King of Pride

Kai avoids Isabella for three weeks after their near kiss. Instead of meeting at the Valhalla Club as they usually do, Kai meets Dominic and Dante at the new entertainment complex in Hudson Yards to exchange information over lunch. Dominic shares market insights, Dante shares corporate dealings, and Kai reveals news and media whispers. At the lunch, Dominic’s phone pings, and he shares new information with Kai. DigiStream cofounder Colin Whidby is in critical condition after a drug overdose. Colin was amenable to the deal that Kai had been trying to work out with DigiStream. The other founder, Rohan Mishra, was resistant. This latest hiccup in Kai’s open deal could put winning the CEO vote in jeopardy. 

On his rush back to the office, Kai runs into Isabella, who is conversing animatedly with a man. Isabella is enamored with her present company, Leo Agnelli, who is the author of one of her favorite books. Kai becomes jealous witnessing their interaction. He delays his return to the office by a few minutes in order to invite Isabella out to a piano bar with him for a special event and VIP opening. Isabella agrees to meet him at the club on Saturday.

Isabella and Kai attend the VIP piano bar opening and performances on Saturday. When the set becomes unbearably boring, Isabella convinces Kai to abandon cordiality and leave before the set is over. Isabella chooses their next destination, which she believes will drag Kai out of his strict comfort zone.

Isabella brings Kai to a graffitied building where a creative community resides. There is interactive art that they can participate in. Isabella convinces Kai to puncture balloons with a dart and spill paint across a canvas to create an abstract piece. If they miss the balloons, however, they must pick a slip of paper from a nearby jar and answer the question on it truthfully or take a shot of special moonshine. Isabella reveals that she found out about the place from her brother Felix, who is an artist. When Kai asks if all her family is creative, she answers that Gabriel runs the family business, Romero is an engineer, and Miguel teaches political science at the University of California, Berkeley. 

While Isabella misses all the balloons with her darts, Kai hits all his intended targets with precision. One slip of paper asks Isabella what her greatest fear is, and she answers, “[A] life without purpose” (112). Kai argues that her purpose is to share her stories and that she will someday. Kai teaches her how to throw a dart, and they make a deal that if she pops the next balloon, she will be able to ask him a question. When she succeeds, she asks if she can withhold her question until a later date, which Kai agrees to. 

Isabella brings Kai to the basement, where a rave-like party is occurring. They make a toast to stepping out of comfort zones, and Isabella drags him to the dance floor. When the music becomes slower, they dance more sensually and share a heated kiss. They break apart suddenly afterward, realizing that they’ve broken the no-fraternization rule that Isabella agreed to when taking the job at the Valhalla Club.

Four days have passed since their kiss, and Kai and Isabella have neither seen nor spoken to each other. The day before Thanksgiving, Isabella works her shift at the Valhalla Club, which is quiet due to the holiday. Kai arrives and orders a drink before mentioning that he will be upstairs in the piano room. After her shift ends, Isabella joins him. He immediately kisses her, and things become intimate fast. Kai pleasures her, but soon after, he has to leave for a red-eye flight to San Francisco due to a work emergency. When they exit the room, they discover a surly man out in the hall. While Kai seems confident that this particular man won’t mention them to anyone because he keeps to himself, Isabella has an ominous feeling.

Kai spends Thanksgiving weekend working in a hotel and thinking often of Isabella. Days later, when he returns to New York, he meets with Dante. Kai mentions that Mishra is still refusing to meet with him about the DigiStream deal but that Colin Whidby’s condition has stabilized. Kai has hope that he’ll pull through with the deal. Dante offers to get in contact with Christian Harper—the CEO of Harper Security and Dante’s go-to guy for anything tech and security related. Kai is resistant to accepting that help, as he knows that Christian often resorts to immortal and illegal means of gaining information, which he doesn’t approve of. 

Vivian stops by to bring Dante lunch and invites Kai to stay. Vivian tells Dante that she is going out with her girl friends tonight to break Isabella’s “man ban.” Since having an unpleasant experience with an ex-boyfriend two years ago, Isabella hasn’t dated, and her friends plan to help her break her dry spell. Kai is jealous at the thought and learns from Vivian that the girls are headed to Verve—a new club downtown. Kai’s sudden interest in Isabella’s extracurricular activities makes Dante suspicious.

Kai visits Verve under the guise of experiencing one of the city’s hotspots to better inform future editions of Mode de Vie—the world’s preeminent fashion and lifestyle magazine, which Young Corporation publishes. However, Kai’s real reason is to monitor Isabella. Kai finds Dominic’s wife, Alessandra, first, and she leads him to Vivian and Sloane in the VIP lounge. The girls spin a story that Isabella has wandered off with an attractive single man and is likely on the dance floor. Kai becomes jealous and makes an excuse to leave the VIP lounge. He