Page 101 of The Agreement

Maxim’s gaze met his for only a moment before darting away.

At the chance to ask another question, Roman did. “Because you were expecting them to plot against you? Did you think you could get ahead of it that way?”

“I would have been surprised if they didn’t. I thought the marriage agreement would solve the problem before it began. Tie them to me in a way, yes? A win-win, if you will. Leonid would get what he wanted—his son married to a pakhan’s daughter.”

“Clearly, you were wrong. What he wants is to be the boss.”

Roman simply connected the dots, he hadn’t actually heard those words from Leonid—but it was the only thing that made logical sense. Maxim wasn’t denying it, either.

In fact, the man just stared at an empty spot on the wall behind Roman. He had another thought, then. A win-win, he’d called it. Like Leonid got what he wanted, and so would everyone else.

What did they get?

“And what about Dima?” Roman dared to ask.

Maxim startled at that, like he’d been shoved hard, as his gaze slammed back into a sore, tired Roman. “What about him?”

“What does he get from the marriage?”

“Karine. That’s what he wants. What he’s always wanted.”

But that meant having her, too. She would be his—under his control, Dima’s to possess in any way he wanted. Forever.

“And you’re willing to just ... what, hand your daughter over to a man like that?” Roman hissed through another wave of pain, but his anger was still clear in every single word that ripped out of his mouth. “Fuck you.”

Maxim turned his back to him at that statement, making Roman unable to see his face or expressions. Was he pissed off at the disrespect, or actually considering what was said between them?

Would it matter?

Roman still thought there was one person left in Maxim’s win-win equation that he hadn’t pointed out. The boss himself. Protection from a possible plot on his life certainly didn’t seem like enough when he could just cut out the middleman and kill the assholes if he couldn’t truly trust them.

What else was there?

“And what do you gain from this?” Roman asked.

Maxim looked over his shoulder at him, a gleam of wonderment coloring his expression as he stared at the beaten and bruised man hanging in front of him. The man who may have just saved his life. Did he realize that?

“Let me guess,” Roman choked out through another agonizing cough, “I bet you gain everything—you’ll finally be rid of her. Karine.”

There was a part of him that ached for her, too, but in a different way than the pain currently flexing through his body with the smallest movement. Sweet and naive Karine. She had clearly agreed to the marriage to please her father, on top of her other issues that had become abundantly clear to him, and she had no idea he was just using her as a pawn. She was nothing more than a small piece in a big game.

One she couldn’t play.

“She doesn’t belong to me. She doesn’t belong here.”

Maxim’s voice coated with hatred. The man’s disdain for his child stunned Roman for a moment. He couldn’t relate to that. At all. No matter what shit he’d done to his parents—to his father, specifically, a far better man than him—they still loved him. Not once had he heard them speak about or to him the way Maxim just did about his own daughter.

“She needs someone who wants her,” Maxim added quieter.

And that was Dima?

“She needs help,” Roman snapped back.

That wasn’t the response Maxim wanted if the way his burning gaze and red face turned on Roman was any indication. “And suddenly, you’re an expert? The fuck do I need your advice for—a privileged boy without an ounce of respect or loyalty?”

Even hanging like he was, battered and exhausted, Roman still bristled at the insult. He refused to rise to the bait, knowing good and damn well it wouldn't do anything for him to do so.

Instead, hoping the man would hear him this time, he said, “I can see enough to know she needs real help—probably a professional diagnosis of her condition, and the right kind of treatment. None of the medication you keep feeding her like candy is going to help. Not unless she gets seen by someone who knows how to handle her situation.” Roman briefly considered asking Maxim if he knew about Katee—that he suspected Karine and Katee were the same person. Even if one was seemingly a child, and the other, a grown woman. That Katee was an alter—an identity that fractured from somewhere in her mind, maybe to keep her safe or to deal with her situation. Whatever it was.