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I haven’t spoken to Emily yet about this, and the more I hear from Ludvik, the more I know I need to. I don’t only need to talk to her about the possibility of her child being trafficked, but I need her to give me information on her daughter so we can try and find her. I pray it’s even possible in the first place, but more importantly, I pray this child is still with us. Many times, when children are trafficked, they can be hurt, maimed, or even killed. For Emily’s sake, I hope it isn’t the case with her daughter.
I have to tell her today, and there’s no other way around it. She’s gone through enough with what her aunt has put her through, as well as having to face the brutal reality of telling her parents what she trusted her aunt with. Add in the fact she quit a job she loved because of her boss, and I’m sure she’s at her wit’s end. I still haven’t forgotten about him… and I’ll deal with her boss at some point. No woman deserves to go through what Emily went through, and the two of us know for a fact that men like that don’t suddenly change their ways. They only continue onward until some other woman gives him what he wants. When I get my hands on him, he’ll be lucky if he can even still use that pathetic thing in between his legs.
“Thank you, Ludvik. I’ll get you as much information as I can to help your contact later. It’s time I tell Emily what we know. When you’re on your way back here, please text me.”
“Of course, boss. We shouldn’t be more than a couple more hours.”
Ludvik and I quickly say our goodbyes, and as the call with him ends, I stare at my contact list, looking at Ruslan’s name. It’s about time I called him and gave him some updates. I tap onmy brother’s name, and the phone begins ringing, but after a few rings, it goes to voicemail.
I leave my office and head into the kitchen. I’ve been hungry for a while, so I make myself a sandwich on ciabatta bread. It’s nothing too crazy, simply ham, cheese, mayo, some red onion, and pickles. I will say one thing I love about America is its subs. We don’t have too many options like this back home in Grozny, so I’m living it up while I can. Maybe I’ll eat subs over the next couple of weeks until we head back home… at which point I might grow sick of them.
I take my sandwich over to the small eat-in kitchen area and eat, at which point my brother must think it’s a great time to call me back. I’m halfway into a bite when I answer the phone, “Hold on,” I mutter with food in my mouth. Once I finish chewing and swallowing, I clear my throat.
“It sounds like there’s something in your mouth. Anything Emily should be concerned about?” Ruslan cackles on the other end.
“Go fuck yourself. I just made myself a sandwich.”
“It sounded like you had a footlong in your mouth.” Ruslan laughs at his own joke, and I don’t even bother responding to his childishness.
“I have some things I need to talk to you about,” I start.
“Perfect. Me too. Nazyr just called me a few minutes ago. It’s why I didn’t answer the phone when you called. His men confirmed it was Artos in Canada. Nazyr’s going to be leaving tomorrow morning to track him down. His men are there with eyes on him, but I’ve instructed them not to get too close. We don’t want to scare him off when we’ve just found him.”
“That’s smart. How are you planning on handling things with him?” I’m so curious, especially since Artos is one of the men on our hit list. He’s a top priority at the moment, and I know we won’t be making his death an easy one.
“Once we have him in our clutches, slowly and painfully.” Just as I thought. We won’t show him an ounce of mercy. He betrayed our family in the worst way possible, and my brother could’ve been killed because of his actions.
“I need to discuss a few delicate matters with you. It’s why I called.”
“I figured as much. You never call me for idle chit-chat anymore. What’s going on?”
I suck in a breath and start with the easiest part. “Ludvik informed me that our allies have begun looking into your newly betrothed. They’ve found out about her mother’s ties to Julio Ramirez, and you know how sensitive that is.”
“Yes, especially since he’s trying to make a claim on the Ramirez cartel. What a fucking shit show this is turning out to be,” Ruslan grumbles. In a way, I think he was hoping no one would go digging into Amelia or the people closest to her… but he knew better. When you’re involved in the criminal world, you’re always going to have people digging into your past, as well as those closest to you.
The ironic part here is that Amelia doesn’t have one good feeling toward her mother because of what she’s done. I don’t even think she would shed a tear for her if she died. I mean, she’d likely be sad… but I’m sure she’d be sad to lose the woman she loved years ago, not the woman who helped her ex-boyfriend steal her identity and completely uproot her life. “You know, I won’t be surprised in the least bit if Julio has the balls to reach out to our family. He’ll likely say we should meet because we’re family now since I’m married to his girlfriend’s daughter.”
“It would be a door opener for negotiations with our family, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah, but that door needs to stay shut. I don’t want to get involved with them. We’re in support of Alejandro and always have been. Nothing will change that.”
I’m in complete support of what my brother is saying. “You know Lucy being released from prison early is only going to complicate things further.”
“I know it will, and it’ll likely create something we’re going to have to deal with.”
“Have you told Amelia about her mother getting released early?” I’m not sure if Ruslan has, but if he hasn’t, he’s going to need to let the cat out of the bag sooner rather than later.
“Yes, I did.”
“How’s she handling it?” I pick up my sandwich and take another bite as I wait for my brother’s response.
“Honestly? She’s not affected by it too much, especially since she’s not in America anymore. If she were living in Atlanta, I’m sure she’d have some anxiety about it all, but she doesn’t seem like it’s bothering her in the least bit.”
“Well, that’s a blessing in disguise, I suppose.”
“It is. The last thing I want is for Amelia to be upset by any of what’s going on. Her mother’s caused enough distress for her, and she doesn’t need anymore.”
“I know, but we’re foolish if we think Lucy’s romantic involvement with Julio isn’t going to cause some issues for us. She has an ally, and it’s a powerful one at that.” I remind him, and I know my brother already has this information in the back of his mind.
