Page 40 of The Umarova Crime Family

My brothers and sister offered to tail Amelia while she was out with Emily since I’ve been handling things with Carter. They’re only staying here for a few more days, and then they’re all heading back to Grozny, but the more I think about it, the more I feel as though I can’t leave Atlanta yet. I mean, I know I have to leave, but securing everything with the Steeles is so new. I can’t leave without having someone from my family stay behind and ensure the Steele family is happy with our products and business relationship. I’m debating asking Lom if he’ll stay here for at least a few months, then he can come back home to Grozny once we have completed a successful probationary period with the Steeles.

Eset texted me a bit ago and said Amelia was leaving Illusion, and it looked like Emily was going to drop her off at the hotel. Sure enough, the elevator door’s opening now. I look up from my phone to see Amelia walking down the hallway. She’s biting at her bottom lip, and her hands are shaking a tad. It makes me think she’s nervous, but I don’t know why she’d be so nervous.

“Malen'kiy krolik, come. Tell me what’s troubling you.” Amelia comes over to me and sits next to me on the couch. I place my hand on hers and hold hers firmly, waiting for her to speak.

Amelia takes a few moments before she says anything. She takes in a deep breath and lets it go, then tells me something I never expected to hear her say so soon. “Ruslan, I’m pregnant.”

I swallow hard at her admission and watch her features. She’s nervously looking around and then tries to look at me for a moment. I think she might be worried about my reaction to this news, and while I didn’t expect this, I’m not disappointed in the least bit. Most men my age have already finished having their families, or they’re just now getting started.

“How do you feel about it?” I’m not worried about myself. I want to know what Amelia’s thoughts are. I want to know if she’s comfortable with keeping this pregnancy before I get my hopes up.

“I’m shocked, to say the least, but I think I’m just surprised. I… I didn’t expect something like this to happen so soon and because it did, it’s kind of thrown me for a loop. You know?”

I chuckle at her answer. I wasn’t exactly expecting to get her pregnant so soon, either. “Yes, well, it did happen very fast now, didn’t it?”

Amelia nods, and I can see she’s still nervous about it. “Yeah.”

Amelia doesn’t say anything for a few moments, so I tug her against me and wrap an arm around her. I don’t know if she realizes it, but she’s the most precious thing in the entire world to me. “I’m elated, really. I want to be a father, and I knew I’d be one eventually, but you’ve given me a precious gift. One I might not be so deserving of yet.”

Amelia cranes her neck up to stare at me, and I wait for her to speak. “You are deserving of anything you want, Ruslan. I was terrified you’d be upset about this. I was so scared you’d think I was trying to trap you or something, honestly.”

“If we both look at it, I was the one to trap you. Wasn’t I?” I laugh, and Amelia shakes her head and smiles. She doesn’t like my joke, but it is a bit ironic.

If I really think about it, I never found the right woman to have a child with. I knew one day I’d find someone who was as intelligent as she was nurturing. That woman is Amelia. She has no idea how important she is to me, but I work on showing her every day.

Amelia begins sniffling, and I peer down at her, noticing tears sliding down her cheeks. “Oh, Amelia. Why are you crying? There’s no need. Everything is fine.”

“I’ve been so overwhelmed. All day I was convincing myself you’d leave me.”

“My sweet Amelia,” I run a hand over her face and hold her as close as I can against me. “I’d never leave the mother of my child, especially when I’m undoubtedly in love with her.” The moment I make my feelings known, Amelia looks up at me. It’s like she thinks she couldn’t have possibly heard me correctly, but I’m speaking from the heart.

“I’m in love with you too. I think I’ve really felt it over the past couple of weeks, but I was afraid to say anything. I’m not a woman who likes being rejected, so that fear can be a dark cloud over my shoulders some days.”

“I’d never reject you. Not in the least bit.” I kiss the top of her head, and Amelia wraps her arms around me, snuggling her body against mine. This is what I want. This is what I want to do every day for the rest of my life. I want her holding onto me like this. “There is something I wanted to speak to you about while you’re here.”

Amelia scoots up on the couch a bit and slides her feet under her. “Okay, now you have me nervous.”

“My time in Atlanta is coming to an end. My place is in Grozny, and that’s where I need to be the face of the Umarova family. I only came here for a few weeks to secure a working relationship with a colleague, but I stayed because of you. I stayed here because I knew this was your home… but I hope our home is now with each other.”

Amelia squeezes my hand and smiles lightly. “I thought you might have to leave soon, and I’d hoped you’d extend the invitation to me. When I found out I was pregnant earlier, I put my two weeks’ notice in at Illusion. Emily’s actually going to take the rest of my shifts since she wants to get more steady work anyway.”

“That’s great… and I’m glad you quit.”

“I figured you wouldn’t want your future baby mama to be walking around in a short skirt at a club.”

“Yes, well, it wouldn’t exactly be something I hoped for.” I laugh, and Amelia laughs too.

It feels as though the chaos in my life is slowly coming to an end. I’ve dealt with Anzor and found out a lot of secrets along the way. And Carter is no longer a problem for Amelia. The two of us are free from our pasts, and I think we’re both ready for this new chapter of our lives. I only hope my father is looking down on me and is proud of the steps I’ve taken. He’d probably say I took long enough, but I’m sure it would be in jest.

“I know leaving here isn’t ideal for you, and I know you will want your cousin to come to visit quite often. I will make sure Emily has plane tickets for whenever she wants to visit, and we will have a bedroom ready for her in our home.” I didn’t call the house my home. I called it our home because Amelia is a very big part of my life. She’s one thing I hope to never lose, and I’ll do whatever I need to make sure she and our child are happy.

“Thank you so much.” Amelia’s moved to tears, and they’re streaming down her beautiful face. I wipe them away with my hands, but I’m caught staring at her in awe.

The more I think about it, the more I realize I never want her out of my life. “Marry me.” I can’t believe I spoke out loud. I was thinking about how much I wanted to marry her, and I blurted it out like an absolute fool. This isn’t the way I wanted to ask her at all. I wanted flowers, the ring, the whole nine yards.

“Wait, what?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t plan on ever asking you like this, but I want to marry you. I hope you want to marry me, too. The more I think about it, the more I realize I can’t imagine a life without you in it, Amelia. I don’t want to live life if you’re not here by my side. I want you to be my wife, so will you become Mrs. Umarova?”

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