Page 86 of The Marriage

He couldn’t say he was the same.

Clearly.

Karine was still missing, and Roman had every intention of going out there to look for her, the very first second he could. Even if he didn’t have shit to work with. He prepared the coffee while his mother surveyed the Guns & Ammo magazine he’d left sitting on the island.

“You and Karine will have to get a bigger place when she’s out. A much nicer place. I’ll start looking at some properties. Of course, we’ll want the two of you to live close to us,” Claire said. “It’ll probably make things easier.”

Her rambling told him that she was trying hard to cover her own emotional turmoil. Marky dying would have been a blow to her, too. As graceful and strong as his mother was—kindness and humanity were at her core. It’s why she’d been a nurse for so many years. She formed emotional attachments easily to the people in her life. The people she liked.

“Like what things?” Roman asked as he brought a mug of coffee over to her.

She offered him a weak smile. “I didn’t mean anything. With Karine, I just assum—”

“We don’t know what it’s always going to look like.”

Claire nodded, then shook her head. “We’re here to help. I know the last few days haven’t been easy for you, son. Marky didn’t deserve what happened to him, but Roman, you’re married now. You have a woman who relies on you and loves you. You can’t put yourself in danger for revenge. Blood keeps spilling.”

He understood. Roman let his mother finish speaking, before he took a sip of his own coffee.

She stared at him, waiting for a response, but he really had only one thing to say.

“I’ll deal with Marky’s death later. Right now I have to focus on finding Karine.”

“Finding Karine—what?”

“Maxim broke her out of the facility she was staying at.”

Claire quickly found the stool to sit down at the island, and she clung to the coffee mug in her hand like she needed the warmth. Her lost stare gazed into the creamy pool of coffee for a long while before she finally asked, “How ... how could this happen? They were going to keep her safe there. You made sure of it, right? Your father said—how did Maxim find her?”

“It was Masha. Some of the paperwork she stole from Dad’s office had information on the facility. She’s been in contact with Maxim this whole time, and I think you can figure out the rest.”

Roman sat in the chair across from his mother, drumming his fingers to the island before clenching them into tight fists to stop the jitteriness racing through his veins. Helplessness was not his strong suit.

He didn’t know where to go looking for Karine. He didn’t know the first thing about locating Maxim. What plan did he have—what did he even fucking want with Karine? At this point, Roman suspected it wasn’t for anything good. How long did he have before she was no longer safe with her father?

Was it already too late?

For the first time, he acknowledged that helplessness and wondered if that was how Karine felt.

All the time.

Not knowing what would happen to her next. Being in the dark about every aspect of her own life.

Claire covered her face with both hands. “Does your father know?”

“Nobody knows. I’ve only recently found out myself. I have to go looking for her, Ma.”

“Roman,” she hissed, shuddering as she glared at him with bloodshot eyes. “You can’t. You wouldn’t know where to look. Where would you go? Think about it.”

She wasn’t wrong.

He also wasn’t rational.

“I’ll start with Nevada. There has to be something for me to find. The man isn’t a fucking ghost.”

Claire shook her head.

“Your father will never allow it. You can’t go anywhere. It’s too dangerous right now, Roman. Look at what happened to Marky.”