The Promise (Darkest Lies Trilogy Book 2) by Bethany-Kris (fiction book recommendations .txt) 📕

Karine looked up at him sharply. “Like what?”

“I just ... shit, Karine. I’m not good at this. Talking, you know? Well, you don’t tell me a lot of things, I guess. About your past, but I wonder if you think about it more than you let on. Like the things that must have happened to make you—”

“Crazy?”

The sharpness in her tone didn’t even make him hesitate before interjecting, “You know I wouldn’t say that. You’re not crazy. Nobody thinks you’re crazy, babe. Come on, now.”

Yeah, she did know.

Still ...

It was the only way to keep him—and everyone else—away from that topic of conversation. It wasn’t one she was ready to have, by any means.

Karine sighed, willing the heat to take the edge off her voice as she told him, “As long as the past stays where it belongs, it’s better if we don’t talk about it.”

“I don’t want you to feel like you should be hiding something from me.” Finally close enough to touch her, he did just that, spreading his palms around her face, making her look up at him. While he searched her eyes, she tried her best to hide whatever truth he was trying to find in her eyes. “Anything, Karine.”

“I’m not hiding anything from you, I just don’t want to talk about it. What good is going back—there’s nothing I want there, Roman.”

Nothing good happened there.

“And that is exactly what I’m trying to do—for you and me both.”

Right.

It was just her insecurities that said different.

He kissed the top of her head, lips lingering for a second or two, and tenderly stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. For a second, she was able to close her eyes and pretend like the rest didn’t exist. And well, even if it did ... none of it mattered.

Not like this.

Not with him.

Of course, it couldn’t last long.

“I should go say goodbye to Ma before I leave. I’ll see you outside in a bit?”

She nodded, pulling his hand up to her mouth so she could kiss his fingertips. It was the way he watched her hold on to his hand for a pause too long, unwilling to let go at first, but his patience to wait helped her to do it in the end.

Then, Roman walked to the door, and stepped out into the hallway after snatching up his bag.

All the while, Karine ignored the clawing urge in her chest to spill every secret she had locked up tight—if only to make him stay.

She wished she could tell Roman everything, but it just wasn’t that easy. She couldn’t. Wouldn’t.

Karine couldn’t actualize her past when parts of her still hadn’t come to terms with it in the first place. How was she supposed to expose him to it when she really hadn’t faced it herself?

She expected to hear Roman walking down the hall. Instead, she heard Masha’s voice, intercepting him in the hallway. Their conversation was muffled only slightly, but not enough to hide exactly what was being said between them.

Then, Masha’s tone raised.

“You can’t keep her here forever. This is not the life she deserves to have.”

“What, like the one she had was better? At least, I’m trying to do what’s best for her. I’m going to keep doing exactly that, too. Whatever it takes to keep her safe; whatever she needs.”

“Keep her safe from what? What are you doing to protect her?”

It wasn’t at all like Masha to speak the way she did to Roman. Whatever had been bothering the woman must have finally pushed her to the edge if she was willing to take liberties now that she’d never allowed herself in the past.

Karine stood from the bed, and moved towards the door. She considered stepping outside the room to end the conversation, but Roman’s next words stopped her from doing so.

“I’m not in a position to discuss the details with you or her right now.”

“Sure,” Masha said dryly. “Do you realize you’re doing exactly what they did to her? What you’re pretending to rescue her from is no different than what she’s doing here—the prison and the guards simply have a new look, Mr. Avdonin.”

“They were keeping her captive. I’m protecting her here.”

Masha didn’t sound affected by the harshness of Roman’s reply when she said back, “Hiding her. The reason might be different, but the result is still the same, no?”

He must have pushed past her after this because then there was sudden silence and the beat of footsteps against the hardwood floor. Karine’s heart quickened in her chest, and she struggled to find something to say or think—even if only to settle her feelings—but nothing quite worked.

Not even when Masha eventually stepped into the room. Karine still stood near the door, feeling foolish and looking the same, she imagined. Not that Masha said anything about it.

“I was looking for you everywhere,” Masha said, her tone far more subdued than it had been with Roman in the hall. “I swear, whenever he’s here ... I should already know where to find you, I suppose.”

When Karine didn’t reply, Masha’s stare hardened as she searched her eyes. It didn’t take her long to figure out that Karine had heard everything.

Masha’s nostrils flared, her neck turning a splotchy red in embarrassment, words cracking when she implored, “They tell us nothing, Karine. We know nothing. Don’t you want to know what’s going on?”

Karine shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve spent my whole life not being told anything. I’m used to this—so are you, remember? It never bothered you before.”

Because that was the thing.

Masha seemed to forget it.

• • •

The bottom step of the porch became Karine’s perch as she watched Roman load the trunk of his car with his bag and a few other things. Claire wanted him to take some of the leftovers from last night back to Demyan, but that had been a while ago when she ran back into the lodge to prep the food.

She found it harder to ignore the