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

Roman’s brows crossed—something still wasn’t right. “You need to tell me everything you know about your daughter and her condition.”

A bitter smirk formed on Maxim’s face. In a blink, he seemed a whole lot older. Maybe it was the way he pressed the tips of his fingers into his forehead as he shook his head.

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Maxim replied in a sigh, long and tired. “I’m giving you a gift by sparing your life. You fucked her—you can have her. She’s yours. Just get her away from me. And when—if—you think you’ve figured it all out, know that it’s already too late. The agreement is final. There’s no going back. Not fucking ever. If you want to leave alive, then you take her with you, and stay gone.”

Just like that.

Karine was his.

This was what he wanted, right?

Had he really asked for this?

The weight of the choice came to rest so heavy on Roman’s shoulders that his feet felt cemented to the ground from the pressure. And yet, it didn’t really matter about the questions people would have, or the work it would take to keep her safe. She was his responsibility now.

Roman’s choice was made.

His life to save hers.

The two men stood staring at each other in silence for a minute longer. It was all they could afford. Roman didn’t care to know what raced through Maxim’s mind. All he really wanted to do was get out of that basement, find Karine, and get her as far away from the city as he could before dawn broke.

Her father didn’t love her, never cared for her, couldn’t wait to be rid of her. So, fine. She meant something to Roman—she wasn’t worthless to him.

He’d make sure she knew it, too.

TWENTY-TWO

Tonight, there would be no dreams. It was so close, though—the day that would change everything. Katina knew the others wouldn’t be able to handle it, so she shuttered them away.

Karine wanted to sleep.

Katee had to play.

Katina was the only one between the three who wouldn’t disintegrate into a puddle of useless tears knowing they were going to be forced to marry Dima in two days. But not before Maxim paid for it—answered for all of it.

Wide awake and stretched out almost naked under the sheets of her bed, Katina enjoyed the moonlight pouring in on her. A cool stream of light against the backdrop of black shadows. She felt like that, too.

Cold.

Dark.

She didn’t know where Karine was. As the day of the wedding drew near, Karine grew more and more out of it. Lately, she rarely knew what was going on around her. The medications she had tried to stop taking had returned full-force back into her life. She begged and threatened Masha for them—manipulated to get them, even. That wasn’t Karine at all. She needed them again, just to make it through the day.

Katina stepped in to help more than she usually would, or the girl was going to kill herself.

As she stared at the silvery light that filtered through the room from the veranda’s doors, she could almost see him standing there. Roman. Her memory of him was fragmented—pulled from what she knew, not what she’d done. It was Karine who wanted him.

Obsessed over him.

Seduced him.

Katina was just there in the background, not living it, not really remembering it, either. Except, she couldn’t seem to shake off how he made Karine feel. A peculiar feeling. Like she didn’t need to run. Hide. Fight. Survive.

She could just be.

Karine liked the idea of just being.

Katina, not so much.

A knock on the bedroom door didn’t even earn her interest, as she assumed it was Masha. Katina blinked hard, trying to bring back Karine’s voice. Usually, she spoke like her, and responded to Karine’s name, too. That made it less confusing for the others around her. And oftentimes, she had ulterior motives for wanting people to believe she was someone else.

Except Leonid.

That was a different business. They both wanted the same thing, and in two more days—they would have it. The prick could fuck off to do whatever he wanted, then. As long as she got what was due, too.

A proper give and take.

However, instead of Masha, someone else opened and stood at the door. The looming shadow of his tall, broad-shouldered frame filled the doorway, and she knew who it was immediately.

Even though they hadn’t met before.

Technically.

“Karine?” Roman asked, stepping further into the room when she pushed up to her elbows. His voice came off deep, velvety smooth, and masculine, too. The concern still rang through.

Maybe she could understand why Karine liked to fantasize about the man. He was something to look at. She sat up, and stared at him blankly. Waiting, really, for him to figure out what she thought—after Karine’s last meltdown with him—should be obvious by now.

Karine was a lot of things.

People, sometimes.

Katee, yes.

Katina more often.

Herself with him.

Roman searched her eyes as Katina tilted her head to the side, and a smile curved the corner of her mouth. Realization settled over his face slow. She enjoyed watching it, honestly. He recognized her, or rather, he recognized who she wasn’t.

“Katina.”

The breath she let out was relief. There was something to be said about not having to pretend—it certainly made her goals easier to reach.

“And?” she asked back. Just as fast, Katina demanded, “Why are you here—where is Masha?”

Roman raked a hand through the short-trimmed, thick dark hair on his head. A tug started somewhere in the pit of her stomach when she considered what it would feel like to have his beard scratch the sensitive skin on the insides of her thighs while she rode his face.

She could see it now. His appeal. Why Karine was so possessed by him. Why Katee, even though she was just a girl, was so drawn to him, too. Pretty people attracted pretty people.

“Well?” she asked sharply when he said nothing.

Roman let out a hard breath followed by a clipped laugh. It sounded like disbelief. Just