Fifty Eight.

He doesn't say anything, instead, he closes his eyes shutting me out as he tries to deal with my outburst of anguish.

I watch as he inhales and exhales deeply a few times before he finally peels back his eyelashes to look me in the eyes as he emotionally destroys me.

"I want you to come with us too, askim." [My love.] He finally says and I close my eyes saying a silent prayer of thanks.

"You do?" I ask, double-checking that I heard him right.

[Yes.] "Evet." He looks at me like I've lost my damn mind. "You are my fiance, soon to be wife. Why would I dream of leaving you behind when it is dangerous?" His nostrils flare with displeasure. "Is that how little you think of me?"

Swallowing the built-up saliva as I frantically shake my head, "No! Gods no!" I sob. "I trust you with my life, shit. You saved my life and you were at my side slitting Trent's throat with me." I sniffle, wiping the corners of my eyes. "I guess, it's going to take me some time to get used to the fact that not every man is a complete arsehole with some twisted motive under his sleeve."

"I understand your logic of thinking, Mila. I guess I'll just have to prove my devotion to you." He flicks me a wink as a lopsided smirk mars his face.

Extending my arm, I reach up and cup his jaw. "Thank you for understanding."

He nods his head, "Would you like to see our son?" He asks with great pride and joy lacing his words.

I can't help but smile when the words 'Our son' leaves his full lips. "Please," I reply with a desperate plea.

Carefully helping me into an upright position on the bed, he leans down and kisses me on the head before he leaves the room to get Sandro.

I take this time to reflect on what's just happened between us. Touching my lips with my fingertips, I can only imagine I look like a love-struck school girl who's just had her first kiss with a big grin on my face.

Then there's also his invitation to follow him and Neriman to Turkey to contemplate. Of course, I'm going to follow him there's no doubt about that.

It's just...

I'm so sick of seeing so much blood that leaves a gnarly path of devastation in its wake and I'm not entirely sure how our screwed-up love story will play out.

"Seni görmek için can atan biri var oğlum." [There's someone dying to see you son.]

Glancing up, I see Aydem enter the room with Sandro in his arms as he speaks with him in his mother tongue. Both my hands spring upwards to cover my mouth.

"Oh my gosh!" I whisper behind my hands with tears pooling in my eyes. "He's grown so much." Shaking my head I can't believe how big he has gotten or the amount of hair that covers his beautiful head.

Aydem carefully places our son in my arms and I look up at him watching his features change with an abundance of love shining through them.

My heart threatens to cease.

If I was to die, it would be because of this moment right here, me witnessing a father adorning so much love and admiration for a son he never knew existed and will now lay his life on the line to protect him.

There is hope that my son will grow up to be a decent human being who can make a change in the world for better rather than worse. The Esposito's had condemned his innocent soul to a life of pain and carnage before he was born.

A life fit for a monster with no conscience.

Looking down at my son who resembles Aydem, I blink back the tears. "He has two front teeth?" I say with surprise, running the pad of my finger over the top of them.

"He does, he can also roll over onto his stomach too."

I snap my head up, looking up at Aydem. "He can?" I say with astonishment.

Aydem nods his head. "We found out the hard way when we came in to wake him the other morning and he was trying to pull himself up, gurgling like it was the funniest thing ever, tangled in his sheet."

I peer back down at my little bundle of joy cooing in my arms. "You are such a clever little man,"  laughing, I tickle his chubby little thighs.

"I'll give you both some time to get reacquainted." Turning on his heel he makes a move to leave the room.

Reaching out, I wrap my fingers around his wrist, he comes to halt looking down at my hand momentarily before he raises his gaze to meet mine.

"No, don't leave," I beg him. "Sit with us." Releasing my grip, I shimmy over and pat the bed beside me.

A faint smile touches his handsome face, "If that's what you truly desire."

"It is," I watch and wait for him to sit beside me before I tell him, "I  dreamed that one day Sandro will have parents that adore him unconditionally to no end. But, never in my wildest dreams did I think it would become a reality."

Aydem wraps an arm around my torso and he pulls me into his side. "Sandro will be well-loved and taken care of from now on. Even if something was to happen to me, just know you both have Neriman and Sedar who will take exceptional care of you. The Peker bloodline is forever and our future children will make our legacy impenetrable without having to be in the family business."

My heart soars with happiness. "This doesn't seem real, can you pinch me so I know I'm not dreaming, please?" My words are full of scepticism.

He throws his head back with a throaty chuckle leaving his lips. "Trust me, melek. [Angel.] This is no dream and you will soon come to realise it when things get tricky again." The laughter that drips off his words quickly fades. "Our screwed up love story will only turn into a happily ever after one, once the Esposito lineage has been eliminated." His voice turns deathly serious. "Even after that, we may discover a new bloodline of adversaries who seek retaliation, leaving my hands tainted with foul blood." He growls. "But answer me this, askim. [My love] Could you still love me if I morphed into a murderous monster in order to protect our family at all costs?"

The pounding of my heart drowns out everything that surrounds us. Crushing my hopes and dreams for any normality.

I want out of this life.

But, I also want to keep my family safe and knowing how to shoot a gun, isn't going to cut it.

Leaning in close to him, "I want you to teach me." I whisper against the hard shell of his ear.

Exhaling with a ragged breath, "And what is it that you want me to teach you?" He growls thickly as his grip tightens around my body.

"Everything."