Unwound

CHAPTER FIVE

AMERY arrived at the bistro early, scoring the prime spot in the corner, where she could keep an eye on the door. Since her last formal meeting with Shiori had been at the Ritz, she wanted the familiarity of her home turf.

Gigi, her favorite server, sauntered over with a smile. “Where have you been keeping yourself? I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“I’ve been working through lunch most days.” A lie, but confessing she couldn’t afford to eat out seemed pathetic. “Someone is joining me, but I’ll start out with a Moscow mule.”

“Is Emmylou your lunch date?” Gigi asked hopefully.

Her office mate had flirted outrageously with Gigi the last time they’d eaten here, and the poor girl had eaten it up. “No. She’s traveling this month.”

“Oh. I’ll put that drink order in for you.”

After Gigi flounced off, Amery noticed other neighborhood business owners scattered throughout the restaurant. She waved at a couple and then scanned the menu. The lunch special, turkey salad on homemade molasses bread with a side of Colorado peaches and mountain huckleberries, caused her stomach to rumble. They hadn’t had time for breakfast this morning, and she was starved. Ronin would be too, and this sandwich looked healthy enough that he’d eat it.

Her thoughts drifted to last night in the pool . . . Ronin’s hunger for her, his skill at driving her to the edge and then making her fly—familiar sensations, yet somehow they felt new. Maybe it was the gently lapping water as his tongue greedily devoured her. She’d wanted her hands on his head, pulling his hair, guiding him, controlling him, but no. Once again he’d controlled her and the situation. Like he always did.

Gigi dropped off the drink, and Amery stirred it without taking a sip.

After the spectacular orgasm, and later, as they were entwined in bed, she’d wondered how much longer she could hold Ronin off on resuming their sexual relationship. But mostly she wondered why she was holding back. Now that he was on the mend . . . why wasn’t she jumping him?

Right then it occurred to her the physical side of their relationship renewal was starting out the same way as their first intimate encounters had. Ronin giving all to her and not allowing her to reciprocate. What had she done last night as soon as those skilled hands of his touched her flesh and his tongue stroked her? She’d gone mindless. But even if she’d tried to return the favor, he would’ve found some way to distract her.

No more. She’d let him know, in no uncertain terms, that his body was hers to play with, pleasure, and control.

Amery just happened to glance up as Shiori started toward her. The woman’s graceful glide reminded her of a sleek panther. There was a sense of beauty and danger with a coiled edginess that warned you not to take your eyes off her or you’d feel the slice of those sharp claws and the bite of deadly teeth.

Shiori had dressed in a short jade-colored skirt that showed off her legs. Over a lavender silk shell, she wore a long-sleeved black jacket that nipped in at the waist and ended above her hips in a wide peplum. Of course the outfit was chic, sexy, and completely professional. Amery bit back a jealous sigh. And of course she finished the outfit with the perfect accessories—lavender suede pumps and an oversized satchel color-blocked with jade and black.

Thankfully Shiori didn’t expect the fake kiss-kiss and half-hug reception. She simply smiled and slid into the booth. “Amery. It’s good to see you. Thank you for agreeing to meet me today.”

“My pleasure. And without it seeming like I’m fawning, can I just say that outfit is outstanding? You look amazing.”

Shiori grinned. “Thank you. I’ve been filling my free time shopping.”

“Shopping here in Denver?”

“Some. New York City is too far to fly to justify a couple of hours to shop, so I’ve found the most darling boutiques in Chicago, Las Vegas, and Dallas.”

“You hop on a plane just to go shopping for a few hours?”

“Oh no. I charter a plane and attend to business while I’m in the air. I’m all about multitasking.”

Amery couldn’t hide her shock. Ronin and his sister really did live in two different worlds; she couldn’t imagine Ronin doing something so frivolous.

Don’t judge. Her money, her life, her choices.

Shiori leaned over and peered at Amery’s drink. “What is that?”

“A Moscow mule. Lime, vodka, and ginger beer.”

“I don’t usually drink cocktails at lunch, but I’ll try one.”

Amery gestured to Gigi to bring Shiori a drink.

“Have you decided on what you’re having?” Shiori asked.

“The lunch special. But everything here is very good.”

Gigi dropped off Shiori’s drink. “Are you ladies ready to order?”

“Yes, I’ll have the special,” Amery said. “And I’ll need another order to go.”

“And you, ma’am?”

