Lorelei James: Unwound

“Ronin.” Amery’s soft hand brushed his cheek. “You aren’t thinking straight if you believe your sister has an ulterior motive besides getting you the best medical care as soon as possible.”

He must really be fucked up if he heard Amery defending Shiori.

“We’re ready for him in X-ray,” someone said.

“So what’s it going to be?” Shiori asked.

“I’ll let you make my immediate medical decisions, but not personal ones. Amery stays with me as long as she wants to.”

“All right.” Shiori kissed his cheek, then whispered in Japanese, “I only want what’s best for you, brother.”

“She’s what’s best for me.”

• • •

WHEN Ronin woke up the next morning, he half expected to be in his bedroom, the events from the previous night some sort of bad dream. But he was in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV with a cuff thing on his arm.

He had a vague recollection of being X-rayed head to toe. A chatty doctor providing running commentary as he stitched Ronin’s head and lip. Another doctor forcing him to do leg lifts to gauge damage to his kneecap. Amery’s hand in his as they wheeled him into a private hospital room. Then nothing as pain and consciousness faded away.

He blinked his bleary eyes. The shades were drawn, and the only light in his room came from the fixture above the sink. But that scant light bathed Amery in an ethereal glow.

“You’re awake.”

“Your beautiful face is the very best thing to wake up to.”

“Beautiful. Right. I look like hell.”

“Still brushing aside my compliments.”

She moved closer. “I’m chalking them up to your muddled brain. What do you remember from last night?”

“The very last thing?” He frowned. “Did you really ask me how I liked being strapped down for a change?”

She smiled. “Yes. I also said I could see the appeal of binding from the other side.”

“Evil woman.”

“Just an opportunist.” She pointed to the strap dangling from the bed frame. “Did they release your restraints, or did the ninja master manage to undo them by himself?”

“Sometime during the twenty million times the nurse poked me awake, she freed me.” Ronin shifted his arm, and the movement caused a sharp pain in his shoulder. “How long did you stay?”

“Until your pain drugs kicked in and you were down for the count. Knox gave me a ride home and moved your motorcycle into the back room. Which meant I had to stick around to tell Molly why your bike was there. I postponed a client meeting, changed out of my blood-spattered clothes, and grabbed these.” She set his cell phone and his keys on the side table.

“Thank you for all that. But mostly thanks for coming back.”

“I almost didn’t.” Amery ducked her head, and her strawberry-blond hair covered her face. When a drop of wetness landed on his arm, he realized she was crying.

“Baby. Can you look at me?”

She raised her head. Her blue eyes flashed a message of anger and fear. “Do you have any idea how terrifying last night was for me? Seeing you like that and then hearing you admit things were left unfinished between us? Dammit, Ronin. In the past five weeks, after you stopped calling, I assumed you were done with me.”

“Done with you,” he repeated. “Maybe I assumed after calling you sixteen times a day for seven days after you walked out on me and you didn’t return a single phone call that you were done with me .”

“You didn’t leave a single message in all the times you called.”

“And it never occurred to you to pick up the damn phone when it was ringing to see what I wanted?”

“I didn’t know you’d called. After I left the dojo that day, I was in a daze. I charged my phone in my office while I finished up a few things. I didn’t realize I didn’t have it until three hours later, when I was on the road headed to North Dakota.”

“You didn’t have your phone for a week?” he asked skeptically.

“Evidently I didn’t need it. I checked in with Molly once a day on the office line. When I called my cell voice mail, I didn’t have a single message from you. In seven days.”

His eyes searched hers. “If I would’ve left a message?”

“I would’ve returned your call.”

“Instead you got pissed off and returned my ropes.”

“Not even that garnered me an enraged visit from Master Black. Anytime before when I’d pissed you off, you showed up loaded for bear.”

“Baby.” He unwrapped her fingers from the metal side rail and kissed her knuckles. “We’ve both got a lot to learn when it comes to communication.”

“Agreed.”

“But thank you for reaching out to me.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The package you sent.”

“I sent the ropes weeks ago.”

“No. The box I got yesterday. With a peace lily and an invite to come by so we could talk. I’m pretty sure that’s how I got it in my head to show up at your place last night.”

“Ronin . . . I didn’t send you anything like that.”

They stared at each other. “Somebody wanted to get us talking again.”

“Now you babbling about a peace offering makes sense. But that wasn’t—”

Three knocks sounded on the door, and a guy in a white coat walked in.

“Mr. Black, I’m Dr. Dainsworth. Your neurologist.”

“I hope you’re here with good news.”

“I guess that depends on your idea of good.” He glanced around the dark room. “Still having light-sensitivity issues?”

“Yes.”

“It might take as long as a week before you’re back to normal. If it takes any longer than that, you’ll need to contact my office so I can coordinate with an ophthalmologist for additional testing.” The doctor gave Amery a once-over, and Ronin bristled. Mostly because the young blond doc was the type of man Amery found attractive.

But her eyes were firmly focused on him.

“Can I speak freely? Or would you prefer we discuss my concerns in private?”

Amery released his hand. “I’ll wait outside.”

Ronin snatched her wrist before she’d even moved. “I want you to stay.”

That shocked her.

“Why don’t you both have a seat.” The doctor pointed to the small table and chairs in the corner. “I’ll be right back.”

Ronin gritted his teeth from the sharp sting zipping down his spine when he simply rotated his body to set his bare feet on the cold tile.

“Do you need help?”

He tamped down his automatic response that he wasn’t a fucking invalid. “No.” As soon as he put pressure on his bruised knee, he nearly stumbled.

She said, “Careful,” but didn’t touch him.

Goddammit, he hated—fucking hated—how he shuffled the twenty feet between the bed and the chair like an old cripple. There wasn’t a part of his body that didn’t hurt.

Suck it up and be a man.

Ronin caught sight of himself in the mirror above the sink. His right eye was discolored red and purple. He had a bandage above his left eyebrow covering stitches. Bruises dotted his jaw. His bottom lip was busted up and also sported stitches. In his younger years, he would’ve shown pride in his injuries. Now? He was disturbed Amery had seen him this way.

Easing himself into the chair caused the hospital gown to ride up. To make his humiliation complete, Amery draped a blanket across his lap.

Dr. Dainsworth returned and sat on the rolling stool, getting in Ronin’s face. “I did my homework on you, Sensei Black. Impressive that you’ve achieved the eighth-degree black belt level at your age. Aren’t most jujitsu practitioners who reach Hachidan status in their fifties?”

“Yes. But my sensei in Japan factors other things besides mastering techniques into advancement. The belt system in Japan is different from the U.S.”