Fifty One.

Aydems POV.

I reach the ground floor, scanning the lobby as I walk out the revolving doors and into the free-flowing foot traffic right outside my company.

As I unbutton my suit jacket, Gerald opens the back passenger door of the SUV.

I peer inside expecting to visually devour Mila's beautiful face. "Where is Clara?" I ask him with a scowl etching deeply into my complexion and I thank the Gods that Mila's alias name rolled off the tip of my tongue so effortlessly.

Gerald looks back at me with confusion, "I'm sorry Mr Burak, but, Clara has not come out of the building." His voice is full of apprehension.

I turn around and look back the way I just came. "I told her to meet me downstairs. I thought she would have been here by now." I mutter with annoyance as I shake my head and pinch the bridge of my nose.

This is not the moment for her to desert me. Essentially, after she has just provided a significant piece of information on the location of the Esposito men's hideout.

I flick my wrist up and look at my watch. I told Neriman we will meet her at the villa within a sixty-minute time frame to discuss her course of action before she attempts to execute it.

"Give me a moment." I meet Geralds gaze and re-enter the building.

I hear him lightly close the door.

"Have you seen Miss Clara Cross?" I ask the two guards sitting at their station as I approach them.

"Yes, I believe she has been led away through the back door with one of the new guards." The middle-aged man replies casually.

[Shit!] "Bok! What new guard? I didn't hire any more staff this month." My body goes tense with the possibility of an intruder slash spy working under me. "What's his name?"

The middle-aged man opens a large black book, he runs his index finger down the page as he looks for this guards information.

"Jacob Esposito."

I gulp as the Esposito name embeds itself into my head. "Esposito?" I ask in a perfectly calm voice.

"Yes, Mr Burak." He replies, turning the book around so I can read the name myself.

A low, fierce growl erupts from my chest. "You ever see that man enter this building again," I say through gritted teeth. "Detain him and call me straight away." I throw over my shoulder as I bolt out the revolving doors.

Gerald looks at me with worrisome eyes. "Everything okay, boss?"

I rub my hand over my face, suppressing an angry roar back into the pit of my stomach. [No.] "Hayir, I need you to drive me to the villa promptly." I exhale loudly. "You need to make the sixty-minute drive into a twenty-minute drive at the most. Do you think you can handle that?" I ask him in a pleading tone.

Guilt gnaws at my conscience. I know it is wrong of me to ask him to break the law by speeding. But, I am desperate and I have never felt so fucking vulnerable as I do right now.

My family is being held captive, and I swore I would never enter my forefathers' dark realm. Until I met Mila and learned about Sandro, I was certain that nothing or any soul worth saving could inspire me to want to shed blood in my name.

"Of course, Mr Burak. Buckle up and I will see what I can do." He says in a reassuring tone.

I sit in the back of the SUV and pull my phone out of my breast pocket.

"Aydem, Is everything alright?" Sedar answers on the third ring.

"No, it's not. I fear that I am going to have to take a walk on the dark side. I need your permission to do what needs to be done to get my family back." I ask with a slight quiver in my voice.

Never in my wildest thoughts did I ever picture myself in a situation like this. Asking my cousin for his permission to cause devastation in the path I am about to walk in.

"You have my permission, cuz. I will back you in any way I can from here, I'm sorry I cannot be there and stand with you as you take the Esposito scum out. After you have made yourself known, return home back to Istanbul." His voice is harsh but not demanding.

"I will think about it. I have made a home in New Zealand and I can not ask Mila to pack everything up and move to a very foreign country to her." I state as I gaze out the window and watch the scenery of the city vanish before me.

Gerald jumps on the freeway and puts his foot down. He carefully maneuvers the SUV between lanes and vehicles all while the SUV hums silently.

"Very well, cousin. Call me when you have your family in your embrace. May the Gods be in your favour and please tell that sister of mine to call me." He says light-heartedly and ends the call.

Neriman and Sedar have only just found out that they are siblings.

Twins to be exact.

Neriman was adopted out and hired to work in the 'Ozturk Legacy Construction' company that their grandfather used to smuggle goods and launder money.

He also went as far as trying to kill Sedar, his own flesh and blood by getting Neriman to assassinate him after he had put her through intense training to become an assassin.

What he did not anticipate was Neriman rescuing Sedar and assassinating the elderly man in cold blood after she informed him that she had graciously declined his prior proposal.

She chose her side and it was with the man she only knew as Mr Ozturk.

Her twin brother.

As we pull into the long driveway of the Villa, the SUV slows down and I spot Neriman leaning against the bonnet of her Holden R8. Tossing her keys in the air with a pair of oversize shades framing her face.

I quickly exit the vehicle, "They have her." I growl as I enter the villa with her hot on my heels.

"Give me the location and I will leave now." Her voice is infused with an unmistakable aura of pacifying fury.

"I am coming with you," I reply in a clipped tone.

We enter Sedar's office and I stop in front of his bookcase that covers one side of the wall.

I pull on the jaguar ornament sitting between two Shakespeare books. I watch with excitement as the four-tier shelf slides down and a small selection of guns are put on display in front of me.

I take the A.W.M Sniper Rifle.

"Do you know how to use one of those?"  Neriman scoffs sarcastically as she slides her shades down an inch on the bridge of her nose.

I roll my eyes, "Ofcourse I do." I mutter, hitting the red button on the wall by the guns. "I'm not just a handsome prick with an ego to match." I flick her a wink as I recall Mila's words she once used to describe me when we were in the midst of a heated argument.

"Alright," She smiles. "While you play peek-a-boo in the trees. I'll be the one painting their bach a victorious hue of scarlet red." She sings while she turns around and exits the office.

I can hear her throaty laughter linger in the air as she walks out of the villa set on getting this mission over and done with asap.

'I'm coming for you, Angel.' I think to myself as I grab the shoulder bag full of ammo and exit the villa.

Dive deep into your fear.

Face it.

Embrace it.

Make friends with it.

This doesn't mean you will no longer have fear; it means fear will no longer have you.......