“The cheesesteak, extra cheese, onions, and mushrooms with steak fries. And an order of Rocky Mountain oysters with a side of wasabi.” Shiori handed over the menu. “Save me a slice of the piña colada cheesecake too.”

After Gigi left, Amery asked, “Where exactly are you going to put all that food?”

Shiori shrugged. “I have a high metabolism. And yes, I know my brother would be having a fit right now. He lectures me on my bad eating habits.” She sipped her drink. “That is good. Speaking of my brother, he wasn’t happy when I told him I planned to ask you to lunch.”

“Does he have a reason to be concerned this time?”

“Depends on if you can move on from the way I mishandled our initial meeting.”

“At least you can admit you screwed up. What happened between Ronin and me . . . while I hated that you were the messenger, it didn’t change that he should’ve told me himself.”

“Agreed. I’m happy that you two are trying to work things out. I only wish he hadn’t taken that path again to find his way back to you.”

Given Shiori’s comments and her own observations, Amery suspected whenever things went wrong in Ronin’s life, he turned to fighting. She’d accidentally overheard a conversation between him and Knox, where Ronin admitted he’d been fighting in the underground club scene. That he’d hidden how deep he’d sunk his roots into that world of violence, even from those closest to him, had broken her heart. It also scared her to think that no matter how physically and emotionally she’d open herself up to him, he’d always withhold parts of himself from her.

“How do you feel his recovery is coming along?”

“More slowly than he’d like. But he’s been more patient than I expected.” With the exception of resuming their sex life.

“He’s less patient in the dojo. He’s filling his time practicing katas.”

Amery frowned. “What’s a kata?”

“A series of flowing defensive movements that puts the art in martial arts. Since traditional jujitsu doesn’t have specific kata forms, Ronin memorized forms from judo, karate, and aikido. Crazy man. Who does stuff like that?”

A master. A man who wouldn’t ever be satisfied with mediocrity. A man who needed art and beauty in his life.

Gigi dropped off a plate of golden fried Rocky Mountain oysters.

Shiori said, “Please. Help yourself.”

“I’ll pass. You do know what those are, don’t you?”

“Yep.” She popped one in her mouth and chewed. “Calf nuts. Now I can truly scare my associates in Japan with the statement that I eat balls for lunch.”

Amery laughed.

She polished off the appetizer in no time and shoved the plate aside. “Now that we’ve cleared the air, let’s get down to business.”

“Business?”

“Yes. I tend to be brutally honest, so bear with me. I’ll get to the point, after I’ve made a few pre-points.”

Sounded like Amery might need another drink. “Okay.”

“Your company working on the packaging for the new line of Okada frozen foods wasn’t just a toss off to give you busywork at Ronin’s request. Maggie Arnold hadn’t been happy with our usual graphics team, and she needed an excuse to cut professional ties with them before they got wind of this new product line.”

“So I became the scapegoat?”

“To some extent. So in addition to sending you all the information, she chose five other companies she’d heard positive feedback on and sent them the specs too.”

“Where are these companies located?”

“Los Angeles. Chicago. Houston. San Francisco. Minneapolis.”

All major players with unlimited resources. How much would it suck if their proposals made her mock-ups look like grade school art projects. “And?”

Shiori stirred her drink. “And when I became aware of the situation and Ronin’s request of your company to submit ideas, I felt a little smug. Surely your state school college education and small company in a smaller ad and PR market would produce inferior results.”

Amery waited, expecting the most insulting portion of this conversation was yet to come.

“I expected to show my brother proof of your inability to design products for major international markets by having a comparison to the other companies’ samples. But the strangest thing has happened in the past few weeks after you left your designs with me.”

“What? You spilled tea on them and improved them or something?”

She smiled. “So defensive and paranoid. Not that I blame you. I forwarded your designs to Maggie. Once we had all of them, I flew to Seattle. Maggie and I pored over every single concept. And every single one was unoriginal, boring, or just plain lazy. None of the companies had followed the parameters; they’d given us what they envisioned instead of working with our vision.” Shiori locked her gaze to Amery’s. “The graphic artists with MFAs and MBAs and art school degrees can’t compete with a company that doesn’t have anything to lose and puts everything on the line. Your designs did that. They were far, far superior to anything we’d seen and surpassed our expectations.”

When Amery drained her drink, Shiori laughed.

