King of Pride (Kings of Sin, #2)(105)

Even when we broke up. Even when I walked out. Just knowing you existed somewhere in this world was enough.”

Isabella pressed a fist to her mouth, her eyes glossy in the silver light.

“I never really lived before you,” I said. “And I don’t want to imagine living after you.” I dropped my forehead to hers, my chest aching with need and want and a thousand other emotions only she could make me feel. “Stay with me, love. Please.”

A small sob bled through and soaked the night.

“You idiot,” she said, her cheeks wet with tears. “You had me at condoms.”

Relief had the weight sliding off my shoulders. My body sagged, and the hands strangling my lungs loosened enough for a laugh to break free.

“I’m not surprised,” I murmured. “You do have a special fondness for condoms, especially of the —”

“Kai.”

“Hmm?”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

Isabella.

Yes?

Shut up and let me kiss you.

So I did, deeply and tenderly, while the memories of us drifted back into my chest and settled where they belonged.



CHAPTER 42

Kai

The next morning, I took a day off work for the first time in my history at the Young Corporation.

My team could survive without me for the day. I had more important things to do.

“Syzygy is not a word!” Isabella slapped a hand against her thigh. “You totally made that up.”

The corners of my mouth twitched. “I’m afraid Merriam-Webster disagrees.”

“Yes, well, Merriam-Webster is a bitch,” she muttered. “Fine. You win. Again.” Her mouth formed an adorable pout.

We were on our third round of the game. Half-eaten pastries and two giant mugs of hot chocolate littered the coffee table, and flames crackled in the marble fireplace. Snow flurries danced outside the windows, carpeting the city in white.

After last night’s frigid stroll down the Brooklyn Bridge, neither Isabella nor I were in the mood to go outside, so we’d holed up in my apartment with food, drinks, and board games.

“If it makes you feel better, you almost had me,” I said, leaning over and giving her a kiss. “Qi was inspired.”

“Almost isn’t the same as winning,” Isabella grumbled, but her pout melted into a sigh when I deepened the kiss. She tasted like warmth, chocolate, and something wonderfully, uniquely her.

My hand slid up her thigh until it reached the soft cotton hem of one of my old button-ups. Seeing her wear my clothes kindled something primal and possessive in me; she looked so beautiful, so perfect, and so damn mine.

Isabella wound her arms around my neck. Our board game would’ve escalated into an entirely different type of play had my phone not rung, jolting us out of our embrace.

I paused at the caller ID, but I answered without betraying a visible reaction.

“Congratulations.” Richard Chu skipped the niceties and cut straight to the chase. “The company stays with a Young after all.”

And that was that.

After months of schemes, strategizing, and buildup, I officially became the next CEO of the Young Corporation not with a bang but with a short, simple conversation.

“Well?” Anxiety sculpted Isabella’s expression. I’d told her the vote was today; she must’ve guessed the purpose of the call. “What happened? What did he say?”

I finally allowed a smile to sneak onto my face. “I won.”

The words barely made it out of my mouth before she squealed and tackled me to the ground with surprising strength for someone so small.

“I knew it!” Her face glowed with pride. “CEO Young. How does it feel?”

“Good.” My blood heated as I framed her hips with my hands. It was hard to form a detailed answer when she was straddling me wearing nothing but a shirt and underwear. “But you feel better.”

Isabella rolled her eyes, though her cheeks pinked at my response. “Seriously? You’re thinking about sex right now? You just became CEO. This is what you’ve always wanted! Why aren’t you, I don’t know, popping champagne and jumping up and down with excitement?”

“Because you’re sitting on top of me, love.” I laughed again when she scowled down at me. God, I adored her. “In all seriousness, I’m happy, but I made my peace with the outcome before Richard’s call.”

When a vote got dragged out as long as this one had, the anticipation fizzled. Besides, I already had what I wanted right in this room with me.

“So are you two on good terms now?” Isabella asked. “He didn’t get caught up in the Russell thing, right?”

“Good terms is too optimistic of a term,” I said dryly. “But we’ve developed a mutual understanding.”

Richard and I would never see eye to eye on most things, but he was one of the few board members whom Russell couldn’t find dirt on, and he’d steered the board admirably through its recent storm.

Meanwhile, I’d proved that I was willing to fight for the company and work with him, if only on logistics and making sure Russell and Victor got their comeuppance.

Victor’s membership at Valhalla had been terminated. The club frowned on member-on-member sabotage, and with Christian’s help, I hit pay dirt on the National Star. The tabloid had allegedly engaged in police bribery and phone hacking in pursuit of its stories, and it was under both legal and public fire. Chances were it would fold and take Victor Black down with it. I’d confront him in person, but he wasn’t worth a single second more of my time or energy.