The Marriage (Darkest Lies Trilogy Book 3), Bethany-Kris [books for 8th graders txt] 📗

wife, after all—it was the very least she deserved. The woman, maybe the only person, whom he owed anything to. His father and grandfather had both set the precedent, as Avdonin men, to treat their women right. In a way that they would want to be treated by their wives, too, because if they could demand so much from the women they proclaimed to love, there was no excuse.

He hoped she would always tell him the truth, but on this, he had not offered her the same respect. Her clear, burning anger was justified.

Roman wanted to tell Karine the truth from the beginning about the private psychiatric facility, but he had to hide it from her for her own sake. There was no way that disclosing his plans to her would lead to anything good. More like, an incident he couldn’t handle alone.

That’s what concerned him the most. In order for their Vegas trip to work, they couldn’t afford to be put into a situation where they might draw attention. What would have happened if Karine had a meltdown that ended badly simply because he didn’t think she could handle the truth?

The last five days had gone exactly the way he’d pictured their honeymoon together—or rather, what he hoped for. He wanted to give her a taste of what a normal life with him might have felt like. What he wanted their marriage to look like when all of this was over, and he could finally give her the world.

He hoped he’d been successful.

She’d been so happy. Blissfully unaware. He gave her every breathing moment of his days for as long as he possibly could—but now it was time they faced reality.

Was it going to hurt?

Yeah.

Just a little.

Roman was so fucking sorry for that.

His main duty was to keep her safe—this place offered exactly that. Michelle had helped to find the right facility because that had really been the most troublesome part in the whole equation when they needed a mixture of things. Therapeutic help for Karine, should she want to continue down that path with another doctor. Privacy not just for her sake, but also safety. It helped that the doctor who would be working with Karine here knew Michelle, and promised to tie up paperwork and anything else she could just to extend the stay as long as they needed.

Was that what he wanted?

No.

The idea of leaving Karine here, locked behind the high, stone walls that surrounded the property was killing him. It’d been killing him ever since he got word from Michelle that everything was a go. He didn’t sleep. Couldn’t. Not that she had noticed because he made a special effort to keep it from her. Instead, he let guilt chew him alive every single fucking night that she slept peacefully beside him during their stay in Vegas.

Roman was willing to spend as much money, and use all his resources for this—to make it work. It was a treatment and rehabilitation facility with a luxury feel, yes, but it had a larger purpose for Karine’s stay.

Who would look for her here?

Who would even know?

Where was a better place to be—if the only thing she really needed was to be safe until she could be happy again—than here? As it was, her mental illness had already scared the men around her in to hiding her from the world, ashamed of what someone else might think. It was highly unlikely they would look here to find her.

The people who ran and managed the facility were trained professionals, and according to Michelle, the best in the business to manage her in his absence. He’d actually flinched when Michelle used that word—managed—like Karine wasn’t entirely her own person with her own mind.

This was the kind of oasis she could use in order to make progress with her own issues, and he couldn’t have her waiting like a sitting duck for Dima and Leonid to attack. Not in Vermont, not in New York. Not anywhere.

It worked twofold.

Well, it should.

The reality of it all actually terrified him, though. Roman wasn’t sure how long he could keep her safe from them without outside help, and this was truly his last resort. However, he didn’t for a second think she would be happy about it. Roman banked on her lashing out and refusing his plan because the same undertones of the situation that bothered him would undoubtedly hurt her.

That’s why he didn’t tell her.

What he didn’t expect was for her to view it as a betrayal.

“Roman!”

Her hiss yanked him violently from his thoughts—the only place that actually saved him from the sight of her rage leveling on him. The second that damn light bulb had gone off for her, he’d already known it was too late ...

She knew what he did.

What could he say?

“You need to tell me, right fucking now, exactly what is going on,” Karine said, every word high and strained. “Don’t lie to me—don’t feed me anymore bullshit. Don’t touch me. Just tell me what you did.”

Roman stood in front of her, squaring his shoulders so that Mel, the floor manager, wouldn’t see the full extent of Karine’s anger in that moment. He needed to be able to handle her himself—at least this one last time before he left.

She’d been right about one thing.

He did this.

No one else.

“I’ll tell you all of it, Karine, but you’ve got to stay calm. You know you’re safe,” he tried to say. “I wouldn’t do anything to fuck that up.”

Her eyes narrowed to two, dark beads. Face flushed, her hands started to shake at her sides, but she made no effort to hide it. When he reached for her she tugged away from him sharply, snarling, “Don’t you dare touch me now.”

Roman winced. “Come on, ba—”

“Don’t call me that, either.”

All that anger inside her came rushing out in a hateful hiss of words that cut him deep. To have her so close, but not be able to touch her ... comfort her, God, it stung.