett had approached the girl. Even with her back still turned, she appeared less than impressed with what was standing before her. "Well, you know Em. He won't rest until he's hit on every girl in Boston."

"True, but with the way she's looking at him, I'd say he's seconds away from getting his ass kicked." Jasper rose from his seat to intervene, but before he could reach the pair, the girl had pulled out a small knife, which she held steadily against Emmett's crotch. "Shit!" Jasper hurried up his step and placed himself between the two while Edward also stood up, prepared to jump in if needed.

"You might want to rethink that statement," the girl said, her voice deadly calm and yet clearly offended with whatever Emmett had said.

There was something about the intonation of it that rang familiar to Edward, and he slowly started to walk toward the confrontation.

"Whoa, there, I think we should all calm down," Jasper said as he inserted himself into the situation. "Look, I apologize for my friend. He's kind of an idiot, but he's not dangerous."

The girl focused on Jasper, her eyes narrowed, but her hand ever so slightly pressed harder against the seam in Emmett's pants, and he let out a high-pitched squeal. "Does it look like I'm scared of him?"

"No, not at all. I didn't mean to imply that you were."

Edward reached them. "You should put away the knife before anyone gets hurt," he said quietly, but he'd made the mistake of approaching the girl from behind, and she reacted before he had the chance to think. Suddenly, his face was pressed against the bar, and his arm was locked behind his back with the aforementioned knife now directed at him. Everyone at the pub fell silent and raptly watched what was going on.

Marcus had his hand under the counter, most likely reaching for the gun he kept there, ready to interfere if he had to.

She stared into his eyes with steely focus. "The only one getting hurt in that scenario would be you, pretty boy," she said, but Edward wasn't hearing her words anymore.

He would know those chocolate-brown eyes anywhere. It didn't matter that the face they occupied was that of an adult woman instead of a six-year-old girl, or that it was twisted into an enraged grimace.

"Bella?"

She jerked back in shock, but then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Who are you?"

Edward exhaled with an incredulous puff of air. "It is you."

Bella tried to place the man in a memory but came up empty, and it angered her because he said her name with such familiar ease. She tightened the arm lock she had him in, causing him to wince from the pain in his elbow. "I asked you a question."

"It's me." He groaned. "Edward."

Her heart skipped a beat, as it always did at the mention of the boy from her childhood, but it was quickly followed by fury. "Right. As if I would ever believe that. Now, tell me, who the fuck are you?"

Edward felt his own anger build from not being believed, even though he could logically understand why she was hesitant. He'd just up and disappeared fourteen years ago, and now they were suddenly in the same pub.

But still, he didn't like being called a liar.

"I'm telling you the truth. It's really me, Bella!" Despite the growing pain in his arm, he forced himself to look at her, and he saw the exact second the realization hit her. Her expression went blank, her eyes teared up, and she hurriedly stepped away as if touching him had suddenly burned her.

"Edward?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper and trembling. "What—How are you—"

He straightened up and cradled his arm for a second to make certain everything was still working properly. "It's been a long time. It's great to see you," he said, but she didn't seem to hear him.

"Have you been here this whole time?"

"More or less," he said and saw his brothers gaping at him in shock from the periphery of his eye. He didn't blame them for being confused. They'd never met anyone from his past before, and it certainly was one hell of an introduction. "What are you doing here?"

Bella's jaw dropped, but she refused to take her eyes off him. "You're asking me what I'm doing here?"

Edward shrugged sheepishly. He knew it was a stupid question. Bella wasn't the one who'd gone up in smoke. "Yeah, I mean, this isn't exactly your scene, is it?"

She blinked at him, and then shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe this."

Jasper seized the opportunity and cleared his throat. "Junior, what's going on here?"

No one but Edward existed to Bella in that pub, and she spoke over him. "All these years, you've been here, while I—" A sharp whistle interrupted her thought and jarred her back into reality. She glared at the tall, blond man who'd made the offending sound.

"Excuse me, but would the two of you mind explaining some things to the rest of us?" he said, and Bella took a look around only to realize how quiet the pub was and that every person in there were staring and listening to every word they said, including the bartender, still with one hand on the concealed gun under the bar.

Emmett leaned over Jasper's shoulder and whispered to the three of them. "I think we should take this somewhere else."

All of them silently agreed, but as Edward and Bella followed Jasper and Emmett outside, she stepped closer and spoke under her breath.

"You're friends with these two?"

Edward gave her a reassuring smile, hoping it would convince her she could trust his brothers. "Yeah, they're my family."

She flinched at his choice of words and tightened her lips into a small line.

Once they were out of eye and earshot from the pub, Jasper abruptly turned with his arms crossed and stared between Edward and Bella. "Explain."

Bella narrowed her eyes at the order, but Edward didn't hesitate.

"Guys, this is Bella. We were best friends as kids," he said, but Jasper wasn't fully convinced. Edward ignored his mistrusting grimace and went on with the introductions. "Bella, this is Jasper, and the idiot who hit on you is Emmett. He doesn't always think before he speaks.

Emmett gave her a small wave, but it didn't go unnoticed by her how he kept one hand securely in front of his crotch, and the corners of her mouth twitched as she fought a smile.

"Sorry about that," he said. "I'm afraid it's chronic."

Bella's façade broke, and she snorted out a small laugh against her will. It had been years since she felt actual enjoyment in the company of men—apart from her dad. "Apology accepted." She held out her hand for him to shake as a peace offering. "It's nice to meet some of Edward's ... friends."

