Breathe.
Fuck. He couldn’t breathe. Rage supplanted air.
“I’m really hideous looking, aren’t I?”
Her soft, almost apologetic tone snapped him out of it.
Breathe.
In. Out.
Better.
“No, baby, you are beautiful. What was done to you is ugly.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry. The training didn’t kick in this time. I was so cocky after knocking Naomi down a peg. But these guys . . . caught me by surprise, and I just froze—”
“Ssh. Two against one is never a fair fight.” It absolutely f**king shredded him she felt any type of guilt about the attack. “Did they hurt you anywhere else?”
“First the guy punched me in the stomach, probably so I didn’t see the fist coming toward my face.”
Ronin forced himself to focus on her eyes. The pain in them would be his calm center. “Tell me how this started.”
“I got a call from a potential client yesterday. We set up the meeting time for today. He told me where to park and what elevator to take for the quickest access to their floor. Which didn’t seem weird at the time, because it is a big building, but now . . .”
“You’re a businesswoman. You meet with new clients all the time. There’s no way you could’ve known.” He picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Tell me the rest.”
“I’d just taken my portfolio out of the backseat when this scary-looking biker dude approached me and asked if I had five bucks for food. I remembered Molly telling me she’d gotten asked the same question before her attack. Then I recognized him; he’d been hanging around us in the bar the other night. Next thing I knew, someone grabbed me from behind and wrenched my arms straight back. The biker guy punched me in the stomach. I think I must’ve fallen forward, and his knee smacked into my eye. Then he grabbed me by the throat and lifted me up.” She began to shake.
“It’s okay. I’m here. Take a breath.”
She nodded. “The rest is a little blurry. I think he backhanded me. He said something about keeping my mouth shut before he hit me there. Then he hit me again, two, maybe three times.”
Stay f**king steady.
“When the other guy let me go, biker dude pushed me into the car and I fell down.”
“Did it knock you out?”
“No. It disoriented me—don’t know how long I huddled next to my car. When I looked up, the Japanese guy who was with Naomi stood by my bumper, making sure I saw him. That scared me, so somehow I got into my car, locked the doors, and called Shiori.”
He would not add to her misery and ask her why she hadn’t called him. Would. Not.
Amery lowered herself back to the pillows and closed her eyes.
“How bad does it hurt?”
“More than I thought it would.” Tears trickled out of the corners of her eyes. “How can you do this, Ronin? Live with this kind of pain? They barely touched me, and I’m curled up in bed weeping like a baby.”
“Barely touched you—baby, he hit you in the face more than once.” He inhaled, still searching for a way to settle down the emotions seething inside him. “I go into the cage aware of what awaits me. You didn’t ask for this.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “It’s my fault.”
“No, it’s not.”
He brushed soft kisses across her eyes, her nose, her cheeks, her temples, that mouse under her eye. He forced himself to stay gentle when his lips reached hers. He forced himself to view the bruises marring her skin as a chance to show his love and care of her and not a reason to go into a killing rage.
Yet.
After he’d kissed every mark, he whispered, “I love you. If I could take the pain for you, I would.”
“I know. But it’s not your fault. I was feeling cocky for showing that bitch I can take care of myself, and she proved I can’t. I humiliated her; she returned the favor.” Amery cupped her hands around his face. “She knew hurting me would hurt you.”
“I’d rather suffer through a thousand concussions than see one single mark on you.”
She blinked at him. “It hurts, seeing someone you love hurt.”
That’s when he understood Amery’s standoffish behavior after seeing him beat-up. She’d felt guilty—like he felt guilty now. “What can I do for you to make this better? I’ve got a couple of pain pills left.”
“Just stay with me until I fall asleep.” She pressed her swollen lips to his. “Be here when I wake up.”
“Done.”
“And don’t kill anyone. Please. I can’t stand the thought of losing you now that I finally found you.”
“Amery, I’m not going anywhere.” He kissed her cheek. “Get some rest.”
• • •
BUT Ronin did leave her. After she crashed and he was sure she’d be asleep for a while, he headed down to the dojo.
Knox and Shiori were in his office, ignoring each other, which was better than their constant sniping.
Shiori stopped pacing as soon as she saw him. “How’s Amery?”
“Sleeping. She’s shaken up and yet she somehow thinks she deserves it because she started crap with Naomi.”
“That is a load of crap.”
“Yes, it is.” Then Ronin did something that shocked himself and Shiori both. He hugged her. “Thank you for getting her here and being the cool head when you both knew I wouldn’t be.”
“So you’re not mad she didn’t call you?”
“No. I’m grateful.” Ronin stepped back, feigning a calmness he didn’t feel. “I need you to do two things for me.”
“Name them.”
“Use your resources to find out the name of Naomi’s bodyguard. Find out where she’s staying in Denver. Find out why the f**k she’s here. Find out if there’s surveillance tape on that level of the parking garage. I want to figure out who the bodyguard’s accomplice was.”
Shiori smiled. “It’d be my pleasure. What else?”
“Pick up Amery’s car and bring it back here.” He tossed Knox the keys. “You’ll have to take a limo ride, Shihan. You okay with that?”
Knox grinned. “Hell yeah. Now I’ll be thinking of places to stop, so people I know will see me climbing out of a limo.”
“Is the city dump open? Maybe we can pick up your girlfriend,” Shiori suggested.
“Ooh, good one, She-Cat. Maybe if you do everything you’re told, when you’re fifty, your grandfather will let you learn how to drive.”