A/N:

You are so good and patient!

Let's just dive right into it.

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 22

"I wonder who she was able to recruit. Must be someone special who can rally the loyalists," Renée mused, mostly to herself since Charlie was highly engrossed in the latest pile of paperwork Caius had pushed off onto him concerning the brokerage firm that was the one business the Cullens could allow themselves to be connected to.

In all the ways that counted except in name, Charlie was the CEO and president of the company since Caius couldn't be bothered with the boring, legitimate business. Without him, it would have gone bankrupt years ago, but running an entire company while also being at Caius' beck and call had taken quite a toll on Charlie.

"I'm sure everything will be fine," he said without having really listened to his wife.

Renée sighed and shot a concerned look over her shoulder at him. "Charlie, honey, will you promise me something?"

"What, sweetie?" he asked noncommittally and reached for the next folder the second the first one was done.

"If everything goes according to plan, and we can rid our lives of Caius Cullen once and for all, let's go on a vacation before you drop dead of a heart attack." She gently pried the folder out of his hands and forced him to look at her. "Please? I don't want to be a widow yet."

He gave her a sad smile before grabbing her hand in his and kissing her knuckles. "I promise, Ren. I think it would do both of us good to get out of Boston for a bit."

She nodded and leaned down until they could share a kiss over the desk separating them.

"Mom? Dad?" Bella's voice called from downstairs, and they exchanged a brief look before they both got into action and headed to the bottom floor.

"Bella?" Renée said as she descended the stairs, and their daughter turned to smile at them. "Oh, my baby, I've missed you!" Renée opened her arms and hugged Bella to her chest.

"I've missed you too, Mom," Bella said and tightened the hug for a second before letting go and turning to her dad, who immediately enveloped her in his own embrace.

The Swan family were rarely apart since they worked for—or as in Renée's case, used to work for—the same man, and the past few months had been particularly difficult for all three of them. They had all dedicated their lives to the Cullen family, but now they were actively undermining its boss and going behind his back. Usually, they had each other for support during trying times, but that hadn't been possible now.

"How have you been holding up?" Bella asked as soon as they parted, but Charlie waved her off.

"Nothing's changed here. It's the same shit show it's always been. Tell us everything you learned out there. Can we count on any help? On the phone you said you weren't alone."

Bella took a deep breath. "I'm not alone. I have a few people with me, and a couple of others on standby for when it's time."

"They're out in the garage?" Renée asked with slight confusion. "Why? Who are they? Old members? Loyalists to Carlisle?"

"Uhm, kind of," Bella said vaguely. "Here's the thing. I think you should both sit down before I let them inside."

"Why?"

"Believe me," she said and looked at her dad. "You'll want to sit down."

Charlie narrowed his eyes in frustration. "Seriously, Bella, I don't have the energy for games. Just tell us who's out in our garage."

Bella tightened her mouth into a thin line and glared back at him. "I will as soon as you sit down. I'm not playing any games, Dad."

"Let's just do as she says, Charlie," Renée said and pulled him with her to the sitting room, promptly plopping him down in one of the chairs while he grumbled in displeasure.

"Thank you," Bella said and turned back to the door separating the house from the garage. "I'll be right back."

Charlie turned to Renée. "I see no reason for these antics. Who could possibly have the need for such secrecy? It's ridiculous."

"Let's just be grateful someone answered our call for help," Renée pointed out, and Charlie grimaced. "You really need a break from that man-child. You're beginning to sound and act just as petulant as he does."

"Dad, Mom ..."

Bella requested their attention before Charlie could retort back. Behind her, partially hidden by the railing of the stairs and obscured by baggy clothes and sunglasses, stood a tall figure. The few visible features and overall stature told Charlie it was a young man not much older than Bella, and there was something eerily familiar about the set of his mouth and jaw.

"Well?" Charlie asked after a moment of tense silence, and no one moved. "Who is he? Isn't he gonna introduce himself?"

"I don't think I need to introduce myself," the figure said and slowly moved around Bella while removing his hat and sunglasses. "You've known my name since the day I came into this world."

His face was revealed, and Charlie's entire being immediately revolted against the sight. "Holy fuck," he exclaimed and shot up from his seat to put some much needed space between himself and the apparition. "Who the fuck are you?" he asked, and his voice trembled with the overwhelming wave of emotions pushing at him from all sides.

He couldn't comprehend how such a young version of his best friend could possibly stand before him in the flesh, breathing as if he hadn't been dead for the past fourteen years.

