Page 27 of Her Fearless Ronin

Ronan stood up. “You can go now.”

I mirroredhis movement, but Hope remained on her chair. “No, please. I—You’re the only lead we have. Mr. Ronan, please.”

He looked at her, and his face softened. Yes, it was impossible not to melt when looking at Hope’s deep-blue eyes and angelic face. “I don’t know anything more, little one, but I can make a promise to you. If your brother shows up, I’ll call you day or night, okay?”

“But…” She turned toward me, her eyes helpless.

I smiled down at her and extended my hand. “We have what we need, Hope, I promise.”

She threw me a hesitant look before staring at my hand.

Trust me.

My heart filled with joy when she slipped her hand in mine, albeit a little hesitantly, and I pulled her up.

“Thank you for your time, and thank Doyle for me,” I added, automatically pulling Hope against me. It was not necessary, but as with everything with Hope Myers, once I tried, I was addicted, and I loved having her body molded against mine.

Ronan nodded before letting his eyes trail up Hope’s body before going back down, resting on her bare thighs.

“If you’re ever looking for a job…” He trailed off, and Hope’s mouth tipped down with disgust.

I pursed my lips, trying to ignore how his look and comment made me feel, and opened the door, but once she was out, I thought better of it and closed it, leaving her in the corridor.

I turned around, resting my back on the door, and channeled all the darkness I had inside me.

“Tell you what,Ronan. You look at her that way again or make those allusions one more time, and I can tell you that Doyle or no Doyle, I will cut out your tongue and make you swallow it before gouging your eyes out and leaving you to rot on the floor. I’ve done it before, and I don’t mind doing it again.”

He paled and took a step back, his previous bravado gone.

“Jiro!” Hope called, knocking on the door.

“I am andalwayswill be an executioner. Remember that, Ronan,” I added quickly before opening the door. “Ready?”

She looked flustered and overly annoyed as she scowled at me.

I grabbed her hand and started down the corridor toward the exit.

“What was that about?” she hissed as we took the metal stairs back up to the main part of the club.

“I needed to remind him who he was dealing with.”

“And who’s that?” she asked, stopping on the last step, refusing to move.

“Death,” I replied, opening the door and pulling her forward.

I know my words probably scared her, but I had no time to look at her face. We needed to get out of this place, and even if I hated scaring her, at least it made her move again.

As soon as we hit the busy street, she pulled her hand out of mine and crossed her arms on her chest.

“What was that all about?” She glowered; fuck, she was beautiful. “We came here and left with nothing.”

I looked around the street for a second, looking for both a taxi and some ears that may be lurking around.

“We do have something,” I replied quite evasively, but as I glanced at what I suspected was supposed to be her best death glare, I sighed. “We know that your brother is obviously pretty much alive and is much higher in the Valdez organization than I could have expected.” Or from what I was able to find online.

“Is that a good thing?”

I looked at her and grimaced. “For him? Probably. For us?” I shrugged. “I’m not certain yet.”

---