“I’m not dragging this out to make you uneasy, but you deserve to know what you were up against and how the selection process works for a global conglomerate. We showed all six designs to Maggie’s team without any indication of what company had done which product. They unanimously chose your vision. We then forwarded the proposals to the team in charge of branding, concepts, and marketing, and once again, your designs were picked. So then we put it to the ultimate test.”

“Your grandfather.”

“Yes, the big, bad CEO, the man who hasn’t met an idea he can’t crush.”

Amery found herself holding her breath.

“He approved the proposal.”

“Omigod.” She swallowed hard. “Does Ronin know?”

Shiori leaned forward. “No. I wanted to make it very clear to you that this is all you. Your concept, your designs. Ronin put you on our radar, but that’s it. I don’t want you to believe that Ronin has any part in Okada offering you a contract.”

“A contract?” Before she could ask specifics, the food arrived.

Shiori immediately dug in and left the conversation hanging.

Amery was too keyed up to politely nibble on a sandwich and a plate of fruit. Ideas spun around in her head. So did fear.

“Amery,” Shiori said sharply. “I can hear your stomach growling. Eat.”

“You sound like your brother.” But she ate all of it. She even asked Gigi to bring her a slice of chocolate-chip cheesecake.

When she couldn’t stand it any longer, she blurted, “So you mentioned a contract?”

“We’ve come up with a couple of contract options because Okada definitely wants your designs. We pay very well. Yet, if you feel you’ve been overpaid because of your relationship with an Okada heir, I can let you see other, similar contracts.”

“I’d appreciate that. And forgive me if I’m acting spacey, but this is a huge shock. After everything that happened, I literally put the work I’d done on the project out of my mind and focused on my existing clients. I never imagined that you’d do anything with my proposal besides toss it in the trash. Not that I didn’t think it was good. I just believed the whole thing had been a setup from the start and I’d never really had a chance.”

“Understandable.”

“What are my options?”

“A one-time lump sum. You turn over ownership of all the existing designs to us.”

“Okay. What else?”

“Okada puts you under contract. Lump sum for the finished designs and you work on other concepts for the company—not limited to this new product line. While you’d have guaranteed income during that time, usually two years, whatever you design in that time we’d own.”

“No more lump sum payments with that option.”

“Correct.”

“More than likely, I’d have to give up my existing clients due to time constraints.” And limited manpower. But with a new income stream, she could hire more employees to pick up the slack.

“Yes. I should also warn you that if you’re under contract, you’ll have to give up all other clients with food-based businesses. Okada won’t chance our brand being recognized on another competing company’s products.”

“That makes sense. But some of my clients have stuck with me when they could’ve jumped ship.”

“Which is why you need to think this through. It is a great opportunity, and the exposure will change the future of your business. Other competing Asian food companies will mimic your designs and try to hire you away. That’s part of the game. I trust that you’ll handle that part just fine.”

“But the other parts?”

“Working for Okada means you’ll be tied to Ronin even if things don’t work out between you two. I don’t want resentment from you in case things go south. I don’t want resentment from Ronin because you’re involved in the company. I’m asking you to take a couple of days or even a week to weigh the pros and cons.”

“Can I talk to Ronin about this?”

“Of course. It affects both of you. Don’t be surprised if he isn’t very enthusiastic.”

They finished their desserts in silence. When Gigi dropped off the bill and the to-go order, Shiori handed her a hundred-dollar bill. “Keep the change.”

“Oh. Wow. Thank you.”

But Shiori was already engrossed in her phone.

Amery left the remainder of her drink unfinished and stood. “I appreciate your candor and the opportunity, Shiori. Thank you for lunch.”

“You’re welcome.” She pointed to the Styrofoam box. “Want me to take that to Ronin?”

“No. He’s expecting me.”

Shiori unfolded from the booth as sinuously as a feline. She reached into her bag and pulled out a sealed manila envelope. “Here are copies of both contracts with the proposed remuneration. Any questions at all, just call. My cell and my hotel numbers are both listed.”

“Are you still staying at the Ritz?”

“Yes. They’re accommodating and discreet.”

Why would Shiori need discretion?

She followed her outside.

“I’ll look forward to hearing from you soon.”

A black limo pulled up to the curb. A beefy, good-looking blond guy in a suit exited the passenger side and opened the rear door for her.

According to Ronin, they hadn’t grown up in luxury, surrounded by servants attending to their every whim. Amery wondered at what point Shiori had started acting the part of the billionaire heiress.

And at what point Ronin had rejected it.