The pain of the events which transpired last night were still fresh when I woke up. I could still feel the knife digging in deep as I remembered my mother's words and I could feel the cracks in my heart becoming larger as I realised that my mother was never going to accept Callie.

I realised that my mother was never going to love me, and all the work I had done to repair our shattered relationship had been for nothing.

I then remembered the person who had been there for Callie. The person who had held her as she cried and had reassured her that she had done nothing wrong. The person who had been there for my daughter when she needed someone.

The person who had been there for me, was the same person who had held me and stayed with me until I finally fell asleep last night.

"Mummy?" Callie's hoarse voice tore at my heartstrings. Especially when Markus had told me that she fell asleep crying, asking him what she had done and why nanna hated her.

"Mummy is here, baby. Mummy will always be here," I whispered as I moved to bring Callie into my arms, placing a kiss on the top of her head as her arms wrapped around my body and she buried herself in my chest.

"Does nanna hate me?" Her voice was so small, so fragile and broken, that I almost didn't hear her ask the question.

"Baby—"

"I tell nanna I sorry?" If my heart hadn't already been shattered, then it would have broken at my daughter's words. My mother had upset her so much that she thought she had done something wrong, and that she needed to apologise to make my mother love her again. "I was bad. I say sorry and nanna like me."

I had to hold my sob back, because I didn't want Callie to worry about me. But, knowing that my mother had done this to my daughter, had made her feel as though she was in the wrong, it hurt and I wanted my mother to know what she had done.

There was an urge, deep within, to slap her again. I didn't give a damn that she was drunk, or that she probably wouldn't even remember what happened last night, I wanted to slap her and I wanted her to know just how much I resented her as my mother and as Callie's grandmother.

"Nanna had a bad night. She was upset with me. Not you. No one could ever be upset with you, sweetie." I kissed the top of her head and blinked away the tears which were betraying the sincere tone of voice. "You know I love you, Callie. I love you so much."

"I love you too, mummy." As if to prove her point, Callie pulled herself from my chest and sat up, placing a lingering on my cheek with a cheesy grin on her face. Callie was the only one who could melt my, supposedly, cold heart and her grin could light up my world. "Swimming?"

"Of course we can go swimming," I grinned, to which Callie clapped her hands excitedly and, much to my horror, she literally jumped off the bed. "Callie?"

"I fine, mummy," Callie giggled as she jumped up from the floor and spun around, as if to show me that she hadn't injured herself. Not that that stopped my heart from palpitating or stopped the gasp which had filled the air. "No worries. Callie fine."

"You're going to be the death of me. I swear."

While I did spoil my daughter, and I probably did allow her to get away with far too much, I was also one of those overprotective mothers. I panicked at the slightest scrap of the knee, fought anyone who said a bad word about my child, and worried whenever Callie did something I didn't think was safe: even though most kids her age were doing the exact same thing.

It was a habit I needed to break. Especially as she got older. Because no child wanted an overprotective mother who was always over their shoulder, constantly worrying that something was going to happen to them.

But, for now, Callie was just embracing her childhood. She was being careless and enjoying herself, and apparently my mother had introduced her to heartache at an early age as well.

"Markus!" Callie's squeal dragged me from my thoughts and forced me to sit up. Just in time to see Callie throw herself into Markus' barely ready arms. "Can Markus come?"

There was something about seeing my daughter in Markus' arms which did things to me: things I had never thought would happen while I was in the presence of Markus.

This was the man who had calmed Callie down, embraced me when I fell apart, and told my mother to stay away from both Callie and I.

This was the man who had fought for me, fought for my daughter, when it felt like the entire world was against me.

This was the man who was now beginning to question my feelings for and was also forcing me to question everything I thought I felt while I was with Matt.

"Why don't you ask Markus if he wants to come," I smiled. I had, after all, told Markus that I would spend the day with him, but I also wanted to spend the day with my daughter, and this meant that I could do both.

"I think mummy should ask me. Don't you?" There was a smirk on Markus' face, as though he knew that I wouldn't refuse my daughter anything.

"Yeah. Mummy ask Markus."

I wondered what the hell I was doing to myself. I had told myself, been adamant in fact, that nothing would happen between Markus and I.

