“Yes, ma’am, I do,” I tell her as I pull out my case number, as well as the test numbers for both of the girls.
“Whenever you’re ready, please let me know.”
“I’m ready for the answer right now,” I tell her, and she clears her throat on the other end.
“When it comes to test number M8921612241652K, we’ve confirmed that the child has a 0% probability of being a match to the parent. When it comes to test number M8921612241653K, we’ve confirmed that the child has a 99.9% chance of being a match to the parent.”
“Thank you so much.” I glance down and look for the last three of the test number ‘653K’, and it matches the Sierra who has dark brown hair, the one I saw, which means that the Sierra Lom was speaking with isn’t a match at all.
“Certainly. Have a great day,” Yvonne tells me before hanging up the phone.
It feels so good to finally have an answer, to finally know that my daughter is going to be safe with me for the rest of her life. Italso feels good to know we got all those girls out of that horrible situation. I only wish we could’ve saved more of them.
“Well, what did they say?” Lom’s anxiously asking me. I know he wanted this answer as much as I did.
“The girl I helped from the truck is my daughter, and the one you helped isn’t.”
“I’m glad you have an answer now. But I’m saddened at the same time. We got that one girl’s hopes up, and now we’re going to have to tell her she isn’t coming home with us.” Lom shakes his head slightly, and I feel as though he’s grown attached to her.
“What will happen to her?” I question, and Lom clears his throat before answering me.
“We’re going to see if we can find her birth parents, but if we can’t, then we’ll find another option. We’re only going to reunite them as long as we know they had no hand in where your aunt was sending them. We know she was preying on innocent girls, but we don’t know if any of those mothers knew. We’d be foolish to think there wasn’t at least one or two who didn’t have some sort of idea or gut instinct about your aunt Lucy.”
I agree one hundred percent with what Lom’s saying. I’ve come to realize that not everything is as it seems, and people disappoint you. My aunt is living proof of that, as well as my parents. I want to make sure these girls end up getting to a safe place, and until that happens, I know Lom will help me provide for them financially. I love how pure of a heart this man has, even if he’s mixed up in dangerous things because of his family name.
It’s so complicated because we’re supposed to leave for Grozny later today. But at least we have the answer we need before we leave. Lom’s even already had someone prepare a fake passport for Sierra, and we took photos of both of the girls the other day after we cleaned them up a bit.
“Thank you for helping me find her, Lom… I don’t know how I ever would’ve done this without you. Actually, I don’t think I would’ve found her if it wasn’t for you.” Tears threaten to fall from my eyes as I speak from the heart, and Lom closes the distance between us. He wraps his arms around my body and kisses my forehead. The moment his lips collide with my skin, a feeling of ease washes over me. This man is my home, and I know it. I’d always heard how people in love would call someone else their home, but I never understood the sentiment until now.
“I wasn’t going to stop until we found your daughter,upryamaya mysh.” With every word he speaks, I know it’s coming directly from the heart. Lom is a great man, and he’s the type of man I know I’ll spend the rest of my life with.
“I think that’s part of the reason I’ve fallen in love with you. You will do anything for the people you care about, and I’m in awe of you, Lom Umarova.” I squeeze my arms around him a bit more tightly, and he takes a hand under my chin and tips it up. When he can finally reach my lips, he gives me the sweetest kiss I’ve ever gotten from him, and as he pulls away, I sigh.
“I love you, too, my strong woman. Now, let’s go tell your daughter and get her ready for the flight later,” Lom suggests, and I nod eagerly.
Ludvik drives us to where the tractor trailers are, and as the other girl’s parents check out, they’ll be reunited with them. If they aren’t able to go back with their birth families, they’re going to be sent to live with the Skulls Renegade MC in Gainesville, Tennessee. The Skulls Renegade MC has been a huge supporter of removing children and women from trafficking situations. I know any of the children who go there will be taken care of in an amazing manner, and Lom already suggested ways to give them new identities. He said if any of the Skulls Renegade members wanted to adopt them, he’d make sure that was possible. He’d get fake birth certificates with their names on them, pluspassports, social security cards, etc. He said between his family and their other connections, it would be easy to do, and I believe him.
Once we’re where the girls are, my Sierra is brought out to me. She’s smiling, which is a sight for sore eyes. Only, she stops smiling and looks between Lom and me. “Are you here to tell me I’m not your daughter?”
“No, sweetheart, not at all. You are. We just got the results a little while ago, and we’re heading home tonight,” I tell her, trying to keep the emotion from taking over my voice.
“Are you serious? I’m yours? I’m being reunited with my mom and dad?” Sierra jumps for joy, and then the tears come falling down her face. I glance up at Lom to see what sort of reaction he has to Sierra thinking she’s his daughter, and he’s smiling too.
“You’re safe,malyshka,” Lom tells her, and I have no idea what he’s calling Sierra, but it must be some sort of nickname.
I wrap my arms around Sierra, and she cries against my neck. “I hope you know this was never what we sought for you. It was never supposed to be like this.” Deep down, I’m worried Sierra won’t forgive me for what’s happened to her.
“The only thing that matters now is I’m with you two,” Sierra cries and hiccups through her words, but she holds onto me tightly. She eventually lets go of me and runs into Lom’s arms, holding onto him stronger than she did with me.
The two of us have intense eye contact, and it’s like through our eyes, we’re telling one another how much we love the other.
Truth be told, I never thought things would ever go this well between us… and now I know that Lom Umarova isn’t a man I could ever live without.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lom
We landed in Grozny late last night, and thankfully this time, there weren’t any flight issues. I didn’t tell Emily this at first, but I purchased a four-bedroom townhome right down the street from where Nazyr and Eset live. It’s maybe about two blocks away, and it’s also not too far from where Ruslan, Amelia, and Karim live.