SWNOVELS King of Pride: Chapter 27
When Kai said his family owned property in Turks and Caicos, I’d pictured a breezy beach mansion with wicker furniture and nice gardens. I hadn’t pictured an entire freaking island.
Dubbed Jade Cay for the color of its surrounding waters, the island spanned over four hundred acres of lush vegetation, pristine beaches, and exotic wildlife. The Balinese-style main residence occupied the highest point on the island, offering spectacular three-hundred-sixty-degree views of the Caribbean and all the amenities of a five-star luxury resort. Eight bedrooms, three wraparound terraces, two infinity pools, a private chef who made the most delicious lobster I’d ever tasted.
I could live and die here happy.
Kai and I flew in yesterday afternoon. We spent the night getting settled, but today, we were off and running. The morning had been a blur of writing (me), calls (him), and brainstorming (both of us). Kai was right; toiling over my manuscript in tropical paradise was much better than toiling over it in the wintry hell of post-Christmas New York.
We were currently taking a lunch break on the uppermost terrace, and I’d never felt more relaxed, even with my deadline looming on the horizon like a thundercloud. Here, surrounded by the ocean and sunshine, I could almost forget the Star photos and getting fired.
Sometime between the main course and dessert, Kai excused himself to use the restroom and returned with a slim black folder in hand.
“Put that away,” I said, nudging his foot with mine beneath the table. “No work during meals, remember?”
“It’s not work in the traditional sense. It’s a present.” His eyes came alive with laughter when I perked up like a dog hearing the word walk.
“A present? For me?”
“You’ve said you were having issues with writer’s block, so I did some research and put together a list of ways to overcome the block.” He handed me the folder. “I confirmed with several neuroscientists that these methods are scientifically sound.”
I nearly choked on my freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. “You consulted with a team of neuroscientists about my writer’s block?”
He shrugged. “I donate a significant sum to various scientific organizations every year. As such, they’re happy to indulge some of my more personal requests.”
I opened the folder and scanned the suggestions. Most of it was advice I already knew from trawling the web. Meditating, setting aside a block of time every day for creative play, using the Pomodoro technique, so on and so forth. There were a few I hadn’t seen before, but it wouldn’t matter if Kai had handed me a packet of introductory yoga class flyers.
He’d taken the time to research solutions and consult neuroscientists, for Christ’s sake. My previous boyfriends thought they were doing me a favor when they picked up pizza on their way to my house.
The last time someone did something so thoughtful without expecting anything in return was when a certain billionaire showed me his family’s secret room and offered it as a writing space.
My throat constricted with emotion. I dipped my head and blinked back an embarrassing sting. The last thing I wanted was to start bawling over my crab and rice. I’d already cried once in front of Kai this week; twice would be overkill.
I flipped the pages noisily while I wrangled my runaway emotions. The pressure in my throat eased as I stopped on the second to last item.
“Engage in frequent and rigorous sexual activity when feeling stuck,” I read aloud. “Orgasms stimulate creativity, among other things.” I slanted a suspicious look at Kai, who returned it with an innocent one of his own. “Huh. I wonder who came up with that one.”
His grin spread as slow and molten as warm honey. “No need to wonder. It’s scientifically proven, my love.”
My love.
Around us, the world fell eerily quiet. No birds chirped. No waves crashed against the distant shores. Even the wind came to a standstill.
Kai had called me love many times before, but he’d never called me his.
One word. Two letters.
Sometimes, they made all the difference.
Kai’s smile slipped into a line of realization. Tension crept between us, twining around my torso and settling in my chest like a concrete weight.
It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was the type of silence so drenched in meaning that it drowned out any admissions lurking beneath the surface. We weren’t ready for those conversations.
I changed the subject before the pause stretched into must-acknowledge territory.
“Well, let’s see how your other suggestions fare before we test the orgasm theory,” I said lightly. “What about you? How are negotiations with Mishra going?”
DigiStream was one of the many fires Kai had to put out due to the National Star photos. I thought it was hypocritical of them to care so much about who he spent his free time with when their CEO got hospitalized for a drug overdose, but what did I know? I was just a bartender. Ex-bartender, if I didn’t find a new job soon.
Kai shifted, and just like that, the world came roaring back. The bird and ocean sounds returned, and the wind blew strands of hair across my face. Tension melted like pools of ice beneath the sun.
“They removed Whidby as CEO two days ago,” he said. “Mishra officially replaced him and is closing ranks, which means I’m basically back to square one. It’s chaos over there.”
“Why is he so reluctant about the deal when his co-founder was so ready to sign?” Kai and I didn’t talk about his work often. He said it would bore me, and I wholeheartedly agreed, but I was genuinely curious about the DigiStream deal.
“Whidby was easy. He wanted the money. Mishra is a purist. He doesn’t want to relinquish control of DigiStream to a corporation who will, quote, unquote, gut it.”
I chose my next words carefully. “Will you gut it?”
“Not exactly. Their success stems in large part from their culture and team dynamics. I don’t want to ruin that,” Kai said. “But all acquisitions require some form of change from both the buyer and the seller. Their operations have to be streamlined to fit in with the rest of the company.”
