Page 83 of Shifting Gears

I didn’t answer as I walked back around the passenger side and took a deep breath as I reached for the passenger door, shoving it open a few more inches.

I stepped into the opening, and soft light from the light pole overhead illuminated us.

“You,” Kaito snapped.

He was half bent over the center console, twisted at his torso. His legs pinned between the steering wheel and the seat, as the side of the car had crunched everything down and in from the driver’s side. Blood trickled down the side of his head, and he had blood on the corner of his mouth, which he wiped away with his hand as he glared up at me. A hand already covered in blood splatter.

His breath was gurgling. His lung might be punctured and filling slowly with blood. If that was the case and he didn’t get medical help soon, he could die. If the risk of someone driving by and calling for help was not so great, I would leave him here to drown in his own blood.

“Hello, Kaito,” I said as I looked back at his face.

“Don’t just stand there, you dumb bitch. Call for an ambulance,” he spit.

I glanced down the road, but it was still empty and quiet.

“Why would I do that? I’m the one who caused you to crash,” I said as I leaned back against the door, tucking the hand not holding the gun into my purse. I grabbed my phone and pretended to call for help.

His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth, no doubt to snap something vile at me, but I held up my hand as I pretended to answer a call.

“Hello? I just ran someone off the road, and he needs help. Aww, no one is available to help? Ohno.” I slipped my phone back into my purse, and he glared at me. “I tried.”

“You insignificant whore!” he said as he slammed his hand down on the steering wheel.

“You are a sick, lying, sorry excuse for a man, and I refuse to lose another sister to your twisted games,” I snapped at him.

I was doing my best to keep it cool, stay calm, and not show the gun in my hand, but being face-to-face with him, knowing what he wanted to do with Regan, made that hard to do.

He sat as upright as he could and laughed. A sickening sneer swiped across his face as he shoved his hair out of his eyes and looked over at me.

“You do not know what you are talking about, little girl. You have made this more than easy for me. Once I’m out of here, I’m going to drag you back to my home and teach you a lesson. Then I’ll force you to watch me take your sister as my wife, as I bed her and fill her with my cum. Maybe I’ll even keep you alive long enough for you to see her give birth to my child before I kill you myself,” he said gleefully.

My anger rose. How dare he talk about Regan like that?

He will never touch you. I swear it on my last breath, sister.

“You sick psycho, you will never touch her with your disgusting hands ever again,” I said as I leaned forward, gripping the edge of the doorframe.

“Oh, I will, and I will revel in the sweetness of her cries, knowing that you will be forced to watch me take your precious younger sister. And when that’s all over, maybe then I’ll tell you what really happened to Raven, before I end your miserable existence.” His words dripped with malice as he watched me.

I froze at the mention of Raven’s name.

What really happened to her? I knew it! I knew he was the one behind her death!

The blood was pounding so loudly in my ears that it was hard to hear anything but my pulse. But I had to know, even if it broke me.

“What are you talking about?” I choked out.

My chest tightened as I waited for his reply.

“I’m talking about how alike you and your dearly departed sister are. Neither of you could keep your nose out of mybusiness. Neither of you know your place, and both of you will die from my hands because of it,” he said as he leaned lazily toward me.

No. He couldn’t have done it. She was going to be his wife! She did everything he’d asked her to! Why would he?—

“Are you wondering, Sydney, why I would kill her? What did she do that was so wrong that made me remove her pitiful existence from this planet?” he whispered, his words as cold as the icy water soaking through my clothes to my skin.

My mind was racing, my body trembled, my lungs struggled for air as I listened to him speak while the world closed in around us.

“Ravenwasa beautiful woman. Smart. From a family with status. She was a good choice for a wife to produce the heir my family demands. Except she was obstinate, speaking about things she shouldn’t have involved herself with. She made an effort to undermine me at every turn. So, naturally, when I found out about her little secret, I had to take care of the flower that had grown thorns.” His eyes traveled to my side and the tattoo that adorned it.

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