Page 89 of Shifting Gears

“Oh my God! I’ll pay for the damages,” I said as I pointed it out.

“It’s fine. It was stolen anyway,” he said with a chuckle as he smiled and squeezed me closer into him.

I glanced up at him in shock as he steered me toward the warehouse.

He led the way upstairs to his room, but before I could sit down, he handed me a towel and one of his shirts.

“Go get cleaned up, and then we can talk more,” he said as he sat down at his table, taking his phone that he must have grabbed from his car earlier and plugging it in.

I quickly went and showered, letting the warm water heat me up, and after what felt like forever, I finally felt warm again. I got dried off and tugged the shirt over my head. It was so large; it covered down to my mid-thigh.

I walked back into his room, wringing out my hair with the towel one more time before I sat down next to him.

“So, I know you saw me take off from the fight in your car. And I’m sorry I had to do that, but he was getting away, and I couldn’t let that happen,” I said, my mind piecing together what I could tell him about the night.

AJ shrugged and looked over at me.

“By the time I saw you, I was going too fast, and he would have driven out of my sight if I’d stopped. So, I didn’t. I followed him as the storm hit, and while I chased him through the roads, he lost control of his car. We collided for a split second and spun out. I was lucky. Kaito was not. His car wrapped around a pole, and we had been going so fast that it killed him,” I said, the moment flashing vividly in my mind.

We sat in silence as my words hung in the air between us.

“So, that explains the car, and the bastard got what was coming to him. What about these?” AJ said as he reached forward and tapped the folder. He must have looked through it when I was in the shower.

“After Kaito … I figured if I didn’t take advantage of the situation and go get the documents for my family home, I’d never get them back. So, I drove to his home, went in through the back door, found his office, and took back what was mine,” I said as I pulled the folder over to me, running my fingers along the edge.

“You went to his place alone? Kind of reckless, don’t you think?” AJ said as he leaned back against the wall.

“Maybe. But I’ve been known to be the hothead of my family, so it is what it is. Everything worked out, and I’m here now. Do you mind if I stay here tonight? It’s just been … a lot,” I said as I glanced up at him.

I felt tears threatening to pour from my eyes as memories of what had actually happened resurfaced, especially from how Kaito had talked about Raven and how he had killed her.

His eyes softened, and he jerked his head to the bed. “Of course, Syd,” he said as he stood up and held his hand out toward me.

I took it and let him lead me over to the bed, sinking down under the covers and curling up next to his body. My head rested against his chest.

I was spent, and my body was overwhelmed with emotion. The tears fell from my eyes onto his chest, and he wrapped his arms around me tighter and pulled me in.

No words were needed, and he knew that. He stroked his hands back and forth, just holding me, comforting me until all my tears were spent and exhaustion finally took over.

The last thing I remembered was his lips kissing my forehead as I drifted off.

CHAPTER 29

SYDNEY

FOUR MONTHS LATER

“Is that the best you got, AJ?” I teased as I circled him.

He’d just landed a wicked jab to my side, but I was able to slide away from him before another hit landed.

We were sparring in my dojo—a habit of ours most weekends after everything had happened.

Life after Kaito looming over us had been peaceful. It was a time of healing, of mending relationships, and of growth. My sister started a new semester of college. Touma had healed and was my partner at the dojo. We’d recruited over ten new students so far, and we’d left the world of illegal underground fighting behind to work toward doing things legitimately.

It had been a time where we were able to mourn Raven properly. We had a picnic under the shade of the trees on our property for a celebration-of-life ceremony for her. Sitting under those trees was something she had loved doing when she was growing up.

Life was about as perfect as it could be, except for the fact that I had yet to beat AJ in a spar, and I was determined that tonight was that night.

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