“Just water. I’m teaching the late class tonight.”

“How’s it going?”

Shiori took a seat at the breakfast bar. “I enjoy teaching far more than I thought I would.”

“I’m surprised you have time with all the responsibilities of someone in your position.”

She shrugged. “I’d be training there anyway if I weren’t teaching. My sensei in Japan reminded me that teaching is just another way to learn.”

“Philosophical. Are all masters of martial arts like that?”

“The good ones are.”

“You sound like Knox.”

“The only thing Knox and I have in common is our desire to beat each other unconscious.”

Amery raised an eyebrow.

Shiori pointed to the contracts. “What have you decided?”

“You said the terms are negotiable.”

“To some extent. But to be blunt, Okada walks away if the terms aren’t to our liking. Then all negotiations are permanently over.”

“I understand that I need Okada more than Okada needs me. But along those lines, I don’t think I can work for one company exclusively, no matter how well they pay.”

“Forgive me if I don’t quite grasp this. Your company is dangerously close to shutting down because of lack of revenue, and Okada is offering you a permanent, steady income, and you’re turning it down?”

Amery fiddled with the ice in her glass before sucking down a mouthful of booze. “I know it sounds crazy. And believe me, I’ve wrestled with this, but I like the diversity of what I do. Being contracted for a specific project line with Okada would provide me with enough income to keep Molly on and maybe hire another employee. Yet at the same time, I could retain my other clients. They’ve stuck with me, so I don’t want to ditch them when a bigger company waves a big, fat check in my face.” She met Shiori’s confused gaze. “You do get what I’m trying to tell you, don’t you?”

“You’re about loyalty. You’d rather fail on your own than compromise your integrity.”

“Exactly.”

“I can respect that.” Shiori rifled through the contracts. “I believe the language in this one is case specific. I’m fairly confident Okada will agree to those terms, but they will expect you to forego design work for your clients in the restaurant business.” She offered a small smile. “We would prefer consumers were at home eating our line of healthy frozen meals.”

She laughed. “Done. My design work for them is minimal anyway. What about the organic food markets?”

“As long as you’re not creating ads for our competition, I don’t believe that’ll be an issue.”

Amery exhaled slowly. “Then I’ll sign on the dotted line.”

“Good. Have you discussed this with Ronin?”

“No. I’d like that nondisclosure agreement to go both ways.”

Shiori frowned. “You don’t plan to tell him?”

“Of course I’ll tell him. But I want it to be on my terms, when the timing is right. We’re still working through things.” It wasn’t like he wasn’t keeping things close to the vest himself. Case in point: She still had no idea what the doctor had told him. Amery finished her drink. “Like you reminded me, it might’ve been my relationship with Ronin that got my foot in the door, but the work speaks for itself.”

“All right. But if my brother asks me point-blank if you’re working for Okada? I will not lie to him. I’ve done that often enough, usually without choice, that I fear our relationship can never be repaired. Anytime I try to talk to him . . . he shuts me down. Or ignores me.”

“Neither of those are my favorite traits of his either.”

Shiori nodded. “Last business thing. Given our history and your relationship with Ronin, you won’t be dealing directly with me at all.”

“Really?” she said skeptically.

“Yes. You’re in North America, which means you’re under Maggie Arnold’s purview anyway. I told her I’d be in Denver and would meet with you to save her the trip, but all information, payments, and problems will be handled by the Seattle office.” She smirked. “So if you fuck this up, don’t expect me to bail you out.”

“You’re hilarious.”

“So because I’m nosy, I have to ask what other projects you’re working on that are exciting enough to keep you from becoming Okada’s lackey?” She laughed. “Sorry—I couldn’t resist the shot at the family business.”

At least she had a sense of humor. Amery was finding the more time she spent with Ronin’s sister, the more she liked her. “Give me a second.” She scrolled through her folders and clicked on the cover she’d designed for Cherry Starr. “Check this out.” She spun the laptop toward Shiori.

Shiori leaned closer. “You did this?”

“Yep.”

“Graphics too?”

“Yep.”

“That is stunning. The red rope against the paler skin. Everything about this is sexy. Tied to Him.” Shiori looked at her. “Did you come up with the title?”

“No. The author has written several books in this vein.”

