When Shiori looked at her brother with disappointment, Knox immediately went to her side. “She’s damn lucky to be here. The semi that hit them T-boned the fucking car. She ended up with a mild concussion and nearly bit her tongue off, so she’s under doctor’s orders not to speak.” Fuck this shit. “So I’ll speak for her. ‘Hey, bro. I’m glad you’re back. I can’t wait to hear the details of your trip. Even though I’m still a little banged up from the car accident, yes, you can hug me.’”
That did jolt Ronin out of whatever fugue state he’d been in. He opened his arms and Shiori met him halfway. After he’d wrapped her in a hug, he rested his cheek on the top of her head and spoke to her softly in Japanese.
Knox hated not knowing what Ronin had said.
Then Ronin let her go. He turned and jammed his hand through his hair. He didn’t look at either of them when he said, “We need to talk. Sit. Both of you.”
Sensei Black back to issuing orders. No surprise there.
Knox wanted to pull Shiori onto his lap. Instead they sat side by side on the couch.
Ronin spun around. “I don’t even know where the fuck to start.” His eyes narrowed on Knox, then Shiori. “So you two are what? Dating now?”
Dating was a trivial word to describe what’d happened between him and Shiori in the last three months. “Yes, we’re involved.”
“How long has this been going on?” he demanded. “Were you two fucking around the entire time behind my back, pretending to hate each other?”
“No!”
“When did hate turn into . . . ?”
“After you left. Things between us . . . changed.”
Shiori reached for Knox’s hand and threaded her fingers through his.
Ronin’s jaw tightened at that show of solidarity. “I don’t fucking believe this.”
“We’ve heard that a few times.”
“Is he the reason you haven’t kept in contact with Mom? You’re too busy playing house with him?”
Was Ronin’s intent to rile Knox up? Because it was working.
Shiori reached for her notebook and scribbled furiously.
“What’s she doing?” Ronin asked.
“Answering you. She can’t talk, remember?”
She flipped the notebook around.
I HAVE KEPT IN CONTACT WITH MOM. AND YOU ARE ONE TO TALK ABOUT NOT KEEPING IN TOUCH.
“That was six fucking years ago, so you can let that go at any point, Shiori.”
She wrote fast.
I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT. I’M TALKING ABOUT NO ONE HEARING FROM YOU IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS. THAT’S IRRESPONSIBLE. YOU GAVE US THE IMPRESSION YOU DIDN’T GIVE A DAMN WHAT WE DID AS LONG AS YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO HEAR ABOUT IT. SO YOU DON’T GET TO LECTURE ME OR KNOX ABOUT ANYTHING.
Ronin’s gaze winged between them. “Seriously? I don’t get to question any of this? I come back and not only are my Shihan and my sister hooking up, but they’ve joined forces to dismantle my existing MMA training program and start fresh?”
“Like Shiori said, if you would’ve called in, we would’ve filled you in.”
“You know how I found out about the new MMA plan? This morning after Amery left for work I went down to the office and no one was around. So I checked out the first floor. Then I unlocked the door to the Crow’s Nest. Forty-five minutes later I returned to the second floor and some man I’d never seen before was running on the treadmill. I asked him who the hell he was and why he was in my training room unattended. That’s when he made the craziest claim I’d ever heard.” Ronin glared at them as he paced.
“He said he’s running the Black Arts MMA program. I laughed and asked if it was a ‘welcome home’ practical joke. He assured me he’d been hired by you two. But I thought to myself, Knox and Shiori would never pull that shit—hire someone without my approval. So I went up to the third floor, looking for Blue to see what he knew about it, and ended up talking to Katie, who was more than happy to gossip. Yes, you two had brought Maddox Byerly on board and he’d signed a one-year contract. Then Katie started getting misty-eyed when she babbled on about how you two were such a cute couple. And I stupidly asked, ‘A couple of whats?’ and I felt like an idiot because I didn’t have a fucking clue about . . .” He gestured between them. “This. And Katie added she wasn’t sure if either of you would be in on account of your car accident. So that was another fucking thing I found out thirdhand this morning. Then I tried to get in touch with Deacon because I couldn’t get ahold of either of you. But apparently he dropped Molly off at work this morning and they had a shouting match in the middle of the office. Which resulted in an angry phone call from my wife about why Deacon was such an asshole for making Molly cry.”