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He said I could call him.
He said we were family.
My finger stabbed the button.
My phone started ringing.
Sitting heavily back on the bench, I focused inward on the strange kick in my heart that happened every now and again with the inherent belief that Aslan wasn’t gone. He couldn’t be because I still felt him. I still felt his soul knotted ever so tightly with mine, and I had to know.
The phone rang and rang.
It rang so long I feared he wouldn’t pick up, but then...
A soft click.
A masculine sniff.
“Well, well, if it isn’t my sweet daughter-in-law. This is a pleasant surprise. I hear you have your own daughter now, Nerida. I will admit, the temptation to visit my grandbaby has been strong.”
A full-body shudder worked through me. Abhorrent hate. Repellent loathing for this son killer, this life stealer, this monster.
“I think you’re lying,” I hissed.
“Lying?” He chuckled softly. “About what, kizim?”
“I think Aslan is still alive. I want to talk to him. Let me see him. I’m in Turkey and—”
“You’re in Turkey?” His accented drawl snapped into an aggressive bark. “That was sudden.”
“I’m in the street where you shot him. Come get me. Show me where you buried him. Prove to me that you’re telling the truth and—”
“I told you to stay where you belong, Nerida, and I would give you the same courtesy. Have I not stayed true to you? Have you been implicated for harbouring my son? Have you been questioned or detained?”
“You know we haven’t.”
“Then you’re welcome. I have no war with you or your family. But...you are not welcome here, and I don’t take kindly to people surprising me.”
“Give him back to me.”
“He’s a pile of ash.”
My heart ripped down the middle. “Liar.”
“I would give you his remains, kizim, but—”
“Stop calling me your daughter. I’m not. You’re not Aslan’s father. If you were, you would never have been able to hurt him.”
“Aslan Avci was not my son. Aslan Kara was. And he died when he was just a babe.”
“And you murdered those who tried to give him a better life.”
“A better life?” he snarled. “I was going to give him the world. He was my world. I only did what any parent would do.” His tone deepened. “Tell me, kizim, if someone stole Ayla, what would you do? Would you hunt for her? Would you search for her? Would you slaughter those keeping her from you? How far would you go to protect your own flesh and blood?”
Fury blazed through me. The urge for bloodshed at the very mention of someone hurting Ayla burned like lightning in my veins. “I would do whatever it took to keep her safe—”
“Ah, so you do understand. You admit that you see why I went after the Avcis? I’m not a bad person, Nerida. I was merely a heartbroken father, desperate to find his only son.”
“Don’t twist this. You didn’t have to kill them.”