The ghost grimaced and buried his hands in his pockets. His tall frame crouched slightly, and Charlie immediately knew it wasn't Carlisle before him. Of course, it wasn't, but the young man's posture solidified it. Carlisle had always walked with a tall, straight, and proud back. Never bent forward. The color of the youngling's hair was also wrong since he wasn't blond.

"You know who I am ... Uncle Charlie," he mumbled out, and Renée, who up until that point had been mute with shock, let out a sharp breath with a woosh.

"Oh, my God ... Edward?"

Edward turned to her with a timid smile. "Hi, Aunt Renée."

Charlie slowly walked up to Edward, his eyes wide and disbelieving. "Edward? You're alive?"

He nodded solemnly. "I am."

As it sank in for Charlie, an overpowering sense of joy seized him, and he had to laugh to air out some of the building pressure. "You're alive," he said again before he pulled Edward into a forceful hug. "I can't believe this!" He let him go to take a better look at him only to immediately hug him again.

Edward was speechless. He hadn't expected Charlie's reaction and especially not his happiness. He allowed the older man to manhandle him without objecting and waited for the atmosphere in the room to calm down and decrease to a more balanced and neutral state.

"Ren, can you believe this? Look, Edward's alive. He's here!"

Renée joined them and reached out with an uncertain hand, placing it on his shoulder. "How is this possible?" she asked breathlessly. "How are you here? We thought you were dead. What happened? Were you taken? Where have you been all this time? Why haven't we heard from you?"

"Mom, maybe one question at a time would be better," Bella said, but neither of her parents heard her. They were much too dazed to focus on anything except Edward's sudden reappearance.

Before he could push it away and control his emotions, Charlie's eyes blurred with an onslaught of tears, and he had to turn away. He was embarrassed by himself, but he couldn't stop the sadness that came over him because his best friend's son was in his house, and he was alive. He was no longer a missing boy but a grown man right in front of Charlie's eyes with a height he'd clearly inherited from his father, but his hair and eyes from his mother. Edward truly was the perfect mix between Carlisle and Esme, and it was tragic and unfair that he hadn't been allowed to grow up with his family around him.

But why hadn't he been allowed to do that? Charlie wiped his tears and turned back to the emotional reunion.

"I don't understand," he said, and Edward looked at him. "If you've been alive all this time, where have you been and why couldn't anybody find you?"

Edward and Bella exchanged a look before he answered Charlie. "It's a long story, and I need some help in telling it, so is it okay with you if I let my bro—friends inside from the garage?"

"Friends? You've got people with you?" Renée asked, her eyes alight with hope.

"Yes. Can they come in?"

"Of course!"

A moment later, they were all gathered in the sitting room, but there weren't enough seats since the Swan house was never the one used for larger meetings, so Jasper and Emmett decided on standing behind the two-seat couch that Bella and Edward were occupying.

Without waiting for either of them to ask, Edward faced Charlie and Renée and began explaining. "Bella has told me that you've been fed a story about how I was possibly kidnapped the day of the shootout, and I will say right away that's not true, although leaving the site against my will paints me in a better light than the truth."

Bella slapped Edward's bicep with the back of her hand. He flinched and glared at her in response, but she only narrowed her eyes. "We've talked about this so many times, Edward. You're not to blame for how you reacted that day. You were a terrified child."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever, if you say so."

"Don't test me," she threatened under her breath, and he held up his hands in surrender for a second.

Both Charlie and Renée had to bite back the laughter that threatened to bubble up when they saw how nothing had changed between their daughter and her best friend. They were still at each other's throat and acted like an old married couple.

For a short moment, they could almost pretend the last fourteen years hadn't happened and that the kids had grown up together as steadfast friends.

However, as Edward continued his story about what had actually happened that day, their smiles and temporary joy was replaced with clenched fists, reawakened grief, and righteous anger.

Charlie had to stand up in the middle of the story, unable to contain his frustration with the situation, and he started pacing the length of the room behind the chair Renée occupied. He occasionally stopped to listen when Jasper and Emmett explained how they had found a young Edward on the streets while pick-pocketing, and while the plan had never been to take him in permanently, they provided him with food and shelter.

"We kept a lookout for months for everything that could even indicate anyone was looking for a boy with Edward's description," Jasper said. "But there was nothing, so Emmett and I decided he could stay, and we've yet to regret that decision." Jasper sat down on the armrest on Edward's side of the couch and clasped a hand onto his shoulder. "He's the brother we didn't know we needed."

