Page 102 of The Promise

She couldn’t respond, and her hands trembled as she held the phone.

“But you have to go now,” Roman continued. “You need to leave right now. Remember, nobody can know. Not even Masha. You have to do this alone, Karine. We can’t trust anybody. Do you understand me?”

“Okay, yeah, sure.”

Alec.

Right.

“Why him, then?”

Roman cleared his throat, saying only, “We go back from when we were kids—and he was awake, so. Shit worked.”

“Oh.”

“Working with what I got, babe, but I am doing something. Okay?”

She loved that he never failed to ask. Because even if it wasn’t okay at all, he made it that way. In a way ...

“Okay,” she repeated.

“That’s my good girl. I’ll see you soon.”

Then the call ended. Karine paced her breathing, trying to get a hold of herself even though she was slipping. The man in the room—whom she’d forgotten about—didn’t allow her the time she needed, but it wasn’t really his fault.

“I packed a bag quick—you didn’t have much. We should go,” Alec said.

She turned to face him, surprised to find he was holding the bag she’d been using up for her to take. When had he even started packing?

Alec didn’t mention a thing about what he’d heard on the phone call, and his gaze was still just as kind as it had been. No pity stared back when he asked, “Are you ready?”

She nodded, although it wasn’t true.

Karine didn’t know where she was going, or what would happen next. She’d spent her whole life devoid of answers, and she wanted that to change. So, she would start by going to Roman and asking him all the questions she had for him.

Everyone else could wait.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” she replied.

TWENTY-ONE

The plan Roman had for Karine to keep her close to him wasn’t one that his father particularly approved of. He was aware of it, sure, but Demyan agreed to it because he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop his son if he tried. It wasn’t a matter of whether or not Dima was on his way to the lodge, he likely wasn’t, but Karine wouldn’t remain there to be found either way. He had been there, so she needed to move. Roman had made up his mind already, and this was the only way to do it.

Karine came first for him.

No matter what.

It also meant that the plan needed to be executed fast, and it had to be done in secret before anyone could fuck it up. If someone was feeding information of any kind to Dima, then they had no other option but to be careful. But if everything went smoothly, then he was going to make sure Dima would have no rights over Karine.

Not anymore—over Roman’s dead body.

Demyan’s focus was undoubtedly better spent on the reasons for Dima and Leonid acting strangely, but Roman had other things on his mind. That needed to be handled first.

Besides, he now had a pretty good idea why Dima was shitting bricks about Karine going missing. She was carrying a secret for him—she was the secret.

Essentially.

That made this all the more dangerous, too. He needed to get Karine alone, all to himself where the rest of the world wasn’t watching, and only then could he tell her his intentions. All that was left for him to do was wait for when she’d actually turn up.