Page 67 of The Marriage

Roman resisted the urge to kick the decoration at his foot next to the path. It might soothe his irritation for a brief time, but it also wouldn’t last. Masha’s recent behavior had certainly been a red flag, and while he thought he’d dealt with it, he clearly had not.

Or not well enough.

“Do we have any leads?” he asked.

“She’s taken some things. One of your mother’s Fabergé eggs, probably to hock, and a bag—”

“Anything else?”

Roman eyed Karine who was laughing with a staff member now. The woman had come walking up the path from the opposite direction, but Karine didn’t appear to mind the conversation. Her hair fell back over her shoulders while she squinted against the sun. He couldn’t help but fantasize about her on a beach somewhere. She would look beautiful against the backdrop of a roaring sea. Far away from here and the uncertainty he found looking at the future.

Was it so bad that he wanted this to end?

That he wanted time to love her?

“Marky,” Roman asked again, “is there anything else?”

The man sighed, making the speakers crackle from the breath. “Some personal items of Karine’s that Claire brought from the Vermont Lodge. A coat. There could be more, your parents live in a big fucking house, okay?”

Yeah, yeah.

“So if she’s taken the time to gather things to take with her, this was a deliberate escape. It’s not like someone kidnapped her,” Roman added.

“No. But we’re not sure where she could have gone. Is there a chance she’s working with Dima?”

Roman considered that.

Had she fed information to Dima before—was that how he stumbled upon Roman the first time and caused the car accident? Nobody had thought to keep a close eye on the lodge phones; everyone had their own devices, and Masha was always so concerned with Karine day in and day out.

It was possible.

Anything was.

“Shit. If she is, I wouldn’t have guessed it, though,” Roman admitted, hating that he even uttered the words. “She seemed dedicated to Karine. She has to know what he’s capable of doing to her.”

What he did to her, he added silently.

Marky stayed quiet, and Roman wondered if that was the right time to apologize. Or even, say something to make up for the shit he kept putting his best friend through. Nobody had his back quite like Marky.

He didn’t because his friend spoke first, reminding him what was most important at the moment.

“I think you should get back here, Roman.”

“Yeah, I think I should.”

The call ended abruptly, and Roman could still hear the lingering bitterness in his friend’s final words. He didn’t fault him for still being sour.

Roman tried to put it out of his mind for now. Separating from Karine was going to be difficult—no matter how many times he had to do it; it hit him like a punch to the gut to say goodbye.

Not that it changed anything.

Every time, he still had to go.

*

They returned to her room together holding hands, and he didn’t let her wander more than an inch or two from his side the whole time. He wanted to keep Karine as close as possible for as long as he could.

“I’m sorry I just got here only to go again,” he said.