Page 70 of The Umarova Crime Family

“Girl, I needed the details too! I love it when you call me for stuff like this. I need to get going, though, so I’ll talk to you later.”

Amelia and I quickly say our goodbyes, then I take a nice, long, hot shower. After I get out of the shower, I check in on some of my listings, and everything seems great. I reply to a couple of emails from potential buyers, as well as a couple of clients I have.

After I finish a little bit of work, I try to get some sleep, but I can’t get any sleep. So I decide to call my brother, Will, who I haven’t spoken to in a little while. I really want him in my corner with all this shit involving our aunt Lucy, so I tell him everything, every single detail… but instead of being supportive like I thought he would, Will’s condemning me for my actions.

He tells me I was irresponsible and idiotic, especially for not understanding basic birth control. I figured he’d be shocked, to say the least, but I never thought he’d react the way he has. He goes so much further as he tells me that whatever our parents do to me is what I deserve, and by the end of the call, I feel sick to my stomach with anxiety.

Why did I even bother telling him anything?

All I wanted was for him to be in my corner, but it turns out he’s on the opposing side, and I didn’t even know it.

Chapter Fourteen

Lom

It’s been a few days since we’ve been back in Atlanta, and while I know we’ll be back soon, I really want to be back in Grozny as soon as possible. Emily still hasn’t told me if she’s going to come with me yet, and every day that passes us by without an answer only makes me more nervous. If I’m being honest with myself, it makes me feel like she’s going to say no instead of yes. If she would just give me some sort of hint about where her mind’s leading her, I might feel a bit better, but she isn’t.

I’m standing near the window of my hotel suite, looking out onto the horizon as the sun sets. Atlanta is a beautiful city, but this isn’t my home. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here, and being here has meant I got to meet a very unique woman. One who I can’t envision my life without, and maybe one day I’ll tell her that. Emily’s the only woman who’s ever made me want to settle down, and I’d stop all my bullshit for her.

I never realized how much Emily means to me until right now. The mere thought of leaving Atlanta without her pulls at my heartstrings, and not in a good way. It would gut me, and I don’t want to experience that. Which leaves me wondering if she says no, then what will I do? Will I go back home to Grozny, or will I stay in Atlanta to continue our relationship? If push came to shove, I’d stay here for her because I’m falling for her. If it meant seeing if our relationship could make it in the long term, I would one thousand percent stay here for Emily. I only hope I don’t have to. I hope she wants to go to Grozny. It’ll give her more time with Amelia and Karim, and I think it’s a big selling factor for her. All I can do is hope she tells me soon. I’ll give her another few days, but if she doesn’t bring it up on her own, I’ll have no choice but to ask her about it.

Out of nowhere, my phone starts ringing, so I go over to the coffee table and pick it up, seeing from a quick glance that it’s my brother, Nazyr. “Brother, this is unexpected.” Nazyr never calls without texting me first. He’s one of those people who hates being on the phone, so this has to be a good one.

“It is, but I knew you’d want to hear about it as soon as possible. I have a possible hit on Artos.”

“Go on.” Whatever he knows, I need to know too. We’ve all been using every ally we have in an attempt to find that betraying bastard, and once we get our hands on him, it won’t be pretty. At least, not for him. I’m sure we’ll all be smiling when we get him in our clutches, and if my brothers and sister don’t, I at least will be.

“A few of my men have contacts in Canada. I asked them to reach out, and one of them got a hit.” Ruslan gave Nazyr men to be on his team when he brought our half-brother into the fold. I’m sure a lot of outsiders don’t know what to think, considering his father is the one who held power over the Umarova family well after when he should’ve relinquished control. Some whisper about Nazyr or Eset betraying us for what we did to their father, but they know he was a vile man. If anything, it was shocking that they so willingly aligned with us and our beliefs, and even though we don’t share the same father, it doesn’t matter. They’re both loyal to a fault.

“Have you confirmed it’s actually Artos yet?”

“No, but I have men on the way there now. They’re traveling at the current moment, but as soon as we have confirmation, I’ll be calling you and Ruslan straight away. I think it should only take another day or so before we know something else.”

“Okay, have you called Ruslan to let him know about this?” If my brother was smart, he would’ve called Ruslan first.

“Yes, I called him before I called you. I’m going to give Eset an update as well, but I’ll do that after you and I get off the phone.”

“Okay, and good job, Nazyr.” I don’t think my brother was ever really commended for good actions before, so I want him to know that we, as a family, are proud of him.

“I’ll call you both when I have more information, but I wanted to keep you updated.”

“Perfect. Thank you.”

Nazyr and I say our goodbyes and then hang up the phone. I look back out onto the horizon. It’s beautiful and all, but this isn’t home. A door closing causes me to turn and look behind me, and while I would love for it to be Emily, it isn’t. Instead, it’s Ludvik.

“Ludvik, I was hoping to see you.”

Ludvik walks further into the hotel suite and places his keys down on a table in the corridor. “What’s up, boss?”

“I was wondering if you heard anything about Emily’s child.”

Ludvik purses his lips together in a flat line before he says anything. “I don’t have anything definitive right now, but I still have feelers out there. I made a connection with someone who works with some cartels. They’ve been in the business for a long time, and they’ve found some connections with human trafficking around that time period. I’m going to need some more information from you, such as a potential birth date and all that. Do you think you could get it for me?”

“Yeah, I’m sure I can get some details for you.” I’m sure Emily gave me a couple of details, but she didn’t give me everything. With a little bit of poking and prodding, I’m sure I can find out more.

In the back of my mind, I debate setting up a meeting with Julio Ramirez. If the child was trafficked, there’s a good chance the baby passed through his ring… but it would be foolish of me to set up a meeting until I had solid information. Just as it would be foolish for us to head to Canada without really knowing if Artos is there or not.

A meeting with Julio Ramirez would mean crossing business with personal interests as well, and there’s no way I’d be able to keep my cool if I was in front of him.

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