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“Yeah, I think Nazyr has some sort of fondness for you.”
Both of them look over to Eset, who nods once. “We’re not blind. We know something is growing between you both, and I’m hoping it continues. Nazyr needs a good woman in his life, and I think you might be a good fit for him. You’ve experienced life. The good and the bad.”
Eset’s gaze moves over to my scars, and she isn’t wrong. Some days I feel like I’ve experienced more of the bad sides of life versus the good ones, but I have to believe there’s some greater meaning in it. I don’t want to think it’s all for nothing… and I can’t think that. I need to think there’s some reason for it all because it was the only thing that kept me going when I was with Duarte.
“Are you missing your daughters?” Emily asks, changing the subject from my possible romantic relationship with Nazyr. It’s nice to know everyone else would support it if we were together.
“I miss them every single day. There isn’t a time when I don’t. I have a hard time knowing they’re still with Duarte.” I shut my eyes so I can keep my tears back because they’re threatening to come to the surface. Whenever I think about my girls, my emotions get the best of me. Most of the time, I’m at least in the privacy of my own room, so I let the tears fall. I know better than to hold them back because they’ll just come out ten times worse.
“What are their names?” Amelia asks.
“Vanina and Ira,” I say, softly smiling as I remember the last time I had my little girls in my arms.
“Did their father give you those?” Amelia questions, and there’s sadness in her voice. She really, truly feels bad for me.
Instead of vocalizing it, I just nod.
Amelia’s expression shifts into a frown, and she shakes her head. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
Chapter Thirteen
Nazyr
I’m supposed to be back home within the hour because Mona is making dinner, but Ruslan called me over to his place. I figured this would be a good opportunity for the two of us to discuss what we’re going to do about Duarte and how we’re going to get the children back. I’ve yet to tell him that I have plans with Mona, but as long as he doesn’t keep me here for very long, I should make it back home in time.
I’m in Ruslan’s office and shutting the door behind me when I hear his distinctive chuckle. I turn my head back and then go to sit in the chair placed on the other side of his desk. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing is funny, but I am happy for you. Amelia came home yesterday and told me that Mona admitted to having feelings for you near the end of their girls’ outing. I hope you feel the same way, brother, though I do have a funny feeling that you do. I’ve seen the way you’ve looked at her lately, and the dinner we all had together not too long ago showed me quite a bit as well.”
“It seems like you have it all figured out,” I joke with him a bit, and he laughs lightly.
“Just a bit.”
I’ve noticed since bringing Mona here, things have been changing for me. Not just the way I feel toward her but the way I’m interacting with my family as well. Part of me thinks I’m distracted a bit with Mona, and because of it, I’m not thinking too much about discovering my paternity. It would make sense to me if that were the case.
“I’m glad you called me over. I want to have a deeper discussion with you about getting Mona’s daughters back.”
Ruslan nods once. “All right, what are you proposing?”
“Well, it wasn’t me. Eset came to me with the idea, and it’s a pretty good one.”
“Then this has got to be a methodical, well-planned one.”
“That it is, brother. Essentially, Eset wants us to invite Duarte to London for a show at her art gallery. We already know Duarte loves purchasing art, and he even mentioned it to me when I originally met with him in Portugal. We could extend an invite to see Eset’s new pieces, which hopefully he would accept, and while Duarte is away from his compound, we send a team in to retrieve the girls.”
Ruslan cocks a brow. “Are you certain the girls won’t be with him?”
“Yes, I am. Duarte never takes the girls with him. Instead, he leaves them at his estate with their nannies and a team on guard.” I’ve already found out everything I’ve had to about this situation, just so we’re not doing anything crazy or stupid later on. The last thing I want to do is to plan to get the girls, and then nothing comes of it. We would have done all this work for nothing.
Ruslan nods his head as I speak, and finally, when I’m finished, he cuts in, “I think it’s a great idea, and it sounds good. We just have to hope everything goes off without a hitch. I think there are a few things that we’ll need to do to make sure Duarte doesn’t have any sneaking suspicions.”
“Like what?”
Ruslan pauses and takes a sip of his water before he continues. “You need to be with me and Eset in London. The last thing I want you to do right now is to be in Portugal getting the children. I know you care for their general well-being and for their mother but look at it from my point of view. If you’re gone when it was an event that we’ve extended an invitation to Duarte, it will raise red flags. I’m going to send Lom with the team to retrieve the girls. It won’t look nearly as suspicious if he isn’t present, especially since Emily is pregnant. We can come up with an excuse about her being closer to her due date, so he isn’t traveling as much.”
I already know my brother’s mind is made up. The point he’s making with me right now is valid, and while I want to be there to get the girls when this all goes down, I won’t jeopardize getting them in the first place. “All right. It all sounds good.” There’s one thing I’m wondering about, but my brother might bring it up here in a few moments.
“You look like something is on your mind.” There he goes, my overly analytical brother.
