“You’ve never told me your history with TP.”
He reached up and twined a hank of her hair around his finger. “After I earned enough money to buy a place to establish my business, I found out no bank would loan me money because of my credit history.”
“The billionaire heir had bad credit?”
“I had no credit history. I paid cash for everything after I moved to the US. I had no official income because fighting was a cash-only business. Even when I had three bank accounts totaling more than three-quarters of a million dollars, no financial institution would lend me money to buy the piece-of-shit building in a crappy section of Denver.” He continued to twist her rosy-gold hair. The soft curl reminded him of the silken ribbons he’d bound her with last night. “Also at that time, the trust funds Grandfather had set up in my name across the globe were worth seventy-five million dollars.”
Amery’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me?”
“No. So technically I had the cash to buy the building outright—but I wanted to make my own way.”
“Technically?”
“My name is on the accounts, but I’ve never considered it my money. I did research on various banks and came across TP’s company. He had a reputation as a wild card, and the Denver financial establishment didn’t like him, painting him as a liar, so I chose him.”
“Why?”
“Because if he was a risk taker, he’d take a risk on me. If he blabbed the information about my family connection, I could chalk it up to him being a liar and a blowhard. Win-win.”
Ronin remembered how cocky he’d been demanding a meeting with the CFO of Pettigrew Financial. Luck or karma or serendipity had been on his side that day because TP agreed to meet with him privately.
If Amery thought Ronin was tight-lipped now, it was nothing compared to how he was back then. But something about TP had prompted Ronin to spill every detail of his life, his family and financial connections, the reasons why he didn’t use them, the resulting struggles because of that decision, and his business goals. TP had coolly taken the information and sent Ronin away with the promise he’d get back to him.
TP made him sweat it out an entire week before he showed up at the dive martial arts studio Ronin had been renting on a month-to-month basis. And truth was, if TP hadn’t taken the time to thoroughly check out Ronin’s backstory, then Ronin wouldn’t have done business with him. But they’d had an odd connection from the start and hashed out details of their “deal” with just a handshake—unheard of in this day and age.
“So what happened?” Amery prompted, bringing him back to the present.
“He signed off on the loan for the building personally. He had two stipulations. One, that if I ever cashed in any of the trust funds, I’d put the money in one of his banks. Two, that I’d do a favor for him from time to time.” He frowned. “But the favor issue didn’t come up until after I had problems with the construction company I hired for the building remodel. Within two weeks, a group of Russian construction workers showed up, and the guys trying to extort cash from me for ‘protection services’ vanished.”
“Did TP help you handle it?”
Ronin laughed. “Yes. Which is how I ended up owing Max Stanislovsky a favor too.”
Amery placed her hands on his cheeks and tilted his head to gaze into his eyes. “You don’t have to go into detail, but are the thug-for-hire rumors about you true?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me about it. About all of it.”
“At this point, some guys would say they’re not proud of what they’ve done, but I have no regrets. If I didn’t believe in the favor I’d been asked to do, I passed. TP never had an issue with that. Neither did Max.” Ronin peered into Amery’s eyes, half afraid of what he’d see. But those beautiful baby blues held interest and love, not a hint of disdain. “Are you satisfied now?”
“Did you ever put money in TP’s bank, or is he still waiting?”
“Remember when I told you I withdrew funds from a small trust account to finish my penthouse?”
Amery nodded.
“One beneficial thing my sister told me about my grandfather? It didn’t matter if I took out a single dollar or a million. The amount of money wasn’t the catalyst, just that I’d used any of it. As soon as I knew that, I cashed out every f**king penny of that trust. First thing I did was pay off my building.” Ronin sensed she wanted to ask him how much that was, so he told her. “That one small account had more than ten million dollars in it.”
“Oh. My. Fucking. God. You have ten million dollars in the bank? Right now? Right here in Colorado?”
Ronin smiled. “With TP’s investment guy looking after it, it’s closer to twenty million. And before you freak out, I live on what I make from the dojo. That money sits there. I’m happy without all the trappings of worrying about how to spend that much disposable cash. Most people don’t understand that. I’m really happy my bank balance doesn’t matter to you.”
“I don’t think I could be so cavalier about money. Maybe that attitude is the privilege of people who have it.”
He forced himself to ask the question, wondering if he should be afraid of her answer. “So, has hearing all this changed how you look at me now?”
“No.” Amery curled her hand around the side of his face. “Anything you did, even if you bloodied your hands doing it, wasn’t done lightly or without good reason. I know you’re a man of integrity.” She slipped her hand down to the left side of his chest. “You have a good heart.”
Ronin pressed his forehead to hers. “Baby, you own it.”
Amery kissed him with the sweet comfort and acceptance he’d only ever gotten from her. Those soft lips trailed along his jaw, stopping at his ear. “I’m surprised we haven’t been interrupted yet. Is there anything else you need to get off your chest?”
Just then Blue burst in and skidded to a stop. “Sorry to interrupt, but there’s some pre-fight stuff we need to go over.”
Amery whispered, “Later.” Then she slid off Ronin’s lap. “I need to track down my seat anyway.”
“Ringside to the left of the judges table. Fifth row, outside seats,” Blue offered.
After Amery left, Ronin said, “What’s up?”
“The local affiliate for a national sports channel wants to interview someone from the Black and Blue promotion team. We never finished the discussion about who’s handling media.”