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

in bed, clutching the sheets tighter to her as a male figure sliced through the stream of light. Alec—one of the bulls who had been designated to watch her every move for the past weeks—entered the room without as much as a hello.

“What are you—”

He came towards her, his long, aggressive strides making Karine curl into herself until he was close enough to hold out a phone for her to take. The lit up screen was the only light between them, but it was enough for her to see the kindness in his face.

And the severe line knotting his brow, too.

Something had happened.

Or was happening.

Karine didn’t get the chance to ask.

“Here, take it. It’s Roman. You should speak to him,” Alec said.

Karine’s heart thudded to a stumbling stop as she plucked the phone out of Alec’s hand, still expecting some cruel joke to trick her out of the comfort she had just been offered. Wasn’t that the way of her world?

It sometimes felt like it.

She pressed the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“I wasn’t sure if you’d be awake, babe. Are you okay?”

Roman’s unmistakable voice should have been enough to soothe Karine’s frazzled nerves, but instead, the jumpiness under her skin only increased to the point she had to exit the bed and safety of the sheets. Unconcerned about Alec, or the fact that her night clothes were simply made up of Roman’s oversized long sleeved shirt, the man simply turned his back to her. For a fleeting second, she felt bad for doubting him.

But she had more important things to consider.

Like the man on the phone.

“I’m okay—now that I know you’re okay.”

Roman’s dry chuckle crackled through the phone’s speakers, but it didn’t quite feel true, even when he replied, “I’m fine.”

“Fine is moot. What happened?”

Because clearly, something did.

“Dima found me. Made it a point that I acknowledged his arrival in New York.”

Karine’s gaze found the window where the shades hadn’t been pulled. Not that it mattered because there wasn’t any light for it to block out, and she was left staring at the blank canvas through the glass that was usually the lake in the day. Her voice didn’t feel like her own, though it was, when she asked, “What did he do?”

She really thought Roman would tell her the truth—though a part of her didn’t actually want him to. It was strange to constantly feel at war with herself. Whether it was the things she wanted, or needed—even her emotions.

Nothing felt sacred.

Controlled.

Hers.

But then Roman let out a hard breath, “I want to say it doesn’t matter, Karine, because it doesn’t, and I’m okay. I’m hoping that’s going to be a good enough answer for right now because we’re running out of time here.”

“For what?”

“To hide,” he murmured.

That coldness creeped in slowly, starting in her spine and then spilling into her belly. It soaked through her one limb at a time until Karine was frozen in place and wishing he didn’t mean what she thought he did.

“I just need to know if you trust me.”

Well ...

“That’s the easy part,” she replied. “It’s always been, Roman.”

“Okay.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Alec,” Roman said, making Karine check over her shoulder for the bull standing at the bedroom door. He had his back turned to her, trying to make it a point that he wasn’t eavesdropping on the conversation. She wondered if that was partly because he already knew what was about to be said.

“What about him?” she whispered in the phone.

“I want you to leave the lodge tonight. With him. He’s going to drive you to me. Just grab the few things you have, be extra quiet as you leave.”

Karine’s heart began racing in her chest all over again. She considered herself to be friendly with Alec—although she felt more comfortable with Jimmy, if she were being honest. That didn’t mean she wanted to be in a car alone with him for who knew how long.

When Karine remained silent on the phone, Roman added, “This is really important, Karine. It might be the only real chance I have to take you somewhere in a way no one will be able to find you except for the person with you. Me, I mean.”

“But—”

“It’s just a drive, babe. A drive to me. You can do that, can’t you?”

She clutched the phone tighter to her ear.

“Is this because of Dima?” she asked.

“He could seriously hurt you, Karine. And if he found me when I was supposed to be off the map, then that makes me think he’s only a few steps away from you.”

The swell of fear that swallowed Karine in one, heavy wave damn near put her to her knees. All it took was reality coming back to say hello one more time. Masha had been right—Karine was silly to think Dima wouldn’t be back.

Sometime.

Somehow.

He’d always been there.

Ready to hurt her.

“Karine,” Roman started to say, concern etching his voice a not higher.

He didn’t get to say anything more.

“He killed her,” she blurted out, hot tears prickling the backs of her eyelids as the darkest secret left her mouth. A truth that she had—for years—turned into a lie inside her mind. The mantra was easier than the memories. It was the first time she learned how to dissociate from her trauma.

It wasn’t real. It didn’t happen.

But it did.

Oh, it had.

She could see him now—Dima. The memory would forever be etched in her mind, but it was just a matter of making her mind hide it. Shuttering it away to someone else, somewhere else she didn’t have to see.

Except she couldn’t hide it now, wavering between the steady breaths of the man on the phone calling her name, and the memory pulling her under.

Karine could still smell the sugared rose perfume her sixteen-old-sister had sprayed lingering in the large closet where she liked to play sometimes. She’d been extra quiet so nobody knew she was in there—Katina shrieked like a devil whenever her little sister found something new to destroy.

Shoes.

Makeup.

Her favorite silk blouse.

Really, Karine only