Omg I'm so sorry this has taken so long! My life is so so crazy right now I can't even describe it 😭

But, this is probably one of my most favourite chapters in the entire book, I've been waiting for ages to publish it. I hope you love it as much as I do ❤️

10 Days Later

~ Carson's POV ~

"You're all acting like she's dying or something." When I muttered those words it was only Grey who chuckled next to me while Fox, Avi and Dani all turned to glare at me.

"Don't say that!" When Dani shouted the words at me I just rolled my eyes as I leaned against my car waiting for her to say her goodbyes to Aviana and Fox.

"I promise it will all be okay and as soon as you get home we'll curl up on the couch and watch a movie. You can even choose." When Aviana spoke through her tears she pulled Dani into another hug while Fox just pulled them both into his arms.

"She'll be back in a few hours, what the hell is wrong with you?" When I snapped again they all chose to ignore it this time, taking a moment longer to have their group hug before Dani finally stepped towards me. "You could be a little nicer."

"I bought you a diamond bracelet, isn't that nice enough?" Even though I snapped at her again, she just gave me a soft smile nodding her head. "I love you."

Then she melts my freaking heart.

"I love you too baby." As I said those words I leaned down closer to her height to kiss her, but of course these people who I call my friends are just a bunch of selfish idiots.

"Don't! We don't want to see that." When Fox suddenly shouted the words before I could kiss her, I turned to glare at him. "So you ask her about our first kiss, our first time and all the little details but you don't want to see it?"

"Screw you." When he resorted to that comeback I just rolled my eyes turning back to Dani. "We should go."

"Just one more hug." When she quickly rushed over to Aviana and Fox to hug them again before she went to hug Grey, I just decided to go and sit in the car to wait for her.

Today was finally the day of her surgery although it really wasn't as bad as they were all making it out to be. A week ago we went to see her doctor together to talk about it and all they were going to do was give her nitrous oxide to sedate her while also using local anaesthetic so that she didn't feel any pain. She was also taking some medication to prepare for the surgery which she absolutely hated.

The whole procedure was only going to take an hour and then they would give her some time to let the sedative wear off a little before I could take her home.

Of course she was terrified though and I completely understood that, only because I knew it was her biggest fear. That's why I made sure to try and make every moment special for her that morning. When we woke up since she wasn't allowed to eat anything before her surgery, we just stayed in bed for a few hours together which was a rarity in itself.

While we lay there I did my best to keep her mind from drifting back to the surgery later that day instead talking to her about anything I could think of. During that time I also gave her the bracelet I bought for her, which was my way of telling her I loved her.

Don't judge me, I wasn't good at this mushy stuff. Buying her gifts was how I did that.

I'd been doing a lot of that over the last ten days although the bracelet was by far the most expensive gift I got for her. Most of the others were just chocolates, flowers and food, basically all the things girls like. After that hug we had, Dani talked to me about what happened with Eva and although she was pretty shaken up and disgusted at having her hands on her like that, she actually handled it so much better than I thought she would have.

It wasn't that she shut it out, because she definitely didn't. It was quite the opposite actually. Whenever she felt sad or whenever she thought about it, she told me. When we saw the psychiatrist for her second appointment a few days ago, we came up with this arrangement that if we weren't together and she couldn't tell me straight away if something was on her mind or making her feel upset or uncomfortable, she would just text me a very particular secret emoji so that I would know she wasn't okay. Then, whenever I got the chance which was usually as fast as possible, I would go and find her to make sure she was okay.

So far that system was working pretty well, she would just send me that emoji if she ever needed me. It was pretty useful apart from the one time when I got to the kitchen straight away and she said she just needed help to open a jar, the other time when she couldn't choose a dress to wear and then final time which was when she was just bored and wanted some company.

Maybe it's also worth mentioning that we only came up with this arrangement three days ago and we'd only used it those three times.

"I'm scared Carson." When she spoke from the passenger seat next to me I turned my head to look at her for a second, reaching out to take her hand.

"There's nothing to be scared about, I promise. I'll be there with you and think about it this way - you won't have to go through so much pain every month and when we're ready, you can bring a healthy and happy baby Carson into the world."

When I flashed her a grin, she suddenly turned to look at me with a glare which is exactly what I hoped for. "You don't know it's going to be a baby Carson, it could be a baby Dani."

"It's going to be a baby Carson." When I spoke with such a sure tone she just let out a scoff. "Well he's my baby Carson, not yours."

"I think you'll find that we'll be making both the baby Carsons and baby Danielas together."

"You might have hand in it, but they'll be inside me for nine months and I'm the one who will have to push them out so they'll belong to me." When she glared at me again I nodded my head letting out a laugh. "Okay."

It fell silent for a moment as I drove, the skyline of New York City getting closer to us as I drove.

"You want a boy first don't you? So that he can take over the mafia." When she mumbled those words looking away from the view out of the window to look at me, I let out a breath.

I knew one day this conversation would come up from the moment she agreed to be mine and when we mentioned having children in the future.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be first, but only my son can take over so yes, at some point we would need to have a son."

