The Agreement (Darkest Lies Trilogy Book 1) by Bethany-Kris (motivational books for men .TXT) 📕

some air. He needed to catch his breath because seeing Karine was like being punched in the gut. The second gut punch came when he saw her sit between her father and Dima. Even though she didn’t look at all like she wanted to be there, Dima stared at her like a hungry dog with a bone in his bowl. It made Roman’s blood boil, and he couldn’t explain why.

He had to get out of there, so he did, before the party even got started.

Roman had slipped into the alleyway, undetected, to have a smoke. He definitely wasn’t expecting Karine to show up here a few minutes later, but she did and the rest was history.

“I missed the big announcement. Care to fill me in?” he asked the woman, though he was pretty sure he had already pieced together the entire shit show.

She sighed, and shook her head. “They are engaged. Dima and Karine. Everyone in the bratva has already decided she is his—he made his intentions clear months ago, and no one challenged him. Not even her father. And with that being said, Dima is the son of one of the boss’s closest trustees. It doesn’t matter what she wants or needs.”

Roman stood stock still.

Why?

He didn’t care to wonder what would make her agree—there was a good chance if there had ever been a choice for her where the engagement was concerned, it would be nothing more than an illusion. But that didn’t explain why she would be out in the alley with him doing what she had.

What was it—regret, maybe?

“Huh,” Roman said, more to himself than anyone else.

The woman didn’t quite take it that way when she replied, “Yes, so if you want to make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble, you will stay away.”

“What is your name?” he asked.

The woman glanced at her feet, instantly reminded with one question of her place, it seemed. Roman didn’t like what he assumed that to mean.

“Masha.”

He pressed her more. “Last name?”

She shook her head.

Just as he figured—she was a slave.

One of the many that the Yazovs used and traded. There was an almost intermarket for that type of shit in the criminal underworld, especially when certain factions of an organization were already dealing in trafficking in one way or another. She had to truly care for Karine and her welfare to take the risk of speaking to a vor in the way she did to him.

She couldn’t know he wasn't the violent type with women—Roman never got off on that, but it was still everywhere, too. Nonetheless, the fact she took the risk said a lot.

Her job definitely did not entail simply warning men against getting involved with the boss’s daughter, and leaving it at that.

Masha apparently intended to make her point to Roman very clear, and for the first time since she stepped out into the alleyway, he decided to really listen. “I don’t know what game you are playing with her, but you’re putting her in danger. You know him—Dima. Everyone does. What he is really like. He’s cruel and vicious. He can be unkind to her and ... and ... violent.”

Roman stiffened.

Masha continued on. “Even when not provoked, he just enjoys being mean. Imagine what it’s like when he has a reason. I don’t know what you want from her, but I don’t want her to get hurt. I hope we want the same thing.”

Roman stared at Masha, still absorbing her news. He couldn’t come to terms with the fact that Karine—that beautiful creature who looked like the Devil’s angel in her slinky dress—a woman who could have any man she wanted, and not just because of who her father was, had been given to Dima.

Fucking Dima.

Masha certainly hinted at the fact that Karine hadn’t chosen him, and Roman could basically draw that conclusion himself, too, but that didn’t change the end result.

The hot swell of rage that washed through Roman was the only thing that kept him silent. A part of him that he was trying to ignore was still attempting to piece together how the woman he had been thinking about since they first met—the one who occupied all his thoughts lately—was already spoken for by a man he despised.

The world was really laughing at him.

It had to be.

Unfortunately, it was the same anger that kept him quiet that also made him lash out at Masha when he told her, “And if you fucking cared about her so much, you would stop giving her those pills.”

Masha snapped back, spine straightening.

“Don’t act surprised,” Roman said in a scoff. “I saw you slipping a pill into her hand before she sat down at the table. She might as well have already been reaching for it like she knew it was coming. Seeing that, it explained a lot of things to me. Like why she’s always in such a fucking daze. This has nothing to do with who she is—it’s what you’re feeding her.”

She shook her head frantically, the defiant fire back in her gaze in a flash. “Those pills are the least of her problems—what makes you think she doesn’t need them? You don’t even know what they are.”

Once again, he was reminded that Masha took a big risk speaking to him with such disrespect. His wounded pride wasn’t so bad that he couldn’t see the woman did actually care for Karine.

Masha seemed ready to end the conversation, though, when she glanced back over her shoulder. Keeping one hand on the door, she moved towards him a little before shoving a piece of folded up paper his way like she wanted him to take it. He looked down at it, and then back up at her again.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on, and I can try and help.”

“We don’t need your help.” Masha stuck the paper out towards him, saying sharply, “Well, take it. And let that be the last of it.”

Roman did, but he wasn’t sure he understood what the contents in