anything wrong.”
She laughed—loudly for their mother, especially in a public place.
He exchanged a WTF? look with his sister.
“That’s right. I had perfect children,” she said, switching to Japanese. “Neither of you were criminals or psychopaths, and I’m immensely grateful for that.”
The waiter dropped off the drinks.
“I wanted to have this conversation tomorrow over lunch, but this is as good a time as any to tell you of the upcoming changes in my life.”
“Maybe we should just have the waiter leave the bottle,” Ronin muttered.
Shiori kicked him under the table.
Their mother held her glass aloft. “Raise your glasses to the new interim director of Okada Food Conglomerate.”
He looked at Shiori who was looking at him blankly. He managed to say, “Who is the new interim director?”
“Me,” their mother stated.
Ronin almost dropped his glass. He and Shiori said, “What?” simultaneously.
“Drink your toast.”
Shiori and Ronin drank.
“Okay. What the hell is going on? I feel as if I’ve stepped into an alternate universe. Shiori quits. And you’re taking over?”
“Yes. My father is ready to retire. I knew Shiori wasn’t ready for the CEO chair. I knew you didn’t want it,” she said to Ronin. “And some guy who looks good on paper doesn’t deserve it sight unseen. I’ve been around this food business my entire life. For close to thirty years, I’ve served as my father’s hostess for business events as well as his business confidante. As his only child, I am the first heir. Something many people have forgotten.”
“But you’ve never had any interest in taking the mantle,” Ronin said.
“Not publicly, no. So after your sister’s charming text message to your grandfather, giving the reasons why she’s stepping down, I’m stepping up.”
“You’re really taking over?” Shiori said with equal shock.
“Yes. Okada is hiring Inichi Matso, except he will answer to me. Even if he passes the probationary period, he will still answer to me. We’ve revised the legal documentation in the past few weeks for the board of directors. A member of the Okada family will always have oversight of the company and will always have at least one seat on the board. For now, that’s me. I have my own team to run checks on every aspect of the business anytime I deem it so.”
“And Inichi Matso agreed to this?”
“Of course. He wants to get control of a five-billion-dollar business and turn it into more.”
“But what about all your free time? You’re a few years from retirement.”
“I like to do things differently—get a job when most people retire. Your grandfather is feeling remorseful for some of the things he’s done.” She offered them a sad but surprisingly sneaky smile. “I played on that mercilessly. I did demand that he make both of your trust funds fully accessible—without strings.”
That seemed too good to be true, even when Ronin had no idea what he’d do with that much money. “No strings? At all? Ever?”
“Just the usual inheritance tax issues. But besides that? No. The only strings that should come with a gift are on the outside of the package when you open it.”
Such a smart woman.
“After our earlier discussion, I got to thinking about your father. How much I loved being with him.” She slid her hands across the table and squeezed both Ronin’s and Shiori’s forearms. “I want that kind of happiness for both of you.”
“Doesn’t love like that just break your heart? You loved him and you lost him,” Shiori said softly. “Who wants that kind of forever pain?”
“I did. I miss him every day. But I see him in both of you, so he’s not completely gone. I would rather have that all-encompassing love for a short time than never have had it at all.” She patted Shiori’s hand. “Keep looking, Shiori-san. You’ll find it. Probably where you least expect it.” Their mother stood and she focused on Ronin. “Don’t waste another minute of your life without her. You never know how many minutes you’ll get.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
RONIN broke damn near every traffic law getting to Amery’s. He parked his motorcycle in the alley. He rapped on the door four times before unlocking it. Inside, he tossed his helmet aside and yelled, “Amery?” as he started up the circular stairs.
“I’m right here, Ronin. You don’t have to yell.”
As soon as he reached the top, he yanked her body to his and kissed her.
Either she’d cooled off or the kiss knocked the fight out of her because Amery wrapped herself around him, returning his passion with equal zeal.
He clamped his hands on her ass and hoisted her against the brick wall separating the bathroom from her bedroom. “I love you. And I never want you to walk out on me again like you did tonight. Never want to hear you say if we’re together. We are together, and I want to make it permanent. Before you move in.”
“Have you been drinking?”
He laughed. “A little bit during our family ‘come to Buddha’ meeting.”