Then Shiori pulled the laptop closer. “Beautiful binding. It’s perfect. I assume this is rope master Black’s handiwork?”

“Since it’s no big secret to your family that Ronin is a rope master, I can say yes, Ronin did the binding for this shot.”

“Do you know the model?”

Amery felt her neck getting warm. “Yes.”

“You didn’t take issue with him doing kinbaku on another woman right in front of you?” Shiori’s gaze snapped to her. “That’s because you’re the model.”

“What gave it away?”

“Nothing in the image screams, ‘body by Amery Hardwick, binding by Ronin Black.’ But it’s easy to make the leap since I’m aware that you two have this type of relationship.” She peered at the image again. “I want to read this book.”

“She’s working on the other two books in the trilogy.”

“Did she ask you to do the covers?”

That stupid blush moved from her neck and warmed her cheeks.

“You did! Show me.”

“I’ve only done the second one. We’re still debating on what to do for the last book.” She angled the laptop, then opened the image. “Here’s the cover for book two.”

“Holy. Shit. That’s Ronin.”

Amery’s jaw dropped. “How did you know?”

“I guessed. Was it a case of ‘I’ll let you bind me if I can bind you’?”

“No. We were messing around and I snapped a few pictures. After I promised that no one would know how sloppily I bound the rope master, as well as assuring him I’d never tell anyone the rope model’s name, I showed it to Cherry and she loved it.”

“Undone by Her. Another great title to go with the image. He does look to be hanging by a thread.”

You have no idea. Amery loved that she and Ronin were the only two who’d ever know what really happened at the photo shoot to put that look on his face.

“Dammit. Does this mean I can’t tease my big brother about being featured on the cover of an erotic novel?”

“No!”

Shiori laughed. “Kidding. On a serious note, it shows how much he trusts you, Amery, that he let you bind him.”

Amery absentmindedly touched the image on the screen. “I guess. But it’s not his trust in me that’s the issue. It’s whether I trust him.” The second the words exited her mouth, she wished she could take them back.

“I don’t fault you for how you feel. I’m happy you’re giving him the chance to earn that trust back. Maybe he’ll figure out I’m trying to do the same thing.” Shiori’s slip into melancholy vanished. “What are your ideas for the third cover?”

“I’d love to do a shadowed image of Ronin and me. Keeping with the rope theme, either him holding a coil before he binds me or after, right before he unties me. It’d take the series full circle. And the title for the last book is Tangled Together.”

“Have you run the idea by the author yet?”

Amery groaned. “I haven’t run it by Ronin yet. It’d be a difficult shot to achieve without having a third person with us. I don’t know if he’s down with that, but we’ll see.”

“Without sounding creepy, if you need someone to help with the shot, I’m a decent photographer.”

“Thanks for the offer. I’ll definitely let you know.”

“Either way, I want to see the third cover.” Shiori took her phone out and dialed. “I’m ready. Pick me up in the alley. Thanks.” She smiled. “My ride. Time for me to get to the dojo.”

On the way down the stairs, Amery said, “I find it strange there aren’t any pictures of Ronin’s family anywhere at his place.”

“I didn’t see pictures of your family among your knickknacks either,” Shiori pointed out. “But that reminds me.” She reached into her oyster-colored Chanel handbag and pulled out the wrapped package Amery had given her at their first meeting. “I don’t think this was meant for me, was it?”

“No.”

“Give it to him. He needs reminders of you and how you feel about him everywhere.”

“Clashes with your decor, huh?” Amery said lightly.

“Raunchy is more my style. I’ll show you my Hello Kitty whip collection sometime.” Shiori smiled, slipped on her Versace shades, and stepped out the back door.

Yes, she was really starting to like Ronin’s sister—even when she suspected Shiori hadn’t been kidding about the anime whip thing.

• • •

“I don’t think it’s necessary. In fact, if you looked at my proposal, you’d see . . .” Blah, blah, blahdedy, blah.

Ronin stared at Katie, imagining four or five different ways he could choke her out to get that damn mouth of hers to stop moving.

TP had neglected to mention his daughter was a know-it-all pain in the rear who came to work dressed like a hooker, flirted with any male that crossed her path, smacked her gum like a clichéd teenager, and wasn’t nearly the dim bulb her father portrayed her to be.