Page 187 of The Umarova Crime Family

I note the wooden beams sticking up along the pathway with delicate lights draped at every beam. It really gives an all-around romantic feel. If I were to ever get married one day, I’m sure my future wife would want something as picturesque as this.

“Attention all guests, please make your way down the hillside to where the wedding will be held,” a woman in a black suit states as she walks around and repeats the same announcement over and over again.

I follow the lines of people, and we head down the hillside steps to an area I didn’t even notice before. It’s a ways below the villa, and in the background, you can see the vineyard and rolling hills. With this scenery, it’s no wonder the property owners wanted to have the ceremony area here. It’s mesmerizing, and I’m sure it makes for exceptional photographs.

I take a seat in the third row, not giving a damn whose side I’m actually sitting on. It takes about fifteen minutes for all the wedding guests to find their seats. If I had to guess, I’d say there are at least five hundred people in attendance.

Once everyone is seated, a live band plays off to the right. There’s a cello, piano, violins, flutes, and a woman singing in English. There’s an older man in the back with an acoustic guitar, but he hasn’t started playing yet.

Shortly, Lom and his best men begin their walk toward the altar. They include his brothers and his brother-in-law, Santos. There is another man, but I’m not too certain who he is.

When all the men are standing in place, I notice Lom just staring down the aisle. All the wedding guests turn to see who’s walking up the aisle, and the first woman is someone whom I don’t recognize. She’s young, maybe in her early twenties, with dark features and beautiful alabaster skin. After her comes a red-headed woman, who I believe is with Nazyr. Another woman walks up the aisle, and when she gets closer, I can tell it’s Eset Umarova. The last woman before the bride is Amelia, who is married to Ruslan.

The music playing in the background changes, and the female vocalist begins singing from her heart. After Amelia reaches her place, Emily appears, wearing a long, flowy, and delicate lace dress. She’s all smiles as she walks toward her future husband. Lom is smiling from ear to ear, and the small children in the front row start giggling. They must be the group of new Umarova children, and I’ll bet the people sitting with them are security guards.

The ceremony continues to go amazingly and much quicker than I figured it would. I’ve been to some weddings that take almost an hour just to get the couple married. Not this one. It wasn’t overly religious. It was straight to the point, and the vows they wrote for one another seemed like they actually came from the heart.

When the ceremony ends, we’re all escorted to a separate reception area. It’s different from the one I was in after I arrived here. This one is around the hill and might sit about half the guests in attendance. I quickly dash for the bar and get another refill before heading to the outdoor area.

There’s a slight breeze blowing in the wind, but I notice over time, the wind just begins to pick up more and more. The woman I’ve been watching since the ceremony begins to rub her arms, so I take this as my opportunity.

She’s wearing the plum-colored dress all the bridesmaids wore. Though it’s a halter top, the halter is thick, and the dress cascades all the way down to her feet. There’s a small triangle-shaped cutout in the middle of her chest area, and she’s chatting with the other four ladies she was in the wedding with. I have no idea who this woman is, but she has to be close to the Umarovas. The other bridesmaids in the wedding are either Emily’s sisters-in-law or cousin.

I take my time getting over to her, trying to read the body language she’s putting off. If she seems like she doesn’t want me to approach her, then I’m not going to.

She’s chatting with Eset, who was formally an Umarova but is now married to Santos Ramirez, the nephew of Alejandro Ramirez, the current Mexican cartel leader. Eset spots me coming first, so she elbows the woman in the side, and then the mystery woman’s eyes look right into my own. She’s a bit shorter than me by maybe a foot or so, but her body, with its hourglass shape, is delicious. I wouldn’t say she’s overweight by any means, but she does have curves, which is a bonus in my book. As I grow closer, I notice how she has the deepest, darkest chocolate eyes. They’re deeper in color than any eyes I’ve ever seen, and they’re so very beautiful.

I walk right up to her and take my suit jacket off. Without even giving it a second thought, I place my suit jacket over her shoulders.

“What are you doing?” she asks, baffled by what I’ve done.

“I’m helping you get warm, obviously. I’m Ambros, by the way.”

“Ambros Galanis,” Eset speaks up, staring right at me. She crosses her arms and cocks her head a bit as if she’s in a defensive stance.

“Eset, it’s great to see you.”

“I wish I could say the same.” Eset’s really showing this woman that she shouldn’t want to be friends with me.

“Did you do something to her?” the mystery woman asks of me.

I shake my head. “No, I didn’t do anything to Eset. She’s just angry my business interfered with her friend’s interests many years ago.”

“Eset, my uncle is here and would like to speak with you.” Eset’s husband comes up at the perfect time and whisks her away, which is my perfect opportunity to get to know this enchanting woman much better. The other two ladies smile slyly at the woman and then walk away, giving us some much-needed space.

“I don’t think I got your name.”

“It’s Xava.” Xava scans her eyes up and down my body. I keep my attention right on her eyes, unable to tear myself away from the beauty of them. I wonder about something else, though. I want to know who Xava is to the Umarova family. There were rumors filtering around for a while about a secret sibling. Could any of them be true? Or is Xava simply an extremely close family friend? The rumors began circulating a little under a year ago, but there’s never been any sort of confirmation.

“You look like you want to know something,” Xava speaks up.

“I do. I want to know how I haven’t ever crossed paths with you. It seems like you’re close to the Umarova family, and there have been many times when I’ve crossed paths with them.”

Xava shrugs. “I guess I haven’t been around when you have.”

“That seems a little hard to believe. So, how do you know the bride and groom?” I’m going to keep digging until I get the answers I seek.

“They’re my family. My mother is their mother’s cousin,” Xava states, almost a little fed up that I’ve continued digging.

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