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“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.
“Syzygyis 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.”
“Almostisn’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, uniquelyher.
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 becameCEO. 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.”
