"I saw your financials. It's been a rough year."
Of course she'd scoured Amery's financials-a company like Okada wielded a lot of power. Which probably meant that Ronin was also aware she had two grand in her checking account, the exact amount of her outstanding mortgage payment and how much she'd socked away in her 401k. Pitiable amounts to billionaires, for sure. Her face heated again. "I never asked Ronin for money."
"He most likely considered this a favor to you?"
"A favor? A favor is helping your friend move into a new apartment. Or taking a self-defense class with a friend to bolster her self-esteem. A favor is not secretly demanding your billion-dollar family business take pity on your flavor of the month and tease her with the possibility of a multimillion-dollar contract."
Shiori studied her. "How long have you been . . . ?"
"Several months. So when he demanded you hire me, did he ask you not to tell me?"
"Like I mentioned previously, I haven't actually spoken to Ronin about this. He instructed Maggie to find a project for your company and hire you outright. She contacted me, letting me know what my brother had demanded. I decided to intervene."
"So you came to Denver to see if I was some gold-digging hustler."
She lifted a slim shoulder. "It's happened before."
Amery frowned. "To Ronin?"
"No. To me."
Why was she being so forthright? Because it sure as fuck didn't run in the family.
"You seem surprised I'd tell you that."
"I'm used to your brother's nondisclosure."
"I'd point out it's a Japanese thing. But it's mostly a Ronin thing."
"Didn't you do a background check on me?" Amery demanded.
"I didn't need to." She nonchalantly sipped her tea. "Ronin had you checked out shortly after you two met."
"Checked out how?" And how had Ronin's sister found out about it?
"Having the investigative company Okada keeps on retainer call your known associates, your customers, your neighbors, your friends, and your family."
That bastard. It hadn't been the insurance company after all. Another wave of anger rolled over her.
"So you know nothing of our family's background?" Shiori asked.
"None," she said flatly.
"Our grandfather married an English nurse who treated his injuries after World War Two. She was assigned to Japan during the allied occupation. She was quite a bit older than him, but they married anyway. Evidently my grandmother had been exposed to chemicals during the war and with a weakened immune system, she died during an influenza outbreak a few years later, leaving my grandfather a widower at age twenty-two with a year-old daughter. In his grief he threw himself into his food supply business and ended up building an empire.
"Our mother fled his control and married an American soldier. After our father's death, our mother chose to bring us to Japan. I was five and Ronin was eight."
While Amery appreciated the family history, she wasn't sure why Shiori felt the need to tell her. Simply because Ronin hadn't? Nothing she'd said had helped Amery understand why Ronin had kept so much from her.
"Earlier when I asked you who you thought I was, why did you hesitate?"
"I wondered if you were Ronin's ex, Naomi. I don't know much about her beyond that she's Japanese. Someone told Ronin a few weeks ago she planned to visit Denver. I imagine since she and Ronin were together for a while you knew her."
"I was at the club when Ronin met Naomi. In fact, the only reason he went there that night was me. Did he tell you about it?"
Ronin's sister was aware of his club activities? Or maybe she was fishing for information. For some stupid reason Amery wanted to protect Ronin's secrets.
Because you're in love with him.
And right about now that made her the biggest idiot on the planet-how could she possibly love someone she didn't know?
When she realized Shiori was still waiting for her response, she shook her head.
"I'd just been granted a divorce and I came to the U.S. with a friend. She wanted to go to the Denver Japanese Social Club and I was afraid she'd hook up with her old boyfriend and ditch me, so I begged Ronin to accompany me. He hates those places, but he agreed and that's where he met Naomi. She was involved in international finance and was in the U.S. to oversee her father's business interests. They hit it off. For a while anyway. Until Ronin found out . . ." Shiori looked uncomfortable for the first time. "Sorry. I talk too much."
But Amery's mind had already latched onto the fact that Ronin hadn't met Naomi at a sex club as he'd led her to believe, but at a social club.