I had already had my heart ripped out and stamped on by one brother. I wasn't really in a hurry to give the other brother the opportunity to do the same. But that didn't stop the giddiness from spreading through me, warming my cheeks and encouraging thoughts which I had previously banished when it came to Markus Barnes.

"C'mon, mummy. We waiting," Callie laughed, and I had to smile at her antics. She may have been a cheeky monkey, but she was my cheeky monkey, and she always would be.

"Callie and I are spending the day down by the pool. Do you want to join us?"

"Hm. I don't know. What do you think Callie baby? Do I want to join you?"

"Obviously," Callie shrugged.

"I think I already have plans." Markus continued to tease my daughter, and the sight of the pair of them together was more than I could handle. I was relieved to see a smile on my daughter's face, especially after the night she had last night, but I was also feeling emotional at just how quickly Markus had bonded with his niece. "I think a certain mummy agreed that she would spend the day with me. But that mummy has pushed me to the side for a certain brown haired little girl."

"Markus," Callie whined with her head in the crook of his neck and her legs moving backwards and forwards, kicking Markus in the stomach each time she did that.

"I'll make you a deal."

"And then swimming?"

"Then we'll go swimming. I promise," Markus grinned.

"What Markus?"

"You give me ten minutes to talk to mummy, and I'll treat you to dinner before you leave. What do you say?" Callie didn't say anything. She simply grabbed her Barbie and teddy from the floor, and disappeared from the bedroom, her voice echoing down the hallway as she called out for Amena—apparently the two of them had spent some time together last night and Callie had taken an immediate liking to her.

There was a part of me which felt awkward, being alone with Markus after everything I had said to him, but there was another part of me which anticipated the conversation we were going to have.

It was sudden change from the way I had previously felt in his company, and it was a rapid recovery from the way I had treated him in our previous encounters. There was something different about Markus, and this is what I realised last night as I lay wrapped up in his arms, and he whispered sweet words to calm me down.

He was not the man I thought him to be. There was a façade, a mask, which Markus so cleverly hid behind and it meant that people only saw what they wanted to see: people saw the Markus he wanted them to see.

"Sooo—" I dragged out into the silence.

"I don't think I've told you this. But out of all the women I've met, even the ones I dated, none of them have ever made me feel the way you do, Soph. You have a profound effect on me, and it actually scares me because no one has ever made me feel the way that you do."

"If you stopped obsessing over me, then you might be able to get on with your womanising ways without a problem."

"I've spent the last week trying to get on with my womanising ways, but none of them are you," Markus sighed and he ran his hand through his hair, turning his back on me so that he was no longer looking me in the eye. "I've had so many offers from women. They all just want to get into my bed and then never to speak to me again."

"How do you know I'm not like all those other women?" I don't know why I couldn't just take the risk, nor why I had to keep finding reasons to push Markus away. He had proved last night that he would be there for me, for Callie, when I needed someone and he had shown that he would defend the both of us. Yet I was still being a bitch to him, and I didn't even know why.

"I just know you're not like that. Certainly not after what happened with my brother." I inhaled sharply when he brought up what happened with Matt, but he was also right. Matt had meant that I wouldn't just sleep with someone for the fun of it and neither would I sleep with someone I wasn't sure I wanted. "You want it to mean something. You want it to happen with the person you love rather than some stranger you meet. Or with someone like me."

There was a vulnerability in Markus' voice as he said the last part and, for the first time, I could see the real Markus.

I could see the Markus who was laying it all out for me and was giving me the opportunity to walk away now, before I allowed myself to get in too deep. I could see the man who just wanted the same thing I wanted: to be loved by someone for who he truly was.

"You sure do know a lot about me," I chuckled lamely. Markus had noticed more about me than Matt ever did, and I was sleeping with Matt for almost a year.

"I've paid enough attention to pick up on these things, and you've let things slip without even realising it. I may act like an idiot, but that doesn't make me an idiot."

"Markus—"

"What are you doing tomorrow?" He suddenly asked, a change from the tone he had just been using and he turned to me with a hopeful grin on his face.

"Nothing. Why?"

"Meet me in the garden at half twelve. I'm sure Amena will watch Callie for you."

"What—" only I never got to ask my question, because Callie came bounding back into the room, demanding that Markus and I get ready.

What do you think Markus is going to show Sophie? I think you're going to really like the next chapter when you find out.

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