The Promise (Darkest Lies Trilogy Book 2), Bethany-Kris [top 50 books to read .txt] 📗

both. And knowing all of that did nothing to quell his urge to get Karine as far away from Dima as possible.

Forever.

What was more fucked up about it all? Now, more than ever, Roman finally felt like he got her. Like he truly understood where the fragmented pieces of Karine had been born, and why.

If only, somehow, that could make it all better. As if some magical roadmap to healing her had been laid in his hands ... but, no.

That’s not how this worked.

Roman lit his third cigarette in a row—the only thing distracting him from all the pains and aches criss-crossing his body from head to toe. Even the way his cheek stung every time he grimaced, pulling at the tender, glued slice on his face, was forgotten as hot smoke burned the back of his throat and lungs.

Nobody could say he didn’t know how to handle stress. He did—it just wasn’t healthy.

The doctor wouldn’t have been pleased to hear what Roman had gone and done when he’d specifically been told to rest.

Whatever.

It would all be worth it when he saw Karine’s face.

He was halfway through his cigarette when he saw the headlights of Alec’s car approaching down the dirt road. Gravel crunched under slow-moving rubber. He crushed the cigarette under his shoe, and waited with his arms crossed over his chest.

The car stopped only a few feet away in front of him, and Alec got out first, moving to the rear to open the back door.

Roman hadn’t realized he was holding his breath, until he finally saw Karine’s slippered feet touch the ground. A smile twitched at his mouth. She hadn’t even bothered to put on her shoes.

But she was here.

Everything would change now.

Wrapped up in a quilt, Roman had to wonder if she’d even bothered to change out of her nightclothes when Alec barged in on her. That had been a risk, too—a risk that Katina might show herself if not handled just so.

She was frail in the headlights of Alec’s car—walking straight to him through the stream of bright yellow where he waited. Small, yes, but still beautiful. She kept her head up, her shoulders straight—Karine radiated a strength that he hadn’t noticed before.

But he loved it.

Loved her.

Alec stayed back, and Roman nodded at him over Karine’s shoulder.

“Thanks, man—for everything, yeah?”

“It wasn’t a problem,” Alec returned easily, “my pleasure.”

Alec quickly slipped back inside the car and headed off, no doubt back to New York to meet with Roman’s father, and receive his next set of orders. Whether that was returning to Vermont, or otherwise, he wouldn’t be punished for doing what Roman had asked.

Karine came to a stop only a couple of feet away from him, staring like he had all the answers in the world. She was far away enough that he couldn’t touch her, but close enough that he wanted to pull her into his arms.

And that was exactly what he did, closing those two feet with one long stride before he’d caught her in his arms. The quilt flew off her shoulders when Roman dragged her into his chest. Instantly, she had tipped her chin up, lips pursed for his kiss, demanding he give it to her before he could even offer it.

Roman didn’t mind, and by the time he was finished greeting her with tender sweeps of his lips against hers, her sigh was pure pleasure. All happiness.

“I thought something happened to you,” she whispered when he pulled away from the kiss. The pad of her index finger traced the cut below his eye. “Nope, don’t like that. At all.”

Her joking tone was still laced thick with fear, the undercurrent shaking her words just enough for him to hear it. He didn’t look great, but she had better things to be worried about other than him. The last thing he was ever gonna do to this woman was make her worry about him.

Simple as that.

“I promise I only look like damaged goods right now,” he said with a smirk.

Karine swallowed hard, but her finger didn’t pull away from the one visible injury she had decided to focus on. Little did she know, there were more where that one came from. So to speak.

“Dima did this to you,” she murmured.

“But he’s never going to do it again, and he’s definitely never taking you away from me. That’s what’s important here.”

Karine licked at the seam of her lower lip, and gripped his arms tighter. “Do you have a plan?”

He couldn’t stop the smile from spreading on his face.

The next part of this was easy. Like breathing, his mother might say, if it was just meant to be. He dared to believe it was, even if he wasn’t that kind of guy. He wanted to be—for Karine. He did.

“I have something even better—that’s why you’re here, remember? I have the woman I’m going to marry,” he replied.

The stretch of dirt road was quiet but for the woosh of passing cars every so often from the highway, hidden only by a thin patch of trees and darkness. In his arms, her head tilted back so he could see her smile.

He hadn’t expected to be nervous, really. Roman had already figured out what he wanted, after all. So when that smile of hers landed on him, he realized that he’d been right not to worry.

This—her—was everything he wanted.

“I wasn’t really sure if you meant that literally,” she said, soft but sweet.

“Really?”

Did he seem like the kind of guy to just say that kind of shit? To anybody?

Roman released her from his hold, dropping down on one knee in front of Karine. Her giddy laughter fell into the darkness surrounding them. He tugged on her hand, making her wild gaze dart to his.

“What are you doing?”

“I can’t believe you didn’t think I meant it literally, babe.”

She dragged her bottom lip under her top teeth, unable to contain her grin. “Well—”

“Well, I guess you should think about what you’re going to say, because I’m asking you to—wait, what’s your