“That’s the sticking point,” I surmised.
Kai dipped his chin in affirmation. “The biggest one. Mishra is worried about the integration. He wants a deal where DigiStream operates exactly the way it does now. Obviously, that’s not possible. Even if I agreed, the board members won’t. They have to approve the strategic plan for all new acquisitions.”
“Is there a way to offer concessions on specific changes he’s worried about instead of a blanket agreement?”
Kai’s brows winged up. “Perhaps. The details are a bit complicated, but we were working on a similar plan before Whidby’s ouster sidelined negotiations.” A small smile touched his lips. “And you say you don’t like talking business.”
“I don’t. It puts me to sleep ninety percent of the time. You’re lucky this conversation falls into the remaining ten percent.” His laugh brought an answering smile to my face, but it faded when I ventured into my next question. “I’m not saying this will happen, but hypothetically, what happens if you don’t win?”
“I keep my title and position, but I’ll be a laughingstock.” His face cemented into stone. “The other candidates can go back to their jobs and carry on because they were long shots anyway. I’m a Young. I’ll forever be known as the person who lost his family’s company to an outsider.”
“You’ll still be a major shareholder,” I pointed out. I’d looked it up. Kai controlled over a quarter of the company’s shares, second only to his mother.
“It’s not the same.” A muscle ticked in his jaw before it smoothed. “People remember leaders, not voters.”
“I think people will remember you regardless,” I said. “You’ve broken records even as a non-CEO, and there are plenty of chief executives who are shitty at their job. Your accomplishments matter more than a title.”
Kai’s expression softened. He opened his mouth, but my phone rang and cut him off before he could respond.
Surprise and confusion sparked at the caller’s name. “It’s Alessandra.”
We were friendly, but I couldn’t think of a reason why she’d call me out of the blue.
“Take it,” Kai said. “It must be important if she’s calling on the weekend.”
In the end, curiosity won out. I walked to the other side of the terrace and answered the call. “Hey, Ale.”
“Hey. Are you free to talk right now?”
I glanced at Kai and my half-eaten lunch. “For a bit. What’s up?”
“I realize this may be presumptuous of me, so I apologize in advance.” A trace of embarrassment colored her voice. “But I heard you and Valhalla have, er, parted ways, and you’re looking for a new job.”
I perked up. “I am. Do you know someone who’s looking for a bartender?”
“No. However…” Her pause carried the hesitation of someone debating their next words. “I am looking for an assistant. I don’t want to go through an agency. I’d rather have someone I know and trust, which is why I thought of you.”
Disappointment threaded through my stomach. “I appreciate that, but I have to be honest. I would make a terrible PA. I can barely keep on top of my calendar, much less someone else’s.”
“Oh no, not a personal assistant,” Alessandra said quickly. “A business one. I should’ve been more clear.”
My brows pulled together. “I didn’t know you had a business.”
“I don’t. Not yet, hence the need for an assistant.” She let out an awkward laugh. “I have a lot of ideas, but I need help implementing them. Vivian mentioned you worked at a startup once? So you have an idea of what it’s like to build something from the ground up.”
“That’s overselling what I did,” I said dryly. “I worked as a marketing assistant, and I was only there for a few months. I couldn’t stand all the fintech bros.” I drew my bottom lip between my teeth. I needed a new job, but I didn’t want to promise something I couldn’t deliver. “Honestly, Dominic would be more helpful. He built a multibillion-dollar firm from scratch.” And he’s your husband.
I kept that last part to myself. Alessandra didn’t talk about her marriage much, but I could tell there was trouble in paradise.
“The same multibillion-dollar firm keeps him too busy to help with little projects like this.” A current of sadness ran beneath her light tone before it disappeared. “I’ll be honest. I like you, and I think we would work well together. I can offer a competitive salary and flexible hours so you have time to work on your manuscript.”
My heart skipped, then sank. It was a great offer, but what did I know about starting a business and being an assistant? Nothing. I didn’t want to start another job only to fail miserably again. I’d be better off sticking to what I knew.
“How about this?” Alessandra said quickly. “I’ll email you the details, and you can think it over. I am looking to onboard someone soon, so if you can give me an answer within the next week or two, that would be great.”
After another beat of hesitation, I agreed.
I hung up and returned to the table, where I finished my lunch and relayed her offer to Kai. His eyebrows flew up when I mentioned Alessandra was starting her own business, but he didn’t express the same reservations I had about the job.
“You should accept,” he said. “Ale’s a good person, and working for her will almost certainly be better than any bartending gig in the city.”
“But I’ve never been a business assistant.” My stomach twisted. “What if I fuck it up and destroy her company before it even takes off?”
“You won’t.” As always, his steady, confident voice loosened some of the knots. “Have as much faith in yourself as you do others, Isa.”
I wish I could, but faith was easier when I didn’t have a hundred what-ifs tearing it apart.
Kai must’ve detected the turmoil raging inside me because he pushed back his chair and stood.
“No more work today,” he said, holding out his hand. “Let’s enjoy the island. I have something to show you.”
