The Agreement (Darkest Lies Trilogy Book 1) Bethany-Kris (best fiction novels of all time .TXT) 📖

be here fifteen minutes ago. Do you not know how to read a clock?” Dima turned to Masha who still remained at the back of the room. A fear that accompanied her more often than not when she was in his vicinity welled in her throat when he asked Masha, “Well—you’re not a fucking idiot, yeah? You can tell me why she’s late, can’t you?”

Karine wanted nothing more than to shrink away from Dima, and disappear. Except she couldn’t bear the idea that he would take out his anger on Masha simply because he knew he could get away with it easier than he could when it came to Karine.

“It wasn’t her fault, it was all me,” Karine rushed to say, bringing his attention back to her. Even though it ached in her chest to be in his line of fire, she still breathed a silent sigh of relief that she’d managed to distract him from Masha. “I spent too long in the shower—I always do. I’m sorry. I wanted to look pretty for you.”

All it took was a smile, and a bat of her drug-heavy lashes.

Dima was a dangerous man, sure, but he was still just a man. His eyes traveled over her body, taking in the plunging neckline of her lace dress, the rise and fall of her breasts. His gaze lingered a little too long on her legs, and finally, he glanced back up at her.

Satisfied.

He arched a brow, sucked air through his teeth, and nodded once in reply to whether or not she had succeeded in her task of looking pretty.

Masha had done a good job of selecting her outfit for today. Karine wasn’t even sure how she managed to put on this act for him. It was almost like muscle memory. As long as she kept Dima pleased at all times, and made sure he had no complaints in between, then everything was easier.

She tried not to forget it.

“I had to send the wedding planner away, but she’ll be back in a few hours,” Dima said, taking a few steps towards Karine, and she flinched. Just his proximity could provoke that reaction. She hoped he hadn’t noticed it, so she forced on a smile instead. He touched her hair, tucking in a few stray strands behind her ears. Her skin still crawled from the feeling his touch left behind, and she didn’t even have an explanation for it.

Yes, she knew he could be hurtful.

Violent, too.

Cruel, even.

But she couldn’t recall a single incident where he had been violent with her—he didn’t dare. She was still who she was, after all. Her last name meant something, of course. It still wasn’t enough to make Karine feel safe with Dima. He was a man she had known all her life because of his proximity and work with her father, but she still had to wonder if he was also just biding his time until she didn’t mean anything to anyone at all.

What would happen then?

“I promise I will be on schedule the next time,” Karine told him, still smiling demurely.

He liked that.

Her fake innocence.

All that naivety.

She couldn’t say it quite came off the same when her head wasn’t stuck in a cloud of pharmaceutical-making. Then again, if Dima knew her at all, he would have seen right through the bullshit.

Another huge red flag that this entire engagement was going to end horribly for Karine. Was she expected to play this dumb, airheaded, constantly high housewife that Dima could use and abuse to his will forever?

It made her sick.

And she still didn’t get a say.

“I have a meeting to get to—your father doesn’t like to wait,” Dima said, his fingers trailing from her hair until he was stroking her cheek with his thumb. She forced down the bile that rose up from her churning stomach. Maybe the cream cheese and bagel hadn’t settled quite right after all. “And then, we will talk to the wedding planner together. Hmm?”

“Sure, whatever you like,” she repeated, trying her best to sound pleasant.

Grateful, even.

Definitely compliant.

Karine kept balancing on a very tight rope—every interaction she had with Dima only served to show her how hard it was going to be for her to keep it up.

“It won’t be long now until you’re officially mine.” Dima’s eyes narrowed on her while his mouth twisted in a smile that felt anything but comforting. “Three months.”

She wished the prospect of getting married on the day she turned twenty-one filled her with joy. Instead, the dread became an ever-present, constantly growing weight that she couldn’t escape.

Planning a wedding was supposed to be a happy and momentous time. The proper beginning of two people starting a life. Or that was certainly how marriage and love was presented to her from the people she dared to ask, and the few books and movies she’d been exposed to. She was vaguely aware of the idea of romance, love and a happy marriage, despite never having actually witnessed any of those things in people around her. In fact, there were no couples in her life to act as a reflection for her to consider.

Either way, even if there weren’t any butterflies in her stomach when she looked into Dima’s face—was there supposed to be a pit there, too?

That deep, sinking sensation.

It just wouldn’t leave.

Dima’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he fished it out to check the screen before saying, “I’ve gotta go, but you don’t go anywhere.”

Karine froze that smile on her face as he left her side, and kept it firmly in place until he was finally gone from the room. Just like that, finally, she felt like she could breathe again. She continued to stare ahead at the empty space he had left behind, more unsteady and confused than ever.

Masha was right there to save the day once more, and drag Karine from the darkening, spiral of her thoughts.

“Please, at least finish the bagel,” Masha said.

She’d almost forgotten about it. Masha already had what remained of the bagel and