Page 21

SYDNEY

I felt so bad for Touma.

I was dismissing my other students for the day as I saw him use his crutches to get to his feet. Then he groaned as he realized his duffel bag was just out of his reach.

He was stubborn. He was supposed to be on bed rest but had pressed that he could at the very least come to training and help watch the other students’ form during the day.

I’d let it slide because I knew how stir-crazy he would be at home, alone.

Plus, Touma was the closest thing to a brother I had.

It would be weird for him to not be here most days.

“Here, let me grab that for you,” I said as I walked over, leaning down and picking up his bag.

I held it out to him, and he carefully balanced on one crutch as he slung it over his shoulder.

“Thanks. Fuck, I hate this. I’m sorry I’m not helpful right now. Thanks for taking pity on me and putting up with my insistence to still come,” he said as we walked toward the entrance of the dojo.

“I only said yes because you wouldn’t have listened to me if I’d said no anyway.” I smiled at him, and he laughed.

“You’re right there. But this knee injury is such a pain in the ass. I can’t do anything at a normal speed right now, and I feel like a damn burden. It’s not even been a few days since the accident,” Touma said as he carefully went down the steps to the driveway.

I patted his shoulder. “Hang in there. You’ll be back in shape in no time and kicking all the other students’ butts again soon. Honestly, they likely needed a break from you to help build their confidence back up,” I said with a chuckle.

He let out a belly laugh at that one. But he knew, all jokes aside, he was the best student and easily worked through the other students in practice face-offs. Only I stood a real chance against him, if I was faster than him.

“Do you need help to get down to the bus stop?” I asked as he hopped toward the front entrance.

“Nah, I got it. I’ve got a bum knee, not missing a leg. See you tomorrow, Sensei,” he said with a wink.

I rolled my eyes. I turned and walked over to the house. When I rounded the corner, my heart leaped at the car parked out front, until I saw the bodyguards standing outside the front door. Raven never had guards with her when she came to visit. Only Kaito did when he came by.

“What the fuck does he want?” I ground out through clenched teeth.

I continued to the front door when one of his guards shoved an arm in front of me, blocking my path.

“If you don’t want your arm broken, I suggest you move it,” I snapped at him.

He glared down at me, but kept his hand there as he fired off a message on his phone. I was about to teach him a lesson about how not to block a professional martial artist when he lowered his hand at the reply chime from his phone.

I shoved my front door open and quickly kicked off my shoes, dropping my phone onto the counter in the kitchen before walking into the living space.

I froze when I saw Kaito and Regan sitting together on the couch. He had a hand on her shoulder and a bandage on the side of his head. I hoped he’d gotten shot. Too bad the guy had missed.

“Ahh, the other sister. Join us, Sydney. I have something to discuss with the both of you,” Kaito said as he gestured to the chair across from him.

“I’m fine standing. What do you want?” I said as I folded my arms over my chest.

“I want to know where your sister is,” he said as he leaned back on the couch.

My eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean? Are you talking about Raven?” I asked, glancing at Regan as she turned to look back at Kaito as well, confused.

He nodded. “Yes. She never came home after the fight. I assume she is here, sulking about the arrangement being changed.”

I shook my head and gestured around the room. “Does it look like she’s here? If she’s not with you, then she’s probably taking some time away from your stuffy house. You’ve basically kept her there against her will for the past two months,” I replied sharply.

He smirked at me and snapped his fingers. His two guards behind him walked closer to him. “Search the house. Leave no stone unturned.”

“What? The fuck you will!” I yelled as I stepped forward toward Kaito and my sister.

Someone suddenly wrenched my arms behind my back and shoved me onto the kitchen countertop I was standing near. My cheek pressed against the icy surface as I peered behind me to see who my captor was. The damn guard who had been outside must have followed me in at some point.

“Let me go!” I growled out as I struggled to reposition my legs, preparing to kick him if he didn’t listen.

“It’s fine. You can release her. After all, unless she has something or someone to hide, a quick search of her home should be fine,” Kaito said as he leaned into my sister’s ear and whispered to her.

She glanced at me, her eyes wider, but she remained calm.

