Page 36 of The Marriage

“Roman!” Claire jumped off her chair and came over to give him a hug. He let her engulf him in an embrace that felt like home. For a moment, anyway. “We were so worried. Why would you do that—we didn’t know where you were, or what you were doing, why?”

She stroked her hands over his face affectionately, tucking the longer strands of his dark hair behind his ears. It reminded him that he needed a damn haircut because his distractions lately had caused him to put it aside. Roman pulled away from her, still fuming from his latest interaction with Masha and not wanting to show it to his ma.

She didn’t deserve that.

It wasn’t on her.

“I’m fine,” he assured. “Everything’s fine.”

“Where is she? Where’s Karine?” Claire asked, looking over his shoulder in the hopes that she’d somehow missed Karine behind him.

Fuck.

Maybe he should have explained before just showing up on them. It might have made this easier, but honestly, he doubted it.

“She’s not here, Ma. You had to have known I wouldn’t bring her back here. It’s not safe.”

Claire stepped away, her knowing gaze looking him up and down before finally asking, “So, where is she? Where did you take her?”

“Somewhere she can be safe, and can get the help she needs,” he replied.

When Roman met his father’s eyes he was unsure of his reaction. Demyan seemed calm. He always seemed fucking calm—that was the damn problem. He wasn’t able to gauge shit from Demyan when he needed to the most.

Why couldn’t he be like that, too?

“Getting help where? What are you talking about?”

His mother’s cluelessness about the overall situation pleased Roman. It meant his father hadn’t given anything away regarding Karine’s new location. The less people who knew, the better.

Loose lips sank ships.

Every fucking time.

Even if it was his ma.

Demyan was the only person who had some idea—a few details because Roman couldn’t make it all work on his own—but not the full picture.

“Claire, sit down, let him explain. He’s not going to give you any information he doesn’t want to share. Clearly, he’s gone to great lengths to keep a lot of it hidden from the world. For good reason, I promise.”

Demyan’s voice was firm, and while Claire was usually the one who had the upper hand in their relationship, his father also worshipped the ground his wife walked on. However, it only took a tone of voice for his father’s position in the bratva—in their family—to be clear. While they were in his office, his mother would listen to his command.

So, she took her chair again—while still throwing darts at Roman with her eyes, and saying nothing all the same.

“She is in a place where she can get real help with her treatment. More help than Michelle could offer at the lodge by herself. But she’s also safe where she is, and that’s what she needed more than anything else right now.”

Claire shook her head like she didn’t understand, but she didn’t ask any questions. That would be a defiance of her husband’s orders, though he could see how his mother struggled to keep her emotions and questions under control.

Demyan cleared his throat, and nodded when Claire glanced his way. She seemed to take that as permission to ask those questions her son had seen in her eyes.

“So this place where you took her, she went in willingly? She knows it’s a place where she’ll get help—where she’s safe?”

Roman shoved his fisted hands into the pockets of his pants. He wasn’t sure how to even begin to answer that question. “Karine is not always in a position to make her own decisions. I’m sure we can agree on that.”

His mother didn’t like that.

At all.

“What does that mean?”