Lorelei James - Unwound

Where had Naomi gotten footage of this? Had she been there? Taking joy in watching Ronin getting pummeled?

Ronin had come to her to help him become whole again. He needed her. Amery bit her lip and tasted the salt from her tears in the back of her throat.

She opened the DVD drive and removed the disk.

“Well?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“I told you this was a waste of time,” her mother snapped.

“Say that our concerns are justified.”

Amery shook her head. “You are off base on this. Ronin isn’t a monster. Not even close.”

“You will never convince us of that. And we won’t stand by and watch your life destroyed, young lady.”

“You’re telling me if I stay with Ronin, you’ll disown me?”

“We cannot support you in this life choice, Amery. We will not.”

“You’ve never supported me in any choices. From what dress I wore to prom, to what college I chose, to moving to Denver.”

“We’ll be waiting to hear from you. If we don’t, we’ll be on our way and you won’t hear from us again until you prove you’ve gotten your life straightened out.”

Amery clutched the manila envelope to her chest and didn’t even get up when they walked out the door.

RONIN couldn’t get ahold of Amery.

Normally even if she was busy she’d at least text him back and let him know she’d call him when she had a chance.

So why hadn’t he heard from her in more than seven hours?

Don’t be a possessive asshole who needs to know where your woman is at all times.

He’d finished teaching the class of blue and green belts—what a trip that’d been—and was taking a breather in his office when Deacon poked his head in.

“Got a minute, Sensei?”

“What’s up?”

“Molly is here for my kickboxing class, and she wants to talk to you.”

There went Ronin’s theory that Amery had kept Molly late to work on the Okada project and had lost track of time. “Send her in.” As soon as he saw Molly’s face, he knew something was wrong.

“Sorry to bother you, but have you talked to Amery in the last few hours?”

He shook his head.

“Well, I sort of hoped she’d snuck out the back and just come here after . . .”

He fought his impatient response to tell her he didn’t have time to play these games. “After what?”

“After her parents’ surprise visit today.”

“Amery’s parents are in town?” His gaze sharpened. “Did something happen to her brother?”

“I don’t think so. They spent a long time in her office.”

“How long?”

“Two hours. I heard some arguing, but couldn’t make out specifics. Then her parents left. Amery didn’t walk them out or introduce them to me or Chaz. She just stayed in her office with the door closed. I didn’t want to bug her, you know?” Molly squeezed her training gloves in her hands. “So when it was time to shut down, I saw she wasn’t in her office. I checked her loft, just to be sure, and she wasn’t there either.”

“What time did her parents leave?”

“About four. I think if she would’ve been meeting them for supper or something, she would’ve told me. Or you would know, right?”

“I haven’t heard from Amery since before lunch.” Ronin glanced at the clock. Seven fifteen. No one had heard from her for more than three hours. That wasn’t like her.

“So you have any idea where she could’ve gone?” Molly asked. “I’m worried.”

The last time she’d suffered through a bad day . . . she’d at least texted him where she was. That she’d fallen off the grid didn’t bode well.

In that moment he knew exactly where he’d find her.

At least he hoped.

Ronin stood. “Thanks, Molly. I appreciate you coming to me with this.”

In the doorway, Molly stopped and faced him. “You should know that the weeks you guys were apart, she was a mess. Now . . . she’s happy with you. I know you’re happy with her. It makes me sick someone would try to ruin that. First someone from your past and then someone from hers.”

Deacon stepped aside as Molly walked out.

Ronin shoved his hand through his hair. “I’ll be gone the rest of the night.”

“Do you know where Amery is?”

“I’ve got a pretty good idea.”

• • •

HE found her in a back booth at the Rialto Lounge, knocking back two-for-one happy-hour specials.

An immense feeling of relief flowed through him. She didn’t notice him at first, so he had a minute to study her, his beautiful troubled woman. Her hair was loose; a few sections were twisted from her habit of twirling it around her finger when she was upset. Five empty lowball glasses were pushed against the wall, and the sixth sat in front of her, half empty.

Ronin slid into her side of the booth.

