Unwound

In the kitchen, she opened the cabinet where she stashed liquor. “Your booze choices are gin, whiskey, vodka, and Baileys. My mixer selection is limited.”

“I’ll have Baileys.”

Amery set out two lowball glasses, filled them with ice, and poured the creamy liqueur. “Here you go.”

Shiori knocked back the entire glass before she poured herself another.

Not a good sign.

But Shiori relaxed a little and slid onto a barstool. Then she spun it around to check out the space. “This place has a great vibe. Like you, I lived in the same building where I worked in Tokyo. I could never really get away from work.”

“That is the downside. Ronin has the right idea about keeping his work space separate from his personal space.”

“He’s always been able to compartmentalize.”

“Quit stalling and tell me what happened tonight.”

“Ronin and I met at the conference hall before we split up so he could meet with equipment sponsors. I was chatting with a guy who sets up trade shows in Tokyo when I saw her.”

“Naomi.”

She nodded. “At first I thought my eyes were deceiving me. I followed her and got close enough to see her face smeared with red lipstick. I’ll admit I panicked, thinking she’d already found Ronin and baited him.”

Amery’s gut clenched.

“But then I saw her nasty grin . . .” Shiori briefly closed her eyes. “When I tracked Ronin down, he was in that state between shock and fury. Naomi told him that I’d told her where to find him.”

“Did you?”

“No! I haven’t seen Naomi for years. But I can see where my brother would believe it because I introduced them in the first place. I told you that Ronin and Naomi met at a Japanese social club. What I didn’t tell you? It wasn’t a random meeting. My marriage . . .” She looked away. “Wasn’t good. I married against my mother and my grandfather’s wishes and against my own common sense. Anyway, when it became too unbearable to endure, Grandfather promised to handle my divorce and all the legal stuff if I did one thing for him.”

“Set Ronin up with Naomi.”

“Yes. In Japan, arranged marriages aren’t unusual between families with similar interests. We knew Ronin wouldn’t ever agree to it, so we had to take a different tack. Since Naomi’s family owns banks in Japan, Ronin would know Naomi wasn’t after him for his money. But those banks were in trouble—I don’t know the exact details, but Okada Foods transferring twenty percent of their financial business to a different bank would have a tremendous impact.”

“But why Naomi?”

“She’s beautiful. Cultured. She’s from a respected family. It appeared she was successful in business in her own right—but that was just another family fabrication. She lived modestly—which also appealed to my brother, although he didn’t know it wasn’t Naomi’s choice to live that way. My grandfather understood my brother would suspect anyone he introduced him to. And since I was supposedly in Denver on business, Ronin promised he’d escort me to official Okada functions. The only reason Ronin went to the Japanese social club with me that night was because they were holding an auction of shunga art.”

“Naomi was there.”

She nodded. “He and Naomi struck up a conversation about the pieces and ended up in a good-natured bidding war. Ronin won, but he asked Naomi out for dinner. Within two months, they were seeing each other exclusively. They swapped one kind of club for another. His rope expertise isn’t a secret in the jujitsu martial arts world—he’s a record holder in Japan for the second-fastest time for a hojojutsu tie.”

She’d been on the receiving end of that particular skill. “Did Naomi know about Ronin’s rope mastery before they met?”

Shiori nodded. “Naomi took to the club lifestyle quickly—as I’m sure Ronin told you. During the time they were together, she kept up the pretense of their relationship—volatile as it was—and I’d secretly hoped they’d fallen for each other for real. But then . . .” She picked up her drink and drained it. “Ronin tried to break it off with her after she’d disrespected him. Then Naomi told him everything had been set up by his family. She only wanted his money and the status she’d get by being married to an Okada heir.”

Amery closed her eyes when the sick churning in her stomach made her dizzy.

“My brother cut off all contact with me, with our grandfather and our mother. No phone calls, no e-mails, nothing. For one year. He believed we’d infiltrated his dojo and planted spies, so he released all his instructors except for Shihan.”

“I can’t even fathom his sense of betrayal and animosity toward you.”

“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever been through. Realizing what I’d done and how much I’d lost by betraying my only brother’s trust. I’d known it was wrong at the time, but I went along with it because I was so desperate to get out of a marriage that was suffocating me.”

Amery couldn’t feel sorry for Shiori—she’d made her choices. But their grandfather had manipulated Ronin, which would make Ronin question the loyalty of everyone around him and trust no one.

So by not telling him she’d taken the Okada offer, she’d given him reason to fear her feelings for him weren’t real.

When have you ever told him how you really feel anyway?