“Let them look, Sydney. He just wants to make sure Raven isn’t here, and once he knows for sure, he will leave,” she breathed. Her hands gripped the edges of her book in her lap.

I exhaled, long and loud. “Fine. But I swear if your men make a mess …” I said as the guard behind me let my wrists go and eased away from me.

“They will leave everything in pristine condition, I assure you,” Kaito said.

With another snap of his fingers, the two men near him vanished in opposite directions.

“They’d better,” I muttered under my breath.

I straightened myself and resumed my position of having my arms folded across my chest; this time though, I stood at an angle where I could see everyone in the room and the two directions the others had left in. No one else was going to get the jump on me today.

We stayed that way in silence. The only movement was one of Kaito’s hands playing with a strand of my sister’s hair as his eyes lazily glanced between her and me. I swore to God he did that intentionally, knowing how much him being around her bothered Raven and me.

Eventually, his two guys came back into the room, shaking their heads at Kaito before getting back in formation behind him.

“It appears you were telling the truth. She isn’t here. But I’m afraid we might have a situation on our hands,” Kaito said as he dropped my sister’s hair, much to her relief, as she let out a soft exhale.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. He opened it and tugged its contents out. Holding it in my direction.

“Take it, Sydney,” he demanded.

I walked over and grabbed it from his hand, then looked down. It was a photograph. It was of Raven, and she was standing next to a man wearing a mask and a hat that covered his face.

“What about it?” I said as I looked back at Kaito.

“This man was the last person to be seen with her. She showed up to the fights two nights ago around the same time as him, and this is the man who randomly stepped in when her fighter—Touma, wasn’t it?

Yes, this man took over the fight when Touma was injured.

After the match, they left together, and I haven’t seen or heard from my fiancée since,” he said.

It appeared as if he might actually be worried for her, but I wasn’t buying it for a minute. He had never acted like he cared for her before, so why pretend now? Also, I’d talked to Raven the morning after the fight. She had been fine then.

But I sure as hell wouldn’t tell him that. The less he knew, the better.

“So, who is he?” I asked.

“No idea. The point is, I’m afraid Raven is missing and has been for almost forty-eight hours now.

I recommend you help search for her. If your sister has skipped town …

Well, it won’t end up good for this place.

And I’d hate to see two beautiful women like yourselves homeless or worse,” he said as he leaned into my sister again.

I swore he just sniffed the side of her neck, and if I wasn’t here, I doubt he would have just stopped there.

I wanted to slug him so hard. First, he comes here and acts like he owns the place, drops the news on us that our sister might be missing, and now he’s leaving threats?

I took another step forward when Regan quickly twisted in her seat.

“Excuse me, Mr. Yamazaki,” Regan said softly next to him, and he rapidly returned his attention back to her.

“Yes, my dear?” he asked, his voice full of fake sweetness as he brought a hand over to her thigh and rubbed.

I wanted to shove him away from her. With how rigid she was sitting next to him, it was clear she was extremely uncomfortable with his hand on her. Besides, here he was, supposedly concerned about our missing sister, but he was putting his disgusting hands on Regan in places he shouldn’t be.

“What happened to the side of your face?”

I waited for the answer. I had almost asked him about it myself when I first saw him, but I had gotten distracted when he told us he hadn’t heard from Raven for two days now.

Good for you, sis. I didn’t think you had it in you to ask something so bold.

I should have known that even if Regan was the polite and gentle sister, she still had the family trait to ask the real questions we all wanted answers to.

“Oh, this?” he said as he gently touched the bandage on the side of his temple. “I was redecorating my office and fell while grabbing something. It’s only a scratch. Don’t worry yourself over it.”

“It looks like it hurts. I hope the doctors gave you something for the pain,” Regan said, giving him a polite smile before she looked back down at the book in her hands.

“Nothing would help my pain more than finding my future wife,” Kaito said. He turned his face toward me. “You will tell me immediately if you hear from her, or if you find the man she was with,” he said as he stood up, letting his hand leisurely slide off my sister’s thigh in the process.

“I expect the same from you then,” I said as he straightened his suit and smirked at me.

“If I find her, she will tell you herself.”