Page 108 of The Agreement

Beside her, he nodded. “And the rest?”

Right.

The why.

Why did she do it—try to do it.

Katina was unsettled at the quiver in her voice when she whispered, “Maybe someday, I’ll tell you.”

If he noticed, he didn’t say. Roman nodded, and that was that. Perhaps she expected him to fight her for an answer—to threaten and lay down ultimatums like most men did when they didn't immediately get their way. As it turned out, he wasn’t like any man she had ever met before.

He wasn’t going to force anything.

“Aren’t you curious about Karine? Isn’t she the one you want?” Katina asked.

She found herself as curious as she was afraid of his answer. And she wasn’t quite sure why.

Roman shrugged, replying, “I’m sure wherever she is, she’s safe. Because of you—I suspect. And Katee.”

“Maybe. Katee only wants to play. Me—I had no other choice. No one else was going to step in and do something, so I did. If she didn’t kill herself, someone else probably would.”

If he was shocked at her frankness, he didn’t show it. Roman’s eyes did narrow a bit as he stared straight ahead at the road. She couldn’t help but wonder what was running through his mind, and no matter what he said, Katina knew she was right.

He did want Karine.

“You know, I’ve read a few romances—watched some movies—and in all of them, the hero saves the woman he loves. But the only love Karine knows is painful. Left her feeling ashamed and degraded. A love that was unworthy, that she used against those around her in order to survive.”

She wasn’t the chatty type, but the words kept spilling.

“I don’t believe in happily ever afters,” Katina added, lifting one shoulder in a shrug when he glanced over at her. “And this isn’t a romance, is it? You’re not a hero. You don’t love me. You don’t even love Karine.”

She didn’t want him to answer. It would hurt her if he agreed with her, which she knew he would, but she hated liars even more. He didn’t seem like the type to lie.

Instead, he said, “There is a lot we don’t know about each other, Katina.”

Blood rushed to her cheeks.

What did that mean?

Better yet, what did she want to hear?

“Is this how you love?” she asked, honestly curious. The risks and decisions he’d made surrounding Karine certainly didn’t feel ... safe. Even if they were good. “Uncontrolled and uncontained? Erratic and unexpected? Risking it all? Crazy love doesn’t scare you?”

He barely even thought about it, the words coming out easily. “That’s the only way to love—if you’re gonna. What good is giving someone the world if you haven’t ruined it first to get to them?”

The next breath stuttered in her lungs.

No.

This wasn’t some fairy tale romance—and he certainly wasn’t a hero. That didn’t mean the man couldn’t sound like one, and that only interested Katina more. Because then she found herself thinking ... do bad men make good heroes?

Could they?

If they even existed.

“What happens now?” she asked lowly, turning back to the window and the racing scenery.

“I don’t know,” Roman replied, “and I especially don’t know what happened to Karine and Katee back in that house, but they’re not going back there. Ever.”