Amery looked at him, but didn’t seem all that startled to see him. He pushed her hair over her shoulder and leaned in to kiss her, tasting the tartness of the gin and the sweetness that was just her. The kiss went on and on, soft and slow, until her face became damp, and he caught the salty taste of her tears. He slipped his mouth free and brushed even softer kisses over her trembling lips as he tenderly wicked away the tears from the corners of her eyes. “Baby. It’s okay. I’m here.”

“I knew you’d find me.”

“I’ll always find you.” He nuzzled her ear. “I’ll always come running after you. Always.”

Her shoulders started to shake, and the real tears started.

Ronin pushed the table back and picked her up, cradling her to his chest and holding her tightly as she cried. He rubbed his lips over the crown of her head, breathing her in, offering her his strength, his heart breaking that this strong, independent woman needed it.

After the storm of tears subsided, she placed a soft kiss on his neck. “Thank you. Will you take me home? To my place?”

He shoved aside the reality that she didn’t consider his penthouse home. “Sure. Is your car here?”

“No. I walked. I needed the fresh air to try to clear my head.”

He kept an arm around her shoulder as he led her outside. Tiny flakes of snow had started to fall, and Amery hadn’t worn a coat. He unzipped his leather jacket and stopped to put it on her. After zipping it up to her chin, Ronin noticed she was crying again. “What?”

“You take good care of me. If no one else ever sees that or ever knows that but me, it’s enough. I don’t want to explain it. I don’t need to explain it or defend it because it belongs to us.”

He framed her face with his hands. “You and me? This matters. Nothing else does.”

She closed her eyes and curled in to him.

Ronin bundled her into his car and found a parking place close to her building. He unlocked her alley door with his key and followed her upstairs.

Amery immediately went into the kitchen and took a bottle of gin out of the cupboard and one glass.

Ronin raised an eyebrow at her, as if to say, Don’t you think you’ve had enough to drink?

She poured and slid it across the countertop. “For you.”

He opened his mouth to protest and she shook her head. “Trust me. You’ll need it.”

That bad feeling reappeared, stronger than ever. “Amery. What’s going on?”

“Let me get warmer clothes on and then we’ll talk.”

She swayed on the way to her bedroom.

Ronin didn’t touch the booze. He stopped in front of the living room window and watched it snow.

With Amery having downed six drinks, he wasn’t confident they’d be doing much talking. Sure enough, when he went to check on her, she’d put on her pajamas and slipped into bed.

He swept her hair from her face. “Baby, I know you’re tired, but we need to talk about what happened when your parents came to visit you today.”

“They brought me something.”

“What?”

“Some stuff. It’s in an envelope.”

“Where?”

“I put it under the sink in the kitchen.”

“Why?”

She frowned. “To hide it. I wanted to burn it . . . or smash it. Not even show it to you.”

It was bad enough she wanted to hide it? “Tell me what it is.”

Amery turned away from him, snuggling deeper into her pillow.

“Don’t go to sleep yet.”

“I’m tired. So fucking tired of all of this.”

“Amery. Please get up and show me—”

“I can’t watch it again.”

Watch it?

He waited for her to say more, but her breathing slowed almost immediately.

Ronin found the thick envelope addressed to Mr. and Mrs. James Hardwick. The postmark date had been smeared. He dumped the contents on the counter. Two DVDs, a stack of photos, and a typewritten note about . . . him.

He thumbed through the photos, his sense of dread growing. These had been sent to Amery’s parents? The poses weren’t as explicit as some he’d done. But there were a lot of different women.

He made it through the stack, more than a little rattled. Then he grabbed the gin and the DVDs before he returned to the living room to see what was on the discs.

After the first scene with Naomi, Ronin had to keep from putting his fist through the TV.

His ex had done some seriously fucked-up shit, but this went beyond anything he could’ve imagined. Looking at the footage, he could tell she’d set up cameras not only in her bedroom, but in Ronin’s bedroom. He’d never consented to that. Never.

He seemed stuck in an out-of-body experience as he watched himself on-screen, binding Naomi. Fucking Naomi. He cringed in the scene where he’d slapped her across the face. He had to pause and curb his anger. Why hadn’t he said no to her that time? Afterward, he’d felt so ashamed. He closed his eyes, wishing he could just fucking erase that memory.