She blinked at him with confusion.
“But the conversation with my mother and my sister led me to the realization that I don’t want to just live with you. I want to marry you. I want you as mine officially, permanently, legally, all that.”
“Seriously, Ronin, have you lost your mind?”
“I lost you once, and that put me out of my mind. When you left tonight because you were mad at me, you had someplace else to go. It might make me a selfish dick, but I don’t want you to have that. So when we fight, which we invariably will, you can slam the door to the den, or to the practice room, or to the guest bedroom if you need time away from me.” Ronin pushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “But I want to walk down the hallway to hash things out, not across town. And I’ll always come after you, Amery. Always. I will be your safe haven. Because you’re already mine.”
“Um, that’s sweet, but I’d like to point out that you’re telling me to marry you rather than asking me.”
“Is that what you want, baby? Me on one knee? Holding a diamond ring? Begging you to be mine forever? Because I’ll do it.”
“A big diamond would be an indication of how much you loved me,” she joked.
Ronin swept his fingertips across her cheeks, strangely touched by her nervous babbling. “The size of a diamond doesn’t indicate the size of my love for you. The earth hasn’t produced a diamond that big because my love for you knows no bounds.”
Her eyes swam with tears. “I don’t care about the ring. I just want you.”
“You’ve got me.” His eyes searched hers. “So is that a yes on marrying me?”
“Yes.”
Their mouths met, and the kiss was so loving and perfect; a silent promise. In that moment he felt the shift between them. It took every bit of Ronin’s willpower not to beat on his chest and snarl, Mine.
He pulled back and set her on her feet. He said, “I have something for you. Keep your eyes closed and hold out your arm,” while continuing to tease her addictive lips.
Amery complied.
After he fished a section of twine from his pocket, he took his time fashioning a bracelet. He placed a soft kiss on the inside of her wrist. “Okay. You can look.”
Her eyebrows drew together as she squinted at the thin rope circling her wrist. “What is it?”
“A placeholder until I can get you a real ring.” Ronin traced the intricate knot at the center. “This is an eternity tie.” He gently turned her arm so she could see the backside of the bracelet. “You can’t see where it begins or ends. That’s how my love for you is.”
“It’s beautiful. I may never take it off.”
He caught her exaggerated sigh in a long, steamy kiss. “So,” he asked between nuzzles and soft smooches, “how soon can we do this? Because I’m ready to marry you right fucking now.”
“What’s the rush? Are you pregnant or
something?”
He loved her smart mouth, but he pinched her ass anyway.
She yelped and swatted at him. “In all seriousness, there are several things to consider before we even think about taking that permanent step.”
“Like what? I love you; you love me. The next step is promising to spend our life together. Simple.”
“Well, like it or not, you are an Okada heir . . . I imagine you want your team of financial advisers to draft a pre-nup?”
“No,” he said with an emphatic shake of his head.
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “May I remind you that you had me investigated before we went out on a date? Why wouldn’t you want to protect yourself now when we’re talking long-term?”
“For that very reason. I trust you. With everything I am and with everything I have.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“So what if I want a pre-nup?”
Ronin carried her to her bedroom and fell onto the bed with her. “What would be in your pre-nup?”
She twisted a hank of his hair. “Oh, I don’t know. I just wanted to sound cool, so you didn’t think I wasn’t bringing anything of value into this marriage.”
“You’re bringing everything I’ll ever need into this marriage. You’re bringing you.”
“I love you so much.”
“I love you too. So that’s why I need to know about the wedding. Big? Small?”
“A civil ceremony will be fine.” Amery turned her head and looked at him. “How soon you want to do this?”
“You busy tomorrow?”
“Ronin Black, just because I’m not the fancy wedding type doesn’t mean I’ll get married in jeans and a T-shirt; nor will I let you wear your damn gi. Besides, Chaz would never forgive me if he didn’t get to go dress shopping with me.”
“This is about making Chaz happy?”
“No, sweetheart. It’s about making me happy. I’m getting married once. With a once-in-a-lifetime event, I deserve to spend a little time oohing and aahing over sequins, lace, satin, and tulle.”
“Whatever you want. It’d be nice if we had a date picked, so my mother can be here.”
Amery looked away.
