Page 9 of The Marriage

And instead of telling her father or anybody else, at the time, her mind fragmented into an identity who protected her from the pain and suffering of her memories. Even her insecurities. Her weaknesses, too.

Katina clearly came later, a mirror of the sister she had lost in some ways, but she brought violence wherever she went, leading him to think she protected Karine more than anything else.

On the other side of the same coin, Katee was the child she had never truly gotten to be—an alter representative of the age where a piece of Karine was undoubtedly stuck forever.

Maybe emotionally.

“It doesn’t matter anyway, right?” Karine wiped what remained of the tears from her cheeks, still content in his arms whether she was crying or not. “We’re all a little fucked up because of it. Most of all, my father.”

Roman had to decide whether to tell her. It was a clear opportunity for him to come clean. He knew something about her father that she ought to know—it was her father. It was her right to know he could be dead.

He tried to say it.

Even opened his mouth to say it.

Come on, you stupid fuck, just say it.

Karine straightened in his arms, and sat up, facing him with a weak smile. “I’m sorry for dumping that on you. I guess you know everything there is to know about me now, though. Not very interesting, am I?”

There had never been a worst lie. That was the thing about lies, though ... the worst ones were the lies people told themselves. Karine was terribly good at doing that.

Roman wouldn’t feed into it. He could only love her the way he wanted her to love herself; the rest she had to work out on her own.

“Well, I don’t think I know everything,” he replied, “but I want to. All of it. Even the boring shit. I might know the big picture, but it’s the little details that makes it beautiful, babe. I suspect there’s a lot you haven’t done, for example. I know you had never eaten oysters before, or smoked a cigarette. What else haven’t you done?”

He’d been all of those firsts.

Any that she wanted with him.

The brightness returned to Karine’s eyes instantly. That’s really what she was for him—an instant shot of joy straight to the fucking heart, and he couldn’t explain it. She drummed her fingers along his arm, considering his question before she came up with yet another answer that surprised him.

“I’ve never been to the zoo,” she finally replied.

Roman laughed. “Are you serious?”

Karine waved a hand in differently. “If my parents ever took me, I don’t remember it. I didn’t exactly have the most normal upbringing.”

“I know, we’ve established that.”

“Okay,” she said with a nod, “then the zoo. I’ve never been to a zoo.”

He grinned, pressing another kiss to the top of her head. “I’ll take you to the zoo, sweetheart. I’ll take you to the zoo everyday, if that’s what you want. Hell, Karine, I’ll buy you a fucking zoo someday.”

He just needed the time.

Time to get them there.

THREE

Karine didn’t know the store Roman had brought her to, but considering the security at the door and the walls of glittering diamonds that greeted them, it felt important.

She walked in with him, side by side, her arm twined around his. Her hips gently grazed him as she took each step. Constantly, he kept her close, and she didn’t even think he realized he was doing it. It certainly didn’t help her obsessive desire to keep him in her sights at all times.

Maybe they were just meant to be in that way.

A little messed up, but together.

The heels of her stilettos clicked against marble floors as they walked past tall glass showcases protecting jewels resting on black velvet. She’d never worn heels this frequently before, but Roman insisted they suited her—well, that’s what he’d growled into her ear while he fucked her from behind as she wore a pair—and now she couldn’t get enough of them.