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For a moment, I debate blow-drying my hair because I don’t want to wake Meryem up, but I do think I’m far enough away that I won’t stir her awake. So I plug the blow-dryer in and then turn it on. Ten minutes later, my hair is dry as a bone and brushed through, cascading down in my naturally thick, bumpy waves.
I throw on some clothes and then go sit back out in the main area with my husband, new daughter, and my brothers. Everyone has been super quiet around me since they rescued me, but I can’t blame them for it. They probably don’t know what to say, but we don’t have the liberty of not discussing what I learned. Not when it comes to our mother or mine and Nazyr’s possible paternity. I know this will be a shock to them.
“We need to talk about things instead of simply sitting in silence,” I speak up, making sure everyone can hear me.
“Right now isn’t the time, Eset. You need to rest. This is all something we can discuss later after you’ve had some time,” Ruslan states, but he doesn’t know the things that I do. He has no idea what we’re dealing with, and I need to get this out into the open.
“Ruslan, I love you, but no. I’m not going to sit back and relax when we don’t have the luxury of doing that right now. Goran told me quite a bit, and I’m not sure if some of it is true, but I need to tell you so you can at least get the ball rolling and see.”
Ruslan turns to look right at me. His own curiosity is becoming evident as ever. “What sort of things did he say to you?”
“He said quite a bit. There is a ploy against our family. Prominent Chechen families are supporting our mother’s claim to be the head of the family, and Goran told me he faked a car accident because it was the only way to keep me alive. They’re trying to pick us off, one by one,” I state, making sure I look at all my brothers and then my husband.
“Do you believe what he said is true?” Lom questions me.
“I don’t see a reason he would’ve lied about it. Guerrero even told us the same sort of thing about the ploy in the first place. Goran confirmed it, and I… I don’t think there are many people we can trust right now, even on our security team. Think about it, Kirill betrayed us, and now Goran… we can probably only trust Ludvik and Danill,” I state, looking at Ruslan, then Lom.
Ruslan nods. “I was going to let go of the rest of our team when we get back to Grozny. I don’t like how many of those who are supposed to protect us are, in turn, doing things to directly harm us or our family. We need fresh blood.”
“We need different blood,” Nazyr speaks up, then he looks at my husband. “Santos, do you know of good men you could bring in from Mexico that are loyal to you?”
Santos takes a moment before he answers. “Me? Not so much, but to my Great-Uncle Alejandro, yes. I can make a call to him when we land and see what he can do.”
“He’ll want details. Do you plan on giving those to him?” Ruslan questions.
“If I need to, I’ll give him some. I don’t see why I need to give him a blow-by-blow scenario of what happened, but if I tell him my wife was attacked, and I need trustworthy people for the Umarova family’s protection, then I’m sure he’ll be happy to comply,” Santos states, and this eases my worries. Nazyr is right. We need different people on our team. The problem right now is that everyone is from Chechnya.
“Okay, good. Now that’s handled, what else do you need to tell us, sister?” Ruslan continues on, and I swallow hard.
“Is it true that Goran’s father guarded over our mother for many years?” I ask, staring right into Ruslan’s eyes.
He nods.
“Goran told me that our mother had gotten fertility treatments in Paris. He told me that she created embryos with your father, and around the time that she began dating my… Anzor, she was getting treatments at that time. Our mother was pregnant with Nazyr a short time afterward, and then I wasn’t too far behind him. Goran explained that his father accompanied our mother to the fertility clinic for her treatments and said that we—Nazyr and myself—aren’t children of Anzor’s. He’s led me to believe that Nazyr and myself could’ve been embryos that your parents created together.”
Ruslan, for the first time in a long time, is rendered speechless. “We’ll need to get a DNA test done to confirm.”
“It explains why you look like our father a bit,” Lom speaks up out of the blue. “I always thought I was looking too much into it… but I can see what he’s talking about being accurate. A DNA test will confirm.”
I glance over at Nazyr, who’s staring blankly in front of him. I know he’s probably having a hard time processing this. It isn’t easy. If it is the truth, we’ve been lied to our entire lives. “How soon do you think we can get results in?” I ask my brothers.
“We’ll need to get some kits, but I want you and Nazyr to both complete one. It might be within a couple of days that we get the results. I might even be able to put a rush on the results,” Ruslan adds, and I think it would be good for all of us if we can find out sooner rather than later.
“Okay, it’s settled. We’ll get that prepared and sorted once we arrive in Grozny. Eset, I did already let Amelia and Emily know you have the girl. They’re working on getting your house furnished with everything you might need for Meryem before you land,” Ruslan states.
I’ve never been more thankful for the family unit I have right now. Whenever we need each other, we always show up, no matter the circumstances.
“Okay, so those two things are out of the way. What’s going on with your father?” I turn to ask my husband, who’s given his finger to a now-awake Meryem so she can hold onto it.
“I spoke to him a few days ago to see if he had any involvement in your disappearance. He didn’t, but there was some tension growing between the two of us. He’s bound to find out that we’re responsible for Lu’s death, and when he does, I know he’s going to try and bring hellfire upon us.”
“He can try, but his allies are dwindling, and he doesn’t have as much power as he thinks,” I state, and every single one of my brothers nod.
“Has he heard you’re loyal to Alejandro yet, Santos?” Lom questions out of the blue.
“Not yet, but I know it’s going to happen at any moment. The fact he hasn’t heard yet just proves his allies are turning on him. If he was as loved by the people and cherished as he thinks he is, he would’ve heard within the first week,” Santos comments.
“There’s a threat around every turn, it seems,” I speak up as I look at precious Meryem. I’m not even going to lie. It’s so nerve-wracking that we have to deal with threats like these when we have innocent lives involved. Our family isn’t just adults now. We have children we have to protect while showing the world that the Umarova family isn’t one you can fuck with and get away with it.
