Page 130 of The Umarova Crime Family

“Yeah. My max is three vaginally, or maybe two. I might adopt a couple more kids. Life with Meryem has been so peaceful and has given me so much purpose. I could see myself continuing to do that, you know?”

“That’s beautiful.” Amelia begins to get teary-eyed.

“Yeah, really. Now I might jump aboard the adoption train. Does it feel different at all?” Emily questions, and I don’t take her question the wrong way at all. She’s only curious.

I shake my head. “No, I think I have every feeling a mother would have. All I want is to make sure she’s safe and protect her. I love Meryem so much, and I don’t know if I could love her any more than I already do.”

Emily makes a pouting face and then starts quietly crying. “That’s so beautiful.”

“You two need to rein your pregnancy hormones in, damn.” I laugh, and then Amelia and Emily begin laughing while they cry.

“What did you do to them?” Ruslan cackles as he comes up.

“She was just talking about how much she loves Meryem, and it got us both like this,” Amelia explains, and Ruslan wraps his arm around his wife and rubs her side, trying to comfort her.

“I forgot how emotional you get during pregnancy,” he admits, and I can’t help but laugh.

“You’re not going to forget for very long,” I add, and Ruslan chuckles alongside me.

“You’re due up next for pregnancy, you know,” Ruslan says, and I cock my brows at him.

“I’m sure I am, but maybe these two get through their next babies before I join the newborn club,” I state, and Ruslan nods. He’s only trying to mess with me a bit, and I know it.

“Have you seen Nazyr?” Ruslan questions, changing the subject completely.

“No, isn’t he here yet?”

Ruslan shakes his head. “No, he isn’t. He was supposed to be here thirty minutes ago, but you know things have been odd with him for a while.”

I do know. I know all too well.

He’s having so much trouble processing that Anzor was never our father, and I think it’s time I’m really there for my brother. I think I need to be there for him because I don’t want him going down a rabbit hole he’ll never be able to escape from.

* * *

Book 4

Tormented Angel

Prologue

Mona

Three Years Ago

I can’t believe I’m here right now, in the middle of paradise. I’ve never been to Portugal, but it was always on my bucket list of destinations. I knew at some point I’d eventually get here, but I’ve been so focused on finishing my degree and graduating that it wasn’t high on my priority list.

When my Uncle Sean called and told me he had a vacation booked here, I wasn’t shocked by it. He loves to travel as much as I do, and for the most part, he’s constantly on some kind of trip. He does a lot of it for work. You’d think he’d want to stay home for a little while after traveling so much, but he doesn’t. When he gets enough vacation time, he wants to jet off somewhere else, which is why he booked this week’s stay in Portugal. He originally planned to take his girlfriend with him, but they broke up.

He told me that she wasn’t happy with how much he was working and that she felt like she wasn’t a priority in his life anymore. I think there are things he could’ve done to show her that he really, truly cared… but he didn’t. Instead, he invited me to go on this vacation with him so he wouldn’t have to go by himself. I’ve just finished taking finals for the last semester of classes before officially graduating, so he pitched it to me like it was a well-deserved vacation and that I needed a break.

I’m not like a lot of young women my age. Most of them would major in one degree and then possibly go back for another. Not me, though. Instead, I’ve been busting my ass getting a bachelor’s degree in business studies and Russian at Trinity College. I figured picking up a second language would only make me more appealing to companies when I begin looking for my first big-wig job in the city. After all, how many people in Ireland are completely fluent in Russian? Not many, I’m sure.

I don’t know if I’ve passed my finals, but I should know within the next week or so, right around the time we get back to Ireland.

We’ve been staying in Lisbon, the country’s capital, but we’ve taken day trips up to the Praia de Marinha, which has some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. It’s on the Atlantic coast of Caramujeria and is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Portugal. There was so much to do there, so the long trek from Lisbon was well worth it.

We walked through the unique rock formations and explored some caves, and I even did some snorkeling. People can also go diving, but I didn’t have any equipment, and I also didn’t wish to pay a team on a boat. Some people even go deep-sea fishing or charter boats around the area to take them to unique spots around the beaches.

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