That was one of the only reasons I never rushed myself to find a girl and to have a family, as much as I wanted that so bad, I knew I'd have to hand the mafia down to my son when he grew up.

"That scares you, doesn't it?"

"Of course it does." When I responded almost instantly I could feel her eyes on me as I drove, keeping my gaze focused on the road ahead of me. "If he has you to show him how to do it, he'll be okay."

The moment those words left her mouth I glanced in her direction, not even bothering to hide my shock. "You're okay with it?"

"I mean it's not the career path I would have wanted my child to have, but I know he'll be okay if he has you to mentor him. You're going to be the best father Carson and that puts most of my worries about this whole thing at ease."

I knew it wasn't the time to get all caught up in my feelings over her words and the idea of becoming a father, so I just pushed those thoughts to the side instead picking up on one of the things she said. "Most of them?"

"He could still get hurt, I don't think I'll ever be okay with that part. But then so could you. It's just part of this life...something I have to accept."

I could sense the sadness in her tone almost instantly as she spoke. I knew it was hard, but I would always do my best to make sure my family had enough security to protect them and I was still learning as I went.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that I never had any guidance, I never had anyone to teach me things and remind me of the littlest details that I still needed to remember. So I learned from the kidnapping situation when my personal security team were all attacked and killed too, now I always make sure I have two separate teams both of whom report back to the main security team back at the house regularly.

I also learned from the incident ten days ago when Dani was attacked in the house. I had even more cameras installed in the house as well as more security guards posted around the building. I was also tightening the restrictions on who could get in, meaning if multiple members of an organisation turn up at the house like the Hollande family did, only two would be let in.

As for the Hollande family, I didn't really know what to expected to happen after I killed their leader and both his successors too, from what I knew he didn't any children either. So, to make sure they didn't somehow retaliate since I also learned from my mistake in letting George and Christopher live after they screwed me over, I had my best team of men raid their base and kill as many of their men as they could.

My plan was always to do that with the Irish Mob - to wipe them from the map entirely and kill everyone of them, but I guess I could just say I used the Hollande family as practice.

They should never have messed with me.

"What's on your mind babe?" When I heard her voice I turned my head to look at her noticing her frowning at the fact I'd just zoned out. "I was just thinking about the Hollande family."

"I can't believe you killed off one of the most powerful organised crime families in France." When she let out a laugh shaking her head I couldn't help but smile too. "You never cease to amaze me."

"It's not like I planned to do it. Once I killed their leaders, I had to make sure they would try to rise up again." When she nodded her head, she let out another laugh. "You say that like it's nothing."

"All in a days work baby girl." When I flashed her a wink she just rolled her eyes, turning away to hide the blush that rose up on her cheeks.

Even after all this time she still blushed every time I winked at her.

For the next twenty minutes we sat in silence listening to the music that she was controlling on her phone as I drove. Since I always let her connect her phone to my car every time we go somewhere together, the Bluetooth on her phone automatically connects to all my cars now when she gets in next to me. It always made her so excited every time, like she couldn't believe technology was so smart.

She was so cute.

"I'm still scared, even though you distracted me." She mumbled the words to me as I held her in my arms while we rode up to the ground floor from the underground parking lot at the hospital.

"Don't be scared, just focus on me. Hold my hand and every time you get scared just squeeze my hand."

"It's going to be a constant squeeze Carson." She said that as she stepped out of my embrace taking my hand, squeezing the second the doors opened revealing the ground floor of the hospital.

Since it was a private hospital, it wasn't like a regular hospital with an emergency room. It was just where people came for planned surgeries if they went through private medical care. So, that meant there were no emergencies going on around us and no doctors rushing around pushing people on the rolly beds as she called them.

It was just a normal, calm reception area that branched out to some departments on the ground floor and then the elevator took you to the other floors.

Of course she was, somehow, still scared out of her mind as she squeezed my hand in a death grip as we walked towards the reception desk. Maybe her fear was a little irrational, but I was never going to tell her that.

As we approached the desk I felt her stiffen up next to me and I pretty much had to block out the pain coming from my hand as she continued to hold onto me for dear life. "Hi, are you here to check in?"

When I nodded my head the receptionist gave me a smile glancing over at Dani who seemed like she could pass out or throw up any second. "Can I take your name please?"

"No."

When Dani shook her head I had to resist the urge to laugh as I turned to look at the mildly amused receptionist. "Daniela O'Brien."

When I told the receptionist Dani's name I could feel her glaring at me as the woman typed her name into her computer, reading the information before she turned to look at us again.

"Okay so you're in for an outpatient procedure with Doctor Sullivan, if you would just go down that hallway to the waiting room, a nurse will be with you to prepare you for the procedure."

Once we were given the instructions, I somehow managed to guide Dani down the hallway and into empty waiting room.

"Carson." When she said my name I could hear the panic in her voice as she looked around at the room before she turned to look at me. "Baby it's going to be okay, you need to stay calm."

As I spoke I took her hand pulling her into my arms allowing her to rest her head on my chest. "It smells like a hospital in here."

"It doesn't smell of anything." When she heard my response she didn't even look at me, instead replying with a hard tone. "Be quiet."

