“Ronin?”
“What?” When he realized he’d snapped at her, he said, “Sorry. It’s just not what I wanted to hear.”
“I get that, but on some level you had to expect this.” She reached over and swept his hair from his eyes. “So are you going to ask me to stay with you and take care of you while you recover?”
No f**king way. She’d seen too much of his weak side already. “I don’t expect that from you.”
“Then why did you show up at my door?”
His soul screamed, Because I need you, but his mouth couldn’t force the words out. What if she believed the only reason he said that was because he required a caretaker for the short term? What he wanted—no, what he needed—from her was far, far more than that. So why couldn’t he tell her?
“Don’t pull that silent macho attitude on me. We both know you need me there. We both know my presence wouldn’t be like hiring a home health aide.” She paused. “But that would be easier for you, wouldn’t it?”
“Infinitely.”
“You are seriously pissing me off, and I’m about three seconds from walking out the door for good.”
“Please don’t.” Ronin grabbed her hand before she ran off. “Come here.” He relaxed when she threaded her fingers through his.
“Why are you trying to shut me out?”
Ronin turned his face to the wall.
“Hey.” She pinched his chin and slowly turned his head back toward her. “Last chance. Ask me.”
“Fine. Please stay with me. I need you so goddamn much it scares the shit out of me, okay?” Ronin locked his gaze to hers, trying to retain some control in this situation. “But if you agree, you’ll be in my home and in my bed for as long as my recovery takes.”
“That’s not—”
“Negotiable, Amery. Period.”
She smiled. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Jesus. He’d fallen right into that.
“I’m practicing my bedside manner and telling you to get back in bed and rest.”
Like hell. He’d let her take care of him at his place, but he was getting out of here today as soon as possible—even if he had to f**king crawl.
After he’d situated himself in bed, he said, “You don’t have to hover.”
Amery looked torn. “You sure?”
“Yeah.” He touched her cheek. “Thank you for seeing past my bullshit and sticking around today.”
“You’re welcome. But as soon as you’re out of here, we’re having a talk about all the bullshit I can’t see past, the things you kept from me that forced me to walk away from you in the first place.” Amery kissed his wrist. “I’ll see you later.”
After she left, he picked up the phone.
CHAPTER THREE
DURING their conversation in the hospital, Amery had felt like the lines of communication had been reopened and Ronin wanted to establish trust and honesty between them.
But apparently that honesty didn’t include sharing his plan to escape from the damn hospital.
The stupid, stubborn man needed to be hog-tied to his goddamn bed—and not for sexy fun and games. Imagining him in a straitjacket, his ankles bound to the bedposts and a gag in his mouth, didn’t cool Amery’s fury even a little bit.
As soon as the elevator doors opened to the penthouse, she barreled down the hallway. “Ronin Black, you lying ass**le. Get your butt out here right now before I come in there and kick it!”
“No need to shout.”
She whirled around and saw him reclined in the far corner of the dark living room. “What is wrong with you? Why did you sneak out of the hospital?”
“I left because I wasn’t getting any rest anyway. I need the solitude of my own surroundings to help me heal.”
“And a phone call informing me of that was too much to ask?”
“I wasn’t thinking straight.” He sighed. “The food sucked. I felt like I was suffocating.”
Amery studied his face, seeing the lie in it. “Then maybe you should’ve heeded your doctor’s advice after your freakin’ head injury and stayed put for another day.” She balled her hands into fists.Had anything changed with him? Or would he continue to feed her half-truths because she’d always swallowed them without question?
Fuck. That. “Who drove the getaway car? Not Knox, because he was with Shiori at the hospital. He was just as spitting mad as your sister.”
“Did you go to the hospital?”
“Not after I got the angry phone call from her accusing me of aiding in your escape. I came straight here. Who helped you?”
“Zach. For the record, he wasn’t happy either.”
“Let me guess. You pulled that I’m your sensei bullshit.”
“Pretty much.”
“So why didn’t he stick around?”
“Because I made him drop me off in the alley.”
“Unfuckingbelievable. Why aren’t you in bed?”
Ronin dropped his head into his hands. “Because my bedroom was too goddamn far away. Head injury, dislocated kneecap, sore ribs. Who knew walking that extra five hundred feet would be so difficult?”
She forced herself to quell her anger and reminded herself she was here to take care of him. “You’re lucky I hadn’t shredded the keycard you gave me.”
“I didn’t change the codes because I was holding out hope that you’d show up and ream me for being an ass—kind of like you’re doing right now.”