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

left almost instantly, but his heart dropped when she spoke.

Because she didn’t speak to him.

“Is there somewhere I can go right now?” Karine asked Mel. “To be away from him?”

Mel, startled by the reaction, didn’t answer right away.

“Please, anywhere?”

She seemed too rational.

In control.

Even he didn’t know what to do with that.

So, he did nothing.

Roman stood back and watched her walk out of the room with the floor manager who had regained her composure, and with a tight nod, made a beeline for the exit with Karine on her heels.

Nobody said shit to him.

Whatever.

He wasn’t going anywhere.

No way in hell was he leaving this place before he told Karine everything she needed to hear from him—because that was the thing she didn’t seem to understand. There was a big difference between want and need.

Sometimes, it also meant life or death.

*

Roman sat in the corner of the entrance lounge for over an hour—waiting to hear any news on Karine.

Katina hadn’t appeared, or he sure as hell would have heard about it by now. The only information he had been afforded by the staff was that Karine headed to the meditation room by herself. They weren’t sure if she was actually meditating or not, but they didn’t want to disturb her, and she made her wishes about him clear.

She didn’t want to see him.

Not yet.

Roman was willing to wait as long as it took for Karine to be ready to speak to him again. He hoped there was a part of her that would understand why he had to do this, even if that was selfish of him.

Didn’t she realize he wanted a normal life, too? That the past five days with her had been a heaven he’d never known before now. It was only a slice of what they could be together.

If life wasn’t in the goddamn way.

That was the thing, right?

The world kept moving.

And now, leaving her here, knowing when he walked out those doors he was going back to New York to solve this mess with Dima and Leonid—it was the hardest thing he would ever do. But maybe ....

God, maybe if he did it now, then they wouldn’t ever have to do it again.

All because he was in love with her. Because nothing meant more to him now than that woman who wouldn’t even speak to him. Hadn’t what he did showed her exactly that? It was proof. He’d do anything to keep her safe, even if it meant she hated him for it, too.

She could hate him alive.

Karine couldn’t love him dead.

The only thing he was concerned about was keeping Dima away from her. So far, in fact, that she was only a figment of his imagination. If it was possible. Something he thought was real but couldn’t find a scrap of her existence. That Karine didn’t exist anymore, anyway. The little girl whom Dima had hurt and silenced, terrified and terrorized ... Karine wasn’t that person, now.

Dima was the cause for everything, Roman was sure. A catalyst, certainly. The reason Karine was who she was—and that was more than enough. He’d done enough.

Never again would that man lay a finger on her. Roman would make sure of it, but while he did, she had to stay here.

There was no other option.

He couldn’t keep her safe himself.

Finally, after the third glass of water was offered to Roman, Mel decided to make another appearance. She was smiling wide, too.

“Good news?” he asked, daring to hope.

Mel nodded. “Your wife has requested you join her in the meditation room whenever you’re ready.”

Now.

He was ready right now.

Roman jumped up from his seat, and followed her down the hallway past the swinging, heavy double doors. There wasn’t another woman in the world who could make his heart race as fast as it did at nothing more than the thought of seeing her again. No matter how many times he saw her.

It was always the same.

He entered the room alone, and Mel shut the door behind him with a tight smile and barely a glance inside the space.

The room had all white walls and navy-blue accents from the thin yoga mats on the floor to the framed art hanging from hooks by twine. Soft music played in the background, and a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked a calm, beautiful part of the property. Other than that, the room was quite bare.

Minimalist.

Karine sat cross-legged on one of the mats with her back turned to him. As he approached her, she didn’t move a muscle or say a thing, not even when he came to a stop beside her.

“Are you going to speak to me now, Karine?”

She took a breath.

And then another.

He let her have those few seconds before she peered up at him. Roman searched for Katina there, but didn’t see her staring back. This was all Karine. Stronger, even if she was mad. Still beautiful, all the same.

Despite her aggression towards him, Roman was proud of her. Of who she was, and who she could be. Who she wanted to be—he wanted her, too.

All of her.

“Actually, it’s time for me to speak and you to listen,” she finally replied, soft-spoken and calmer than he expected.

“I’m listening,” he replied.

She breathed in deeply, squaring her lungs like she could taste the air in the room.

“I trusted you, and you used that. You lied to me. Again,” she whispered.

Roman was fast to open his mouth, ready to correct her because he had only really lied by omission and that wasn’t quite the same, considering the circumstances. Then, she held her hand up to interrupt him, and he opted to say nothing at all.

This wasn’t about him.

Even if he was frustrated.

Even if she didn’t hear him.

“Please don’t talk, Roman, I just ...” Karine looked down at her hands, neatly folded in her lap but still trembling like they had been earlier. “I really need you to listen.”

As strong as she was being, he could hear evidence of her quivering voice. She’d been crying, clearly. He knew this was