I had to resist the urge to laugh as I held her, trying my best to keep her calm for those few minutes that we waited for the nurse to finally come in. When she did, she took Dani to a room to take her blood pressure and to do some other checks before she went over the procedure with her again.

"So we'll go down to the recovery room where you can change out of your clothes and into the gown. We'll prepare you for the surgery and then we'll administer the sedative and the local anaesthetic."

This time Dani only nodded her head although she really did look terrified. It didn't take long for us to get into the elevator, heading down to the floor where I'm assuming the surgery theatres were. Once we reached the recovery room, Dani gave me her phone to look after, changing out of her dress and into the hospital gown before she lay down on the bed.

As she lay there the nurse began to move around hooking her up to the machines to monitor her heart rate, blood pressure and her oxygen levels.

"I don't like this." As she looked around at the machines by her side the nurse put a clip on her finger which was used to measure her oxygen levels.

"Don't be scared baby, it's all going to be fine."

"What if it's not?" Giving her a smile I leaned down closer to her, keeping my voice soft. "Of course it will be, in a few hours you'll be back in our bed eating your pizza and this will all be over."

When I mentioned the pizza that she'd requested for dinner she gave me a smile although it barely reached her eyes. Honestly I was trying my best to keep her calm, but seeing her so distressed really did hurt me.

I just couldn't show it, one of us had to be strong and it sure as hell didn't look like it was going to be her.

"Okay Daniela, I'm going to put this mask over your face with the initial gas to sedate y-"

"No." As soon as the nurse held the mask out Dani shook her head moving away from her and closer to me with wide eyes. Within seconds her eyes filled with tears as her heart rate increased causing the machine to start beeping much faster.

"Dani baby look at me, it's okay just-"

"I don't want to be sedated Carson, I don't want to lose consciousness, I can't." She shook her head at me as she began to sit up on the bed but before she could I gently pushed her back down.

"Look at me." I spoke in a much firmer tone causing her to finally stop moving, bringing her eyes to meet my gaze. "It's going to be okay, you're just going to be a little out of it so that you stay calm that's all Dani. Nitrous oxide is like happy gas, right?"

When I turned to look at the nurse she nodded her head coming closer to Dani. "If I was you I'd be more worried about how you're going to be acting after the procedure."

"What do you mean?" She seemed a little calmer now as she looked at the nurse in confusion. "This won't make you lose consciousness, instead it makes you more relaxed which tends to make patients a little loopy. It's kind of like being drunk."

"I've never been drunk before." When she said that with a frown the nurse chuckled. "I'm sure you won't remember much after it wears off, but at least you won't be hungover, and you won't feel a thing during the procedure."

"But..." I could tell she was finally giving in as she turned to look at me with a frown. "Stay with me."

"I'm not going anywhere baby, I'll be right here now and when it wears off." Finally she nodded her head as I leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. Holding my hand tight in hers Dani carefully watched the nurse as she brought the plastic mask to cover her mouth and her nose before her eyes met mine again.

I swear that was one of the hardest moments I've ever experienced, I had to force myself to keep a smile on my face trying to keep her calm in those few moments. But I could still hear her quickened heart rate on the monitor and when the tears leaked down the sides of her face from her eyes, I knew just how scared she was. The sight just made me feel so freaking sick.

She wasn't just being a drama queen or exaggerating, she really was so scared.

It didn't take long for the gas to start to take effect as her eyes glazed over before they began to close on their own although she was still awake. Her grip on my hand began to slacken as she lay there, her eyelids fluttering which told me she wasn't sleeping.

Once she was much more relaxed and drowsy, the nurse inserted a needle into her hand which she told me would increase the sedative if and when they need it. After that she administered the local anaesthetic with injections which caused Dani to flinch every time letting out a soft moan as her eyes opened a little before they closed again.

The entire time I held her hand, waiting until she was fully prepared for the procedure before she was taken into the room that I wasn't allowed to go in. After that I ended up waiting for just over an hour waiting for them to do the procedure, choosing to spend the time getting a cup of coffee and then replying to some messages and emails my phone to keep my mind occupied.

Finally the doors to the operating room opened as they rolled the bed back into the recovery room where I was waiting. As they came in the doctor who'd I'd only met once before came over to me with a smile, telling me what happened.

"Everything went perfectly, we removed all the fibroids and we're going to send off a sample for a biopsy just to be on the safe side. She's still drowsy from the sedative and she may be a little numb for a while too, but once the anaesthesia wears off she can take pain killers for any pain she might feel. If you have any questions though, you can call my office."

Nodding my head I gave her a small smile although my eyes were focussed on Dani who definitely seemed drowsy as she looked around the room she was being brought back into.

"Just to let you know, she's a little loopy from the sedative so she might be saying some odd things - it's quite normal." The doctor flashed me one last grin before she left the room leaving me to go over to Dani who was being hooked up to the monitors again.

"You." When she saw me she forced her eyes to stay open as she looked at me. "Are you nice?"

"I am." I nodded my head as I stopped next to her, trying to hide my smile when I realised just how fun this might be. She kept her eyes open for