As Emmett slowly accepted the handshake, Jasper stepped forward and shook his head. "Whoa, let's put a break on things here." He pointed at Bella and Edward. "You two know each other, but minutes ago, she was threatening all of us with a very sharp knife. Are we supposed to just forget about that?"

"Relax, Jazz," Edward said at the same time as Bella said, "It's called self-defense." Edward then continued. "We've been threatened before. It comes with the territory of what we do."

Before Jasper could reply, Bella turned to Edward, her eyes wide. "Does Esme know you're here?" She was certain Esme wasn't that good of an actress, but she still had to ask. She was still reeling from the revelation that Edward wasn't only alive but still in Boston and looking a bit worse for wear but healthy, considering the circumstances.

His stomach plummeted at the thought of his mother. As a kid, he'd thought she wouldn't miss him, but as he grew into an adult, he knew it had probably affected her badly that her son disappeared the same day her husband was killed. But at that point, too much time had passed, and he didn't feel like he could reach out to her, so he had to believe that she had moved on and was doing fine. "No, and she doesn't have to." He looked away from Bella when looking into her familiar eyes caused his stomach to churn uncomfortably. "Nobody needs to know anything about where I've been."

She pushed on his bicep and forced him to turn back to her. "Of course, they do. We all thought you were dead."

"Why?" he asked, unable to make sense of her words.

Bella sighed. "Caius told us what happened that day when Car—"

"Right." Edward was quick to interrupt when he understood whose name she was about to utter. But then his insides squeezed as his mind jumped to what else Caius could have said. "Did he ... did he tell you anything else?"

She didn't want to think about Caius while Edward was in front of her, so she quickly swallowed the rising bile at the back of her throat and shook her head. "It doesn't matter what he said. You're alive and—" She stopped mid-sentence as she was hit with another realization, and for the first time since she was sixteen, she felt something other than anger spreading through her body—an inkling of hope. "That means you're the boss." She was so relieved she could've cried.

"Boss? The boss of what?" Jasper asked. His arms were still tightly crossed, and he refused to take his eyes off Bella.

Bella glanced at him, knowing he would react when she told them. "The Cullen Family."

His jaw dropped. "The Cu"—he started laughing before he could get the name out—"Junior, what's she on about?"

Emmett's eyes filled with awe as he looked at Edward. "For real? Yo, dude, if I'd known, I wouldn't have been such an insufferable ass all these years."

Unease grabbed a hold of Edward. He buried his hands in his pockets and defiantly looked away. "Stop it."

"As if you have the ability to control that," Jasper said in response to Emmett. "As it is, he's not the boss." He grimaced and turned to look at Edward to substantiate it. "Right?"

"Right," Edward agreed, but Bella didn't like that.

"Edward!"

"Well, I'm not," he said insistently. "Maybe that was who I was supposed to be, but that changed a long time ago."

"Hold on. Why didn't you ever tell us you're a Cullen?" Emmett asked, and Bella scoffed and cocked her head.

"You never thought to ask for his last name?"

"He didn't want to tell us!"

"My last name shouldn't matter," Edward said to dissolve the increasingly heated discussion. "I'm still the same Edward."

"But you're like the king of crime in this city!" Emmett said. "Do you have any idea the kind of things we could have accomplished if we'd known before?"

Jasper, who hadn't taken his eyes off Edward for some time, placed a restraining hand on Emmett's shoulder. "I think we should give these two a few minutes alone," he said, and when Emmett turned to him to protest, all he did was shake his head in warning.

Edward gave him a grateful look as Emmett conceded.

"Fine. Great. I guess we'll see you later then." Reluctantly, Emmett followed Jasper as the two of them headed home.

For a short second, the air felt lighter around Edward, and he eagerly turned to Bella, but then he saw her heartbroken expression, and his smile fell. "What's wrong?"

She wrapped her arms around herself and started to aimlessly walk in the opposite direction of the other two but still away from the pub. "I can't get over that you're alive. All of these years … we've grieved for you." She stopped and turned to him, wanting to tell him everything that had happened, but she couldn't get it out. "You have no idea how much it will mean to everybody." She looked him over and saw how much he'd started to resemble Carlisle, and it truly hit her that he wouldn't remain the ghost of the little boy he'd been in her mind. Because he'd grown up. Because he was alive. There were too many emotions whirling around inside her, and her voice choked with unshed tears. "Or what it means to me."

Seeing her fighting back her tears, Edward closed the distance between them to comfort her. "Hey, c'mon, it's okay."

Bella wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, and the first wall of defense she had built for herself crumbled to dust. "I've missed you so much," she said into his shirt.

Edward's arms trembled as he encircled her with them. He was tall enough that he could place his cheek on top of her head despite the terrifying stilettos she was wearing. "I've missed you, too," he said and pulled her even closer.

A/N:

This was one of the first chapters I wrote on the story. It's such an emotional part of it for both of them but for two completely different reasons.

For Edward because he's reminded of his past life and everything he left behind. As an adult with the ability of critical thinking, that naturally comes with a huge batch of guilt.

For Bella because the one person she trusted as a child, her best friend in her entire world, whom she thought was dead, is suddenly there in front of her, and on his birthday no less when she was already feeling sad over him. I can't even imagine what that would be like.

But this is just the beginning of the roller coaster! More to come on Wednesday!

Until then,

Stay Awesome!