Ronin carries me into the condo. It’s like he’s afraid to let me walk. When we returned to NES, he told the guys he would debrief in the morning and plucked me into his arms from the Suburban, placing me in his rental car. When we arrived in the condo’s parking garage, he scooped me into his arms again and carried me to the elevator, not putting me down once we were inside.

As soon as we enter the condo, I stroke the back of his head until he looks at me. “I’m okay, Ronin. You can put me down now.”

His thick eyebrows pull together as he searches my face, like he’s still looking for any sign that I’ve been hurt in some way. Finally, he sets me down on my feet but circles his arms around my waist.

“Thank you.” The words fall out of my mouth before I can think about it, but he deserves my gratitude. He deserves so much more than my gratitude.

He shakes his head, cupping the side of my face with one big hand. His thumb brushing across my cheekbone, he stares into my eyes, and I fall right into the depths of his. “Never thank me. I promised you I’d keep you safe, and that promise was almost broken tonight. They never should have gotten their hands on you.”

My cheeks burn, because I know that part of it is my fault “I shouldn’t have left Rayne and Jeremy’s.”

Still stroking my cheek, his body heat keeping me safe and warm, Ronin doesn’t break our stare. “Why did you?”

“I just felt like…like I didn’t want you to deal with M.J. without me. Deal with M.J. for me. There was this sour feeling in the very bottom of my stomach…I couldn’t explain it. I had to get to you…I suddenly felt like I needed to be with you more than anything. God, Ronin…I don’t know if it was instinct or what but I just had this feeling you were in danger.”

Glancing down, I’m kind of ashamed of myself. I created so much trouble. If I’d just stayed the course he wouldn’t have had to come rescue me.

“Red, look at me.” His voice firm, Ronin’s other hand cups the back of my neck.

I glance back up into his eyes, and they’re so full. Of whatever emotions he’s feeling, they’re written right there in his eyes.

“When I found out that you were just feet away from me and taken away, I was fucking terrified. I knew I was going to go after you, but Red? NES was always going to go after the Margiano family. And I’d just found out that Albert Margiano is the man responsible for Elle’s murder. I was going after him regardless. But getting to you was my priority. I’m so goddamn sorry you got mixed up in all of it.”

I gasp, one hand flying up to my mouth. My fingers tremble. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I’m so sorry, Ronin.” It was M.J.’s uncle the whole time…the man Ronin had been looking for? Shivers of revulsion, sadness, rage, roll through my body in waves of emotion.

“Oakes said something that had me making the connection. So when I found out they’d taken you…shit, Red. I knew I didn’t have much time to get to you. And there was so much I still haven’t said.”

Hope blooms inside my heart. “What haven’t you said?”

Ronin steps in closer, his broad, hard chest, touching mine, our breaths mingling in the sliver of space between us. “For so long, I thought the only thing I had to live for was making sure that Elle’s killer was brought down. I wanted that person dead. I could have done it tonight, you know? I could have killed Margiano, he was right there.”

I start to shake my head, to tell him that he wouldn’t have done that, but the dark look that crosses his expression stops me. And, deep down, I know that Ronin could have been capable of that. And I would have understood if he’d taken that road. He’s fought this battle for seven years, blaming himself for not being there for his wife when she needed him.

“But I couldn’t focus on that. Not when you were there, and that bastard was holding a gun to your head. The only thing I could think about, the only thing I could see, was you.”

Something inside me melts, going all soft and gooey, and I know with every fiber of my being that I belong to this man.

“Margiano’s gonna be brought to justice, and I’m damn glad, but now there’s something in my life that overshadows that desire for revenge. Do you know what that something is, Red?”

His lips touch mine, and a rocket goes off inside my body. Every single muscle tenses, urging me to get closer to him, and my arms wind around his neck. Breathless, I shake my head.

He kisses me. His mouth crushes mine, his tongue delving inside my mouth and stroking mine, once, twice, three times, I turn into a puddle in his arms, melting against him, but just as I’m ready to climb up his body, he pulls back just slightly. I almost moan from the loss of his kiss.

“You,” he whispers. “It’s you, Red. I love you.”

Desperate need overtakes me then, and a wicked impatience I’ve only ever felt with Ronin. “Show me.”