For the next four hours, Kai and I indulged in all the perks of having a secluded tropical island to ourselves. We snorkeled, rode Jet Skis, and luxuriated in waters so clear I could see the scales on the fish swimming around us. When the sun dipped toward the horizon, we dried off and took the scenic route back to the main house.
“This is the most cliché thing I’ve ever done,” I said. “A long, sunset walk on the beach? You might as well slap us on the cover of a honeymoon brochure and call us that generic couple.” A dreamy sigh drifted past my lips. “I love it.”
If it were any other man and any other island and any other sunset, I would’ve hated it. What was interesting about a walk? Nothing.
But this was Kai. Brilliant, gorgeous, thoughtful Kai, with the lazy half smiles and knowing eyes that saw parts of me even I couldn’t find. A deep golden glow drenched the island, lending it a dreamlike haze, and I was quite sure, in that moment, that there was absolutely nothing I would rather do than walk side by side with him.
“I had a feeling you would,” he said with one of those smiles I loved so much. I couldn’t believe I once thought he was stuffy and boring. Well, okay, I could believe it, but I’d since amended my opinion. “But I haven’t shown you the best part yet.”
“This isn’t the part where you whip out your dick and try to seduce me on the beach, is it?” I teased.
“Darling, if I wanted to seduce you on the beach, you’d already be screaming around my cock,” Kai drawled, his casual tone at odds with his dirty words.
Heat crawled over my cheeks and tugged at my stomach. “You have quite a high opinion of your skills.”
“It’s the inevitable outcome of sustained, raving feedback, I’m afraid.”
I wrinkled my nose and bumped my hip against his as we reached a rocky outcropping toward the end of the beach. “Egomaniac.”
Kai laughed. “I’ve been called worse.” He stopped at the largest rock. “We’re here.”
I stared dubiously at the weathered limestone formation. This was what he wanted to show me? It looked like every other beach rock. “Oh. It’s so, um, jagged.”
“Not the rock, love,” he said, his voice dry. “This.”
It was then that I noticed the carvings—the letters C+M etched on the side facing away from the ocean, inside a heart. It was the type of sweet, cheesy declaration one would expect to find in a high school bathroom, not a private island in the Caribbean.
“I found it a few years ago,” Kai said. “That was when my family bought the island. I don’t know who C and M are since they don’t match the initials of the island’s previous owners, but I like to think they’re living happily together somewhere.”
I brushed my fingers over the rough-hewn rock face. For some reason, the simple, heartfelt carvings made my heart twist. “Kai Young, a secret romantic. Who would’ve thought?”
“It’s the dinosaur erotica you gifted me for Christmas. It’s opened my eyes to a whole new world of romance.”
“Shut up.” I laughed, then paused. “Did you really read it?”
A grin stole over his lips. “You’ll never know.”
He still hadn’t said anything about my manuscript. At this point, I’d rather he forget all about it. If he thought it sucked, I didn’t want to know.
“I don’t know how old the carvings are, but they’ve lasted at least half a decade,” Kai said, his face sobering with contemplation. “They should’ve eroded by now. Whoever C and M are, they’ve left their mark.”
Like Kai, I hoped the mysterious couple was sipping mai tais and strolling the beach together somewhere in the world. Even if they weren’t, the carvings were an unexpected monument to the love they once had. Proof that, no matter what happened, there’d been a time and place where they loved each other so much they immortalized it in stone.
Kai reached into his pocket and pulled out a chisel.
“What are you doing?” I asked, semi-alarmed. Where did he even find a chisel?
“Thinking we should give our anonymous friends some company.” He held out the tool. “Shall we?”
My heart thumped. After a moment’s hesitation, I took the chisel and gingerly pressed the tip against the rock. Moisture had softened the limestone, making it easier to manipulate.
Kai and I took turns carving until clear letters took shape. We didn’t have to discuss the message; we already knew.
K + I, inside a heart.
It was hands down the cheesiest thing I’d ever done, but that didn’t stop a wonderful, aching pressure from pressing against my rib cage.
The etching wasn’t a ring. It wasn’t a promise. It wasn’t even a love declaration in the normal sense of the word. Yet somehow, the fact that we’d made our mark on the world together meant more to me than any of those things.
It was small, but it was ours, and it was perfect.
Kai’s hand found mine. Our fingers interlaced, and the pressure ballooned until I thought I might burst.
“I’m liking secret romantic Kai more and more,” I said, swallowing past the lump in my throat. I attempted a lighthearted tone. “If this is the result of dino erotica, expect more Wilma Pebbles in your future.”
“Good. I’ve already finished translating the first into Latin.”
My eyes snapped to his laughing ones. “Are you ser—”
He cut me off with a kiss, and the rest of my words melted beneath the insistent heat of his mouth.
The holidays in New York. The sanctuary of a hidden room. An island nestled in the heart of the Caribbean.
Magical pockets of time and space that belonged only to us.
And as the sun died brilliantly on the horizon, and the shades of our kiss transformed into the cool blues of dusk, I found myself wishing I could stay in this particular moment, with this particular man, forever.