“If you want to wait and see how things go with your parents so they can be here too—”
“No,” she said quickly. “I don’t. They’d ruin it by demanding we had a ceremony of their choosing. And I don’t really care who’s there other than you.”
“Me either.” He kissed her. “Besides. I’m all about the honeymoon.”
“Nothing extravagant,” she warned him.
“It’s cute how you think you get a say in that.” He kissed her on the nose. “Fair warning: I plan to spoil the hell out of you when you’re my wife, and you will have to just deal with it.”
EPILOGUE
Three months later
RONIN’S spinning back kick connected with Bob’s head. He kept his balance as he reversed the move, coming from the opposite side this time. Focusing on rapid-fire blows to the knee, then feeling the connection of his heel to the jaw. Another satisfying crack of flesh on flesh.
Or what passed as flesh. Although “Bob,” the full-sized training dummy, wobbled, it remained stationary. The high-tech piece of equipment allowed Ronin to continue to train at his advanced level—he literally didn’t have to pull any punches or worry that punches would come flying back at him.
Still, it wasn’t the same as being in a real fight.
You’re not ready for that. You’re not rushing this.
His future as far as contact sports remained up in the air. He’d postponed his annual trip to train with his sensei even when he’d feared his teacher would release him if he couldn’t keep up with the requirements for his belt level. What sucked was his teacher had refused to discuss it until after Ronin’s next doctor’s appointment.
These last three months had been frustrating with so much in limbo. The only thing he could do was push forward. Focus on what he could do instead of what he couldn’t. That thought made him smile. For all the times Amery had commended him on his Zen attitude in the past, now she was the one who’d kept him upbeat about his future on the combat side of martial arts.
“Wearing that shit-eating grin while you’re beating the fuck outta poor Bob is some scary stuff, Sensei.”
Ronin leveled one more kick to Bob’s midsection before he stopped and looked over at Knox. “Hilarious.”
“He’s holding up well, considering that you’re trying to kill him,” Knox added.
“Bob is not much of a challenge.” He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his forearm and gave Knox a questioning look. “How long have you been standing there, watching me?”
“I just got here. I know we’d talked about grappling today, but I have a message from your wife.”
Ronin couldn’t stop his smile. He wondered if he’d ever get used to that feeling of male satisfaction that Amery was his—only his—forever. “What’s the message?”
“She broke the ‘no observation’ rule again. She watched you beating on Bob just to make sure you weren’t doing too much. Does that mean anything to you?”
It meant everything to him. He’d been out of sorts the past few days, and his sexy wife knew exactly what would pull him out of it. He began to unwrap his hands. “Yeah. I know what it means.” Ronin fished his wedding ring out of the special cup he placed it in when he worked out. He’d gotten so used to the weight of the metal circling his finger he felt naked without it.
“Amery seemed concerned about that.” Knox pointed to the large bandage on Ronin’s right arm that had started to slip off, revealing a bloody piece of gauze taped to his skin. “What happened?”
Ronin didn’t respond.
Knox sighed. “I don’t wanna know, do I?”
“Nope. But I’ll tell you tomorrow anyway.” Ronin slipped on his gi top. “I’m officially off the clock. See you at the meeting in the morning.”
By the time he’d reached the penthouse, his arm throbbed. Getting sweaty and putting pressure on the muscles hadn’t been the brightest idea, but he’d been anesthetized during the procedure. He needed the pain afterward as a reminder of why he’d done it.
The elevator doors opened and Amery stood there waiting, arms crossed, bare toes tapping on the tile, looking annoyed. Looking beautiful. Looking like home.
He opened his mouth to speak and she shushed him. Shushed him. His eyes narrowed.
“Oh, don’t give me the evil sensei eye, Master Black.” She pointed at his gi top. “Nice try. I already saw the blood. Take it off.”
Ronin felt compelled to point out, “Baby, it’s not what you think.”
“Then explain it to me, baby,” she retorted. “Because after the last time Shiori took off a layer of your skin, you promised me that you wouldn’t sword fight with her anymore.”
“It’s not an injury from a katana. I promised you I’d steer clear of weapons training.” He touched her cheek. “I keep my promises. All of them.”
A bewildered look entered her eyes. “Then what happened? You’re