His hands drop to my waist and he picks me up like I weigh nothing, and I wrap my legs around his waist. My lips find his again, and I’m vaguely aware that we’re walking but I don’t care where we’re going. I only care that I’m with him.

Placing me down on the bed in the guest room, he steps back and points at me. “Stay there. But be naked when I get back.”

I roll my eyes. “You may love me, but you’re still McBossy.”

Tilting his head to the side, he chuckles while scanning me from head to toe. “You’ll like it. I’ll be back in two minutes. No clothes, Red.”

I salute him.

He turns, but instead of leaving the room, he goes into the guest bath and closes the door. Within minutes, I can hear the sound of water running in the bathtub.

My curiosity is begging me to go and listen at the door, but instead I strip out of my clothes. Now that Ronin isn’t directly in front of me, I’m actually dying to get out of them. I’m pretty sure I’ll never wear this particular outfit again. In fact, I might burn it. I want the stink of the warehouse off of me, right along with the recollection of what happened tonight.

I want to surround myself in Ronin until the memory fades.

When the door swings open again, I’m perched on the edge of the bed, my legs crossed in front of me, totally bare just like Ronin asked.

I’m all ready to open my mouth to let him know that I’m only out of my clothes because I wanted to be, but it slams shut again when I catch sight of all the miles of hard, bronze muscle laid out before me. Ronin folds his arms and leans against the doorjamb, completely naked. His green eyes, deep and dark with want, scan me, touching me in every place he’s about to touch with his hands. I’m eating up the vision of him at the same time, and all the words disappear from my head as my mouth goes dry.

“Good girl.” His voice is nothing but a low, sexy rumble, and the intensity of his stare heats me up from the inside out.

Ronin holds out a hand, and I rise off the bed like a puppet on a string. His puppet. I know that I’d do absolutely anything he asked right now, and I’d be so happy doing it. Instead of being terrified by that thought, I’m aroused by it. Being the center of Ronin Shaw’s attention leads to only good things. Very good things.

My eyes bounce around the bathroom as we enter, growing wider and more astounded everywhere I look. The tub is filled and with a thick layer of bubbles floating on top. Lit candles are littered across the countertop and in the wide corners of the Jacuzzi tub. When I look at Ronin, the flickering light catches in Ronin’s eyes as he drags me closer to him.

“This is…” My voice trails off as I glance around the bathroom again.

He helps me into the tub, and follows behind me. We both settle into opposite corners, and he pulls my bare feet up onto his thick, hard thighs under the water.

Leaning back, his gaze is dark and hooded. “I’ve been thinking about this since the first night you stayed here. I was on the other side of that door, but as soon as I heard you singing and realized you were in this big bathtub all alone, it was all I could do not to join you then.”

The hot water siphons away all the ugliness of the night, and I lean back and sigh, unable to take my eyes off the man across from me. He’s so beautiful it hurts, and he just told me he loves me.

He loves me.

Suddenly finding space and distance between us far too much, I crawl across the soapy tub until I’m straddling his lap. My thighs fit perfectly on either side of his, and my arms slide around his neck. His nostrils flare, and he leans forward to take my bottom lip between his teeth.

I sigh and grind down on him, my clit landing on his impressive, hard length. We both groan and he thrusts his hips up to meet mine, my arms tightening around his neck as I try to draw him closer.

“You love me,” I gasp as he reaches up to pull the band from my hair. When it tumbles out around my shoulders, Ronin buries his hands and tilts my head, kissing me deep and hard and long.

When he pulls away, I’m gasping for breath and grinding down on his cock with all I’m worth. Ronin’s mouth leaves mine only to bite down on my shoulder, and I toss my head back.

“I fucking love you. What do you want, Red?” His words are a low growl against my skin.

I lift my hips and whimper. He positions himself at my entrance, and I sink down on him. The delicious fullness, the stretching that the hard length of his cock gives me, makes me groan and bury my head against his wet shoulder.

He thrusts up hard, and I cry out because it’s the most pleasurable pain I’ve ever felt. Before Ronin, I didn’t even know the two words could coexist.

Cradling my face in his hands, he stares at me while he thrusts, over and over again, and the thread of love that’s slowly woven between us grows so thick the emotion of it all is hard to bear.

“I love you, Ronin.” I’m deliberate with these words. I want him to know that they’re true, that I feel them all the way down to my soul.

And that no matter what happens from here on out, I’m his.