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“The coordinates show a small house on a rural property. I… I don’t know if this is Eset, but you’d think if it wasn’t, this would report to a different location, not one in the Czech Republic,” Lom points out, and without saying anything else, everyone here is in agreement with him. This has to be Eset.
If it isn’t. I don’t know what we’re going to do.
***
We’ve just boarded Ruslan’s private jet, and I know the next few hours are going to pass by incredibly slowly. Danill and Ludvik headed to Grozny with Amelia, Karim, Emily, and Sierra. Lom and Ruslan didn’t want to leave them alone, especially with how things had gone the past couple of days, and I couldn’t blame them in the slightest. Who knows if I’ll ever let Eset out of my sight when I see her again.
I’m sitting on the most comfortable jet seat I’ve ever been on, but I can’t seem to relax the slightest bit. Lom and Nazyr are sitting across from each other, speaking about something a few feet away, while Ruslan is sitting across from me. His eyes are glued to me, and I feel like he’s about to say something.
“It’s only going to be a couple more hours until we’re on the ground. We’re going to get to her, Santos.”
Ruslan’s trying to calm my nerves, but he has no idea what I’m going through right now. “She could be dead already. Who knows if Goran was behind this or if it was someone else. There are so many things going through my mind right now.” And I’m not lying. There are so many threats between my family and his. My father is going to lose his shit when he finds out that I have pledged myself to Alejandro. I don’t know how he hasn’t caught wind of it yet, but when he does, I know he will bring hell down upon us.
But it won’t even be about that, either. He’s bound to find out someday that Eset killed Lu right in front of me and that when he approached me at my wedding, I already knew about it. Add in the fact that the Umarovas have an entire so-called army coming after them, ready to pluck them from the power their family has held for over a century, and we’re being hit at every single end.
“We’re going to find out sooner rather than later. I do have to say, I’m surprised at how much you care for my sister. She agreed to marry you because you helped our position. She put aside her own ventures to marry you, and in turn, you’ve… grown to care for my sister after you’ve seen the type of woman she is. That’s my thoughts on the matter, at least.”
“Your sister is unlike any woman I’ve ever been with before. She’s unique, yes, but there’s this part of Eset that not everyone really gets to see. She’s ruthless on the outside and as intimidating as a woman can get… but on the inside, she has the biggest heart I’ve ever seen. She might act like she doesn’t give a flying fuck about anyone, but she cares. She cares about people very deeply.”
Ruslan smiles. “She tries to not let everyone see that part about her. When Eset shows that she actually gives a damn, people tend to try and walk all over her. It’s why she developed this badass attitude about her. It’s only there because of what people have done to her in the past, and then our mother fucked with her head quite a bit.”
“I heard stories about her art studio at your ancestral home being destroyed by your mother. Eset even told me about it.” I shake my head, not understanding how a mother could destroy everything important to their child. “How could she do such a thing?”
“It’s simple. My mother never viewed us as her children. We were only bargaining chips for her to be able to play the game longer and ensure she had protection, money, and status. I will guarantee you that if she had been given an opportunity to not have any children, she would’ve jumped on it without question. She didn’t care about us, not really anyway.”
“How sad is that? Mothers should want their children, and if they never wanted children, then they shouldn’t have them in the first place.”
“I don’t disagree with you there. Since Amelia and I had Karim, I’ve seen things from a completely different side. I always thought my mother was just a bit callous, but after witnessing Amelia with our son… I know my mother never wanted to be around us. She would’ve rather been off doing something else.”
“That’s just sad.” My relationship with my own mother wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t as bad as their relationship with theirs.
“It is, but there isn’t anything we can do about it now. Thankfully, we’re all adults and see it for what it is. She doesn’t actually give a flying fuck about us. Not like we thought anyway.”
I nod, and my thoughts drift back to my wife. I need her to be okay because I don’t know what I’m going to do if she isn’t. I never thought I’d fucking care about Eset this way, and I’m over here worried beyond belief about her.
I just need to hold on for a couple more hours. We’re so close to finding her, and once I do, I’m going to make whoever is responsible for this pay greatly. I won’t make it easy on them, not in the slightest bit.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Eset
This room is all I’ve seen, and somehow Goran hasn’t put his hands on me… yet, but I know there will come a time when he either tries to rape me or harms me in some way. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this situation, and I’m still baffled any of it happened in the first place. However, how am I supposed to come up with a plan to move forward if I stay stuck in the situation I’m in? I have to look forward to the future like I’ll be doing something tomorrow, or the day after, or even the day after that.
Goran has already given me a lot of useful information. He’s said that the ploy to go against my brothers and me is accurate and that there are people supporting our mother’s claim to be the leader of the Umarova family… but just like my father, she doesn’t even have one ounce of Umarova blood inside her. How these people can support these frauds is beyond me. I wouldn’t even feel comfortable if Nazyr or myself were to ever take anything over from Ruslan or Lom unless they had passed or there was no other choice. Sure, we changed our surnames to Umarova, but we still aren’t blood-related to them.
Heavy footsteps cause me to glance up, and a shadow fills the small sliver of light that comes in from under the door. “Miss Eset, are you hungry?” Goran calls from the other side.
“Starved, actually,” I state clear as day, realizing when I speak to Goran normally, he has a tendency to treat me better. If I change my attitude toward him in the slightest, I think that’s when he’s going to snap. I don’t have proof, but I’m not really looking to test that theory out. Who knows what he’ll do.
Goran begins unlocking the multiple deadbolts he has on the other side. The jangling of keys can be heard for a few moments until he twists the last lock out of its slot, then opens the door. “I need to confess something to you, Miss Eset, and I don’t think you’re going to be very happy about it.”
I raise both of my brows and look Goran up and down. “What the fuck did you do, Goran?” I question him as he leans down and gives me a plate of food. On the plate, I can see what appear to be sausage wieners, ketchup, and a couple of toasted pieces of rye bread from the scent that wafts in my nostrils. What kind of breakfast is this?
I take the plastic fork Goran provided me with, cut a piece off the hot dog-shaped thing, then dip it in the ketchup. “I’ve been doing my research, Miss Eset, and this is what the Czech call a ‘warm breakfast’. I don’t know why they eat warm sausages in the morning like this, but there must be a reason for it.”
I chew on the sausage, and when I swallow, I clear my throat and look right at him. “Goran, you said you need to confess something, and now you’re beating around the bush. What did you do?”
“I lied to you, Miss Eset.”
