Page 12 of Her Fearless Ronin

“I’ll let you know if I need help, but frankly, I don’t think I do. It’s so pathetically banal, and it’s something we’ve seen a million times. But I’ll let you know if it gets out of hand,” I added quickly.

“Okay, and if you want to look into things, all the passwords are the same.”

I smiled at that. “Yes, I figured they were. This is my mission tonight.” I was planning to look into Hope’s life. I saw the sorrow in her face despite how much she was trying to dismiss it, and I wanted to see how deep it ran. I let out a sigh. “You let me know as soon as you hear from Doyle.”

“Will do, and you keep in touch, okay?”

“Always. Say hello to Violet for me.”

Hoka chuckled. “She’s listening. She also worries about you.”

That added a fresh coat to the guilt I would probably always carry for the pain I caused her and the loss I couldn’t help but feel responsible for. All because I had let my past cloud my judgment.

I opened my mouth to tell them I didn’t deserve an ounce of their worry, but they were too stubborn to listen anyway.

“You have a newborn at home. You have better things to do than worry about little old me. Just let me know when Doyle approves, okay? Speak soon.”

Before he expressed any further worry, I hung up and settled on the bed with my laptop to dive into the extensive background research and serious invasion of privacy I was about to commit.

Icouldn’t help but smile a little, imagining how furious Hope would have been if she found out what I was about to do. She was so beautiful when she was angry.

Don’t think of her that way. You have no right to do so. You ruined her life.

I spent the next few hours looking into Hope’s life for the past few years, and while I had suspected it had been bad despite her dismissal and humbling strength, I had not expected it to bethatbad.

Her father had died of a heart attack barely a year after Anna’s death, and she was left with a grieving, overwhelmed mother and an angry older brother.

I kept on reading despite the growing discomfort. Her mother gave Leo complete control of the finances, and this was when the financial hemorrhage started.

I pursed my lips as my desire to find Anna’s brother dimmed as my dislike of him increased with each instance of his frivolous spending. If it were up to me, I’d let him rot in whatever mess he’d put himself in. But there was Hope and how worried she was, how she was looking at me like her knight in shining armor, and I could not let her down. Not again.

I sighed and shook my head, continuing to discover the train wreck her life had been.

She did impressively well at school despite having to work from age sixteen, and then she had to drop out of college despite her stellar grades when her mother got diagnosed with an early onset of Alzheimer’s.

I leaned back against my pillow and closed my eyes. How this woman still transpired so much positivity wasbeyond me. I was completely in awe of her strength. She was much braver than I had ever been.

I groaned, running my hand down my face, knowing that her waste-of-space brother never stepped up, forcing her to do it. The situation was shitty, but he was the oldest. He should have taken care of her, not let her fend for herself and her mother—leaving them barely surviving.

I was going to find the fucker and force him into a room to explain to him what the situation would be like from now on. I had no qualms about threatening and maiming him a little. Hope deserved a better life, and while I could not be the one offering it to her, I could damn well make sure she’d get it one way or another.

I made myself a promise at that moment: I would save her silly brother and save her, too, even if she didn’t know she needed saving.

Hope Myers was my mission, my purpose, and my way to atone for my sins, and I would bleed to make it right.

Chapter 5

Hope

Damn you, Jiro!

“Do you think I’m a prude?” I asked out loud as Max and I worked on the inventory before opening.

“With the way you’ve been scowling at that nine-inch aliendildo in your hand for the past five minutes? No, I don’t think so.”

“I…” I sighed, putting the purple dong on the shelf and grabbing another one from the box. “I’m serious, Max.”

He stopped arranging the sensual jewelry from the glass case and turned toward me, his brown eyes full of confusion.

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