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“Wow. Mona has really changed who you are as a person.”
Ruslan isn’t wrong. Mona’s really caused me to take a good hard look at my life and where I want to be in a few years. When I really thought about what I wanted for the future, I knew it wasn’t to be alone. Add in the fact we already had some sort of connection, and things sort of fell into place. “I think all she’s done is make me a bit more serious.”
Ruslan is quiet for a moment but ultimately nods. “You’re not wrong. Since you’ve been with her, you’ve been acting more like an adult and less like a boy.”
“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” I laugh, and Ruslan ends up laughing as well.
“Brother, it is one. Please don’t take it another way,” Ruslan tells me with an amused tone in his voice.
“Don’t worry, I’m not. I did want to talk to you about what our mother said about Xava. Have you found anything else out about her?”
Ruslan leans back in his office chair. “Yes. Surprisingly, everything our mother said about Xava was indeed true. Unfortunately, I can’t find any sort of threat against her or Eset. Sure, Eset was followed with Meryem in the park, but I really believe those were our mother’s men trying to take her out. Xava must’ve been an insurance policy for our mother. That’s what I believe.”
Our mother told us so many lies throughout the years, so I understand why Ruslan is thinking the way he is right now. Part of me wanted to believe the last thing my mother said to me wasn’t a lie, but deep down, I knew better. I knew that she wasn’t telling me the whole truth. She was only giving me a partial truth in a desperate attempt to save her own life. Little did she know the damage was already done.
“What’s the plan with Xava?”
“I’ve invited her here to Grozny to meet us. As of right now, she isn’t aware of who we are. She only thinks we’re distant cousins, but when we can see her face-to-face, we’ll end up telling her who we really are.”
“Wow. Have you already reached out?”
“Yes, and she’s going to be traveling to Gronzny very soon.”
“I see. What else have I missed while I was away?”
“Nothing too pertinent. Julio is starting to stir up some trouble, but that’s to be expected, considering his only son betrayed him for our family. We’re going to be dealing with him very soon. Trust me.”
If you ask me, it’s about time we deal with Julio. He’s been causing issues behind closed doors, and while we haven’t heard everything, I know none of us are foolish enough to think he isn’t scheming.
Epilogue
Mona
One Year Later
It’s hard to believe how long I’ve been with Nazyr. Some days I blink, and I’m taken back to moments when I was in Duarte’s household. Any time my mind takes me back to that place, I’m instantly filled with anxiety. My throat begins to tighten, and it’s as if someone is sitting right on my chest. Sometimes, depending on whatever memory comes to mind, my heart beats faster than it ever has before. On some occasions, it’s like it’s going to come straight out of my chest from pumping so hard.
We’re still in Grozny, living in the same house we’ve been in since I came here. I didn’t tell Nazyr this, but at first, I felt like I was stepping into someone else’s home. A few weeks into my living here, I finally began to feel like this place was my home, and I was so bloody happy. I couldn’t ever imagine being somewhere else. Not at all.
Nazyr was my savior when I first met him, but over time he’s become my lover and now my best friend. I’ve really been trying to understand why things happen to people, like if there’s some profound lesson from the universe, and that’s why we go through the things we do. Sometimes I believe if I didn’t go through everything bad in my life, I would never have ever had the opportunity to meet this amazing man. A man who would do anything to protect my daughters or me, and he acts as if they’re his own. His name is on their birth certificates for them, and when he did that, I was ecstatic. There’s nothing like a man who isn’t the father of your children, loving them like they are his.
It’s the middle of spring, and for the last few days, the weather has been gorgeous. The sun is out, and while there might be a few times throughout the day when it’s overcast, there hasn’t been one drop of rain. Things just feel so different these days. I’m happy. My girls are happy. Nazyr is happy. It’s a completely different world.
Sure, the family is still dealing with the repercussions of what they did to Duarte, and the Portuguese mafia has been after them for quite some time. It’s like the moment they handled Julio and his madness, the Portuguese families came together to try and take down the Umarovas. Nazyr’s told me I shouldn’t be scared, but to be honest, I’m not afraid in the slightest bit. I know what this family is capable of, and I know they’ll do whatever they need to make sure that no threat against us is successful.
In the last year, so much has changed. Amelia and Emily both had their babies, and Nazyr kept looking at me like he had baby fever. I know he wants a child of his own so badly, and we’ll get there, but I had two children pretty much back-to-back, and when I lost my son, it wrecked my whole world. I don’t think I knew what grief was until that day. I never thought it would stick with me years later, but it does. One day Nazyr and I will start trying to have a baby, but I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. It might seem selfish of me, but all I want is a little bit more time as a family—just the four of us.
I’m standing on the rooftop deck of our home and have a glass of wine in my hand. There’s a slight breeze, and the scent of blooming flowers is wafting through the air. The door opens from behind me, and I assume it’s Nazyr. He tends to come find me out here most days. Whenever the weather’s nice, this is where I tend to read my books.
Only, it isn’t Nazyr who’s walking through the door. It’s Xava, the youngest of the Umarova siblings. About a year ago, Nazyr’s mother told him about his little sister, and Nazyr told the rest of the family. Naturally, they figured it was yet another lie… but it wasn’t. At least the part about them having another sister wasn’t a lie. They did a DNA test, and it came back ninety-nine-point-nine percent accurate that Ruslan would be siblings with the sample that was provided.
The Umarovas aren’t the type of family who would cast someone out simply because they weren’t raised around them, so they invited Xava out here since she lived in the Czech Republic, conducted a DNA test, and since then, she’s earned the family’s trust. She didn’t have a clue about what being an Umarova really meant and went through a few rude awakenings when it became clear to everyone else who she was to us.
“Hey, I didn’t know you were stopping by today,” I say to her with a genuine smile. I’ve come to really like Xava. She isn’t anything like Eset, which can be a breath of fresh air sometimes. Xava is quiet, sweet, and delicate like a flower. I know there’s an underlying strength deep within her, but I’ve yet to see it emerge.
“I wasn’t planning on it, but I needed to get out of my condo. My security team has been driving me nuts, and your little ones are always such a good distraction. They make everything better.” Xava smiles softly and then frowns.
“What’s wrong?”
