Page 21 of Shifting Gears

She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you mean? Don’t play coy, Raven. There is something going on that’s made you basically freak out on Touma these past few weeks. The man has been working his ass off, and he’s doing very well. Perfection isn’t something you ever pushed for in the past.”

That’s because I didn’t have my sisters’ lives in my hands.

I frowned at her, trying to play it off, not wanting to let her in on what was really going on.

“That’s not true. You should know, especially after half the students left with our father’s passing, that having any of our fighters not win right now will only drive potential new students away.”

“I call bullshit,” Sydney said, not giving an inch.

“Sister, language,” I scolded.

Our father never liked us swearing—something that had become a habit of mine—and I’d remind my sisters of that whenever I heard them slip up.

“Don’t treat me like a child, Raven. Whatever it is, I can handle it. So, tell me, what is really going on?”

I wasn’t going to deflect any longer, and as much as I wished they could remain in ignorance, it wouldn’t be fair for them to be left in the dark in case things did go wrong.

“There is more than only money and reputation at stake in the next fight,” I said as I steeled myself for her reaction.

“What do you mean?” she asked, her head tilting in confusion.

“I did something that angered Kaito, to the point that he changed the terms of our engagement.” I clenched my hands. Icould feel my body getting anxious, remembering the meeting I had with him, how he’d hit me and shoved me around.

“What did he change?” Sydney leaned forward, and she placed a hand over my clenched fist. “Sister, what has he done now?”

I took a deep breath and decided to come clean at this point.

“He has placed the ownership of the estate on the table. No longer is the title guaranteed with our marriage. If Touma doesn’t win his next match, we will lose all of this. And you and Regan will move into Kaito’s home.”

Sydney’s eyes widened with horror. Then I felt her hand roughly wrap around mine and squeeze it. “That is not going to fucking happen!” she growled.

I was surprised at the intensity I saw in her dark eyes.

“He will win, and then we won’t have to worry about the land deed being withhimanymore. You could cancel the marriage agreement!” Sydney jumped up from the couch and paced around the coffee table—her telltale sign that she was forming a plot for something. And that never ended up with a good outcome.

“Sister, stop whatever it is you are thinking. There is no point in focusing beyond the match until we know the outcome. But if we lose, you have to promise me you’ll always look out for Regan when I cannot.”

“We’re not going to lose!” Sydney snapped.

I admired her determination and confidence because I was severely lacking in the latter. I was about to say something else when the front door opened and Regan’s light voice called through the house.

“I’m home!”

Sydney and I both froze and looked at each other as Regan came walking into the living room. She was wearing a super-pretty light-lavender dress with her hair up in a loose bun. Softmakeup accentuated her green eyes. She looked so much like our mother that it stole my breath away.

“Raven! I’m so happy you’re still here! I was afraid I’d missed you.” She came over and sat next to me on the couch, giving me a hug.

I hugged her back, uncertain if I should tell her about the risk of losing our home this week.

“You know I wouldn’t leave without getting to see you. Were you out running errands?”

She blushed and fidgeted with her hands. “Well, I don’t know if I would call it errands, but I was out getting some more books when I bumped into the guy I have a crush on, and he took me to coffee after. It was so much fun! He was a complete gentleman and even opened doors for me.”

I glanced over at Sydney, who was holding back a laugh at how thrilled our sister was. To be young and in love for the first time was something to be celebrated. Except I knew that if the match went poorly, Kaito would make sure she never saw that poor boy again.

“That’s very exciting, Regan. I hope he continues to treat you well, if you are going to be seeing him again?” I looked back over at her and gave her as much of a smile as I could.

“Mmhmm! We are going to go out again on Friday. Oh! I almost forgot. I have a book for you to take home. I think you’ll really love this one. Let me go retrieve it for you!” With that, Regan hopped up and hurried down the hall toward her room.

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