Page 8 of The Umarova Crime Family

Chapter Five

Amelia

For the entire day, I feel my heart pounding in my head. Danill, Lom, and their team of men finally got a lead yesterday on Ruslan’s whereabouts, and they left during the middle of last night. They wouldn’t tell me much, but Danill did say they had around a ten-hour drive to find out if this was where Ruslan was being held.

It’s been almost twenty-two hours since then, and I’m growing more aggravated by the moment. I pull out my cell phone and shoot a text off to Danill.

To: Danill

Well? What’s going on? I haven’t heard from you. You’re making me think you’re all dead.

I stare at the screen waiting for the three little dots to pop up, but they don’t. Tossing my phone on the couch across from me, I slump back against the cushions and let out an aggravated huff.

“Moaning and groaning won’t help, you know. Danill went with Ruslan’s brother and that whole team. I’m sure they’re fine, and I’m sure they’re on their way back right now.” Emily’s doing her best to make me feel better about this whole situation, but how can I feel any better when I’m worried sick!

“One thing I’m learning through this whole experience is how things never go the way we expect them to. They found a lead, yeah, but they don’t know that’s where Ruslan is. If it is, what’s to say Ruslan’s even alive? He could’ve been dead for weeks by now.” The mere thought is enough to cause nausea to roll through me. I don’t want to even think about it.

“Stop thinking so negatively! You don’t know he’s dead, so why are you forcing yourself to accept a reality you don’t even know is real? You’re torturing yourself, Amelia.” Emily points out, and tears come to the surface.

I rub the back of my fingers against my eyes in an attempt to wipe them away. “I think I’m trying to tell myself the worst has happened, so it doesn’t break my heart when they tell me he’s gone.”

Emily gets up from the couch where I threw my phone and comes over to sit next to me. She wraps her arms around me in a hug and holds me tight. “From what you’ve told me about Ruslan, he’s a force to be reckoned with. There’s no way in hell someone has killed him because he simply wouldn’t allow it.” I haven’t told Emily everything, but since we’ve been in Chechnya for the last week, I’ve let my guard down a bit more and have told her other things about my relationship with Ruslan.

“You know, it’s crazy. At least it makes me feel that way. I wasn’t looking for anything, and I certainly didn’t want another man to come walking into my life when he did, but he came crashing down every door along the way, and now I can’t imagine it without him.” I feel like some lovestruck woman in a romance novel. I mean, what do I really know about Ruslan besides the fact he’s rich, involved in crime, and wants to take care of me? Nothing, that’s what.

“I’m certain he’s as infatuated with you as much as you are with him, and when he comes through that door in a bit, you’re going to see so for yourself.” Lord almighty. How is Emily being so damn positive?

“You’re just Miss Jolly today, aren’t you? Should I go to bed with my pajamas inside out for good luck too? I’ve been left in the dark by Danill and Lom, and you’re acting as if everything’s perfectly fine.”

Emily releases me and throws her head back in laughter. “I can’t tell you why they haven’t texted you to let you know what’s going on, but I can say I have a good feeling about how today’s going to go. You’re either going to trust it, or you aren’t, but that’s not on me. It’s been—”

“Twenty-two hours, I know,” I interrupt her, and Emily’s eyes widen.

“They know what they’re doing, Amelia. They have a grasp on the situation, and they’re dealing with it. Fuck, have you been counting every minute?” she’s asking me in a half-serious, half-joking way… but the kicker is I have been.

“I’m anxiously awaiting their return. What do you think?”

Emily looks at me sternly and grabs ahold of my hands. “Amelia, I love you to death. You’re the best cousin I’ve ever had, and I need you to trust me. The man put his head on the line and paid a debt you were set to take the fall for. He’s coming back to you. A man like that doesn’t just disappear off the face of the Earth or die tragically. They always come back to the woman who makes their heart flutter.”

Okay, I’m really starting to feel like I’m living my life in a romance novel right about now. Emily gets an A+ for her positive, uplifting, supportive character. “Maybe when he walks through that door, and I see him for myself, I’ll feel so much better about everything. Until then, let me be an anxious mess. I should have more information by now. It’s not like Danill doesn’t have my number or anything.”

“You’ll know more as soon as you can. Trust in that. They might not be texting or calling you right now because they can’t. It could be dangerous or something.” Emily shrugs, and I wish it were true. She clears her throat just as I think she’s finished speaking and adds more, “I know you’re head over heels for the guy, Amelia, so give him some time to come back to you.”

“All I want is for him to be okay,” I mutter, and tears threaten to come out again. I wipe my eyes and breathe in slowly through my nose.

Just as I finish speaking, the elaborate door from the floor below us opens. Lom told us Ruslan’s house is at least two hundred years old and has endured so much. From the overall look of the place, anyone could tell it’s historic. With all the woodwork inside and the stonework on the exterior, you’d be dumb to think it’s a new development.

I jump up from the couch and rush over to the railing. Ruslan’s house has three levels plus a rooftop terrace. The first level is where the front door is, and it goes directly out onto the street. Off to the right of the foyer area is the kitchen, and there’s a study to the left with elaborate built-in bookshelves. Next to the study is the grand staircase that leads to the second floor, but behind the kitchen is a dining room, and off to the left of that is a vast living room. For being in the city, Ruslan has a large garden, which has a heated, inground pool in the back. The pool isn’t overly large, but it could fit at least fifteen to twenty people in it easily. I’m sure he had it added for days when he wanted to relax from all the chaos in his life.

Sure enough, Danill comes in first, with his broad shoulders taking up most of the door, which says a lot since the door is rather large. Next comes Lom, with Ruslan at his side. God, he’s lost so much weight, and his beard is now unkempt and unruly.

I dart down the stairwell, and Emily’s bare feet tap against the hardwood floors behind me. “Ruslan,” I say his name, but it comes out so desperate. Or maybe it isn’t desperate. Maybe it’s a sense of longing I’ve never felt before.

Tears fill my eyes once more at the sight of him. “Malen'kiy krolik.” Hearing him call me by my nickname causes butterflies to soar in my stomach. I’m so ready to see him, wrap my arms around him, and hold him close.

Now that I have a good look at him, I see other things, like one of his fingers has been amputated above the knuckle, and he has cuts all over the rest of his fingers. His nose is slightly crooked, and there are dark, deep circles underneath his eyes. Ruslan waves his hand at his brother, and Lom reluctantly lets go.

For a moment, I stand and stare at him, but I can’t keep staring here. I need to go to him. I break the distance between the two of us and rush up to him, but he holds out a finger. “At least let me shower before I touch you. I’m filthy, malen'kiy krolik.”

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