"That was very kind of you," Renée said genuinely and gave Jasper a small, grateful smile. "I'm sure all of this has been strange for you to process, but we can't even begin to tell you how much Edward actually means to us, and how thankful we are that you saved his life." She turned to Edward. "And you, my dear sweet Edward, it's easy for me to sit here and tell you to stop blaming yourself for what happened when the situation is so much more complicated than that, but I will anyway. None of that was your fault." She glanced at Charlie, who was tightly clenching the upholstery of the chair in his fists.

"No, it certainly wasn't," he said with a low, raspy voice. "But I'm beginning to suspect who orchestrated it all." Both Renée and Bella met his eyes, and when they realized they were all thinking the same thing, they said the name out loud together.

"Caius."

Charlie scrubbed his face with his hands and groaned. "I should have known. I should have fucking known. All the signs were there all along, just staring me in the face." He started pacing again. "I was his best friend! I was his best friend, and I fucking knew how much Caius hated him."

"Charlie, stop that!" Renée said and followed her husband's path with her eyes. "This isn't the time for self-flagellation."

He shot forward until he was crouching down and stared right into Renée's eyes. "But we suspected this all along, Ren. We knew something wasn't right when we found Caius at the site. You know, deep down, we always knew he was behind this, and we've let him wreak havoc on the family because we couldn't prove anything. But we knew. And you know that."

Edward looked at them in confusion as a looming feeling of dread crept up on him. "What exactly are you saying?"

Charlie was unable to answer, and he gestured for Renée to say it. She sighed and scooted forward in her seat so she was closer to Edward even though there was a coffee table separating them.

"As Charlie said, we've never been able to prove it, but we've always believed Carlisle was murdered on Caius's orders. If he didn't pull the trigger himself."

Edward's stomach sank, and he had to lean back when his entire body went lax as his brain tried to process the new information.

"Why didn't you ever tell me that?" Bella asked accusingly. "Why did you allow me to join the family with him as the boss if you thought that?"

Renée grimaced. "He didn't give us much choice. You either joined him or he would continue sending you to his associates like he did with Shaw."

"You're fucking kidding me," Bella said, her expression thunderous, but Renée shook her head. "If I could just go over there and stab him in the face right now, I would."

"Hey, Ed, you all right, man?" Emmett asked when he realized that Edward had gone mute.

"Junior?" Jasper said and joined Emmett's efforts in attempting to shake Edward out of his stupor. "Is it a panic attack?" He reached out for Edward's hand and grabbed it in his. "Squeeze my hand if you need us to help you."

When that didn't work, Bella swallowed her bubbling fury and focused on him. "Edward? What's wrong?"

Finally, he moved, but the emotion behind his eyes wasn't the one Bella had expected. She'd gotten used to seeing terror or sadness after an episode, but this was unfiltered rage.

"Are you saying that my entire world fell apart because Caius wanted what was never meant for him?" he asked. His voice was strangely breathless but still level in its low tones. "That because of one man's greed and hatred for his own brother, I felt the need to flee my home and grow up with constant guilt, nightmares, and fucking panic attacks. That my mother was so consumed by her grief and she miscarried my sister because of that monster."

Neither Renée nor Charlie replied, but they didn't need to. Edward's question had been rhetorical.

He needed space, so he got up from the couch and left the room. Even after all the years that had passed, he still remembered the layout of the Swan house and ended up in their sunroom, staring out paned windows at their yard.

"That anger you're feeling right now, I know exactly what that's like," Bella said as she slowly approached him, but she still remained a few feet away since he clearly needed some air to breathe.

"I will kill him," he said calmly before turning to face Bella. "I had my reservations before. I was considering a possible outcome where I would allow him to live but far, far away from Boston. I don't have those reservations anymore." He stepped closer until Bella had to tilt her head back to maintain their eye contact. "Caius Cullen is a dead man walking."

A/N:

Oof … lots to unpack here. Lots of emotions and we knew Edward would reach this point eventually. He knows what Charlie and Renée has suspected all along. Nothing confirmed, but he's putting the puzzle pieces together.

He's definitely no longer hesitant about going after his uncle!

The break between the Wednesday to Sunday update is one day longer, so I know it feels like an eternity, but continue to be patient and you'll find it's worth it ;-)

Stay Awesome!