Page 168 of The Umarova Crime Family

“Yeah.”

Her uncle draws his brows together. He’s trying to understand what in the hell is going on right now, and I have no problem explaining it to him. “Mona is okay. I’m not sure if you knew what happened to her, but she was taken.”

“She went missing when we were on holiday in Portugal. Is… is she with you right now?” Her uncle looks past me, trying to find Mona, but he won’t.

“No, she isn’t. I was in the area for some business and thought I’d check in to make sure this was the correct Sean Buckley and address.”

“It is. It is. Please, come inside.” Mona’s uncle motions with his hand for me to enter his home, and I walk inside. My goal in coming here is to figure out if her uncle had anything to do with her kidnapping or if he’s in the clear.

He directs me to a sitting room on the right and shuts the door behind me. I take a seat on a plaid couch, and he sits across from me on another couch that matches the one I’m sitting on. “I… I have so many questions, but I don’t know where to start. I thought Mona was dead. I thought… fuck. The police told me they had no leads on where she disappeared to.”

“Oh, so there was a missing person’s report filed?”

“Yes, but it was so complicated. I felt like it was handled much differently than it would’ve been if she had gone missing here in Ireland. At least I can count on our law enforcement here. Portuguese officials didn’t seem to care too much. They told me she probably ran off when she went out for a little while by herself. They were trying to tell me I was overreacting, but I wasn’t overreacting. I knew she was missing, and they didn’t believe me.”

He shakes his head, but one of the last things he said is playing back in my mind. “I knew she was missing.” How did he know? Was it because he was involved with her going missing in the first place? At least, it’s what I’m thinking right now.

I came here to get answers, and I’m not going to leave until I have some. Whether they’re good or bad, Mona deserves to know the truth. She made it known to me that she wasn’t sure if her uncle had a hand in her disappearance or not, and by the end of the day, I will know the truth.

“You said you knew she was missing. What do you mean by that?”

“I only mean Mona would have reached out to me. It was never in her character to just disappear. The police kept trying to tell me it was normal for someone her age, but it wasn’t. I know my niece, and she’s always been a responsible lass. Especially since her father passed away. When that happened, it’s almost like she stopped living so freely. I hated that for her, and I really tried to make sure she was enjoying every bit of her life. But, losing a parent like that is hard.”

Sure, Sean is talking to me, but what he isn’t doing is asking me about Mona, which immediately throws a red flag up in my mind.

“She’s doing well, by the way. I find it worrisome that you haven’t asked me about her yet.” I make my internal thoughts known, and Sean’s eyes go wide. He averts his eyes from my own, and I notice one of his hands is shaking. He’s nervous, and it’s evident.

“I was getting to that. I just… I never expected that she’d be okay. The police made me think she was dead, especially when they said they should’ve found something at that specific point in their investigation.” Sean isn’t making any sense to me. If anything, he’s rambling on and on. “What happened to her? Where has she been all this time?”

“She’s been with a man who beat her nearly every day, raped her, and used her as an object until she came under my protection,” I state clear as day, watching Sean’s reaction.

He shuts his eyes the moment I say rape, and his hands begin shaking even more as I continue. “For years, she was suffering, and I’m trying to figure out if anyone contributed to the reason she was suffering. Right now, you look like the person with the most motive, considering she was on a trip with you when she was taken.”

Sean swallows hard, and his eyes are glued on me, but for a split second, he looks at the door. He’s thinking about making a run for it, which only proves he had a hand in this. If he didn’t, he would’ve been arguing with me, pleading his innocence, but everything he’s doing only proves he’s guilty.

“Why do you seem so nervous, Sean?” I already know why he’s nervous. I’m just waiting for this slimy ass fish to take the bait.

“You’re a man with connections, aren’t you, Nazyr?”

“What makes you think that?” I ask, cocking a brow. Meanwhile, I’m in a power suit that shows him I’m a man who shouldn’t be fucked with.

Sean snickers. “You enjoy fucking with people. I can see that clear as day right now. I’m going to do something that’ll likely get me in some deep shite. I’m going to be honest with you. Years ago, I had a gambling problem. I… I had someone approach me about a way to make some quick money. Money that would pay my debts and leave me a little bit extra left over. So they told me how I could make the money. I was reluctant to agree at first because it meant losing my niece, but I was going to die. I didn’t have another choice. If I did, I would be dead right now.”

“So instead of facing your own fate, you put your niece’s life at great risk?” I snap, not understanding how men like Sean can live with themselves. How can you really be okay with putting someone who you supposedly care about in harm’s way? I think it just shows that Sean never actually gave a fuck about his niece.

“She isn’t my daughter. She’s my brother’s daughter, and when he died, I did my best to make sure she was okay. I—”

“You are a pathetic excuse of a man. You didn’t do your best to make sure she was okay. If you did, she never would’ve ended up in the situation you put her in. You’re to blame for everything. Every fucking horrible thing she’s gone through these last few years is all on you. Do you realize the pain she went through? Do you even give a shit?”

“I’m sorry she went through that. I really am, but it’s not on me. She could’ve made choices to get out of the situation she was in. She could’ve left that restaurant when she saw I didn’t show up, but instead, she stayed. That’s not my fault.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Every bit of this is your fault!” I snarl at Sean, crossing the sitting area with lightning speed. I wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze as hard as I possibly can. I squeeze until my hands turn white from the force I’m exerting, and Sean tries to fight me off, but I’m not going to let him succeed.

He’s going to pay for everything he did to Mona, and that’s that.

“You are a despicable man. You’re a fucking coward. You put a woman in harm’s way to save yourself, and that means you’re at the bottom of the totem pole in my mind. Pathetic.” I spit on him, and he squints, trying to make sure it doesn’t get in his eye.

Sean is gasping for air. He’s trying to pull my hands away from his neck, even to give him a second to get some air in, but he’s panicking. I’m not going to give him an inch right now because he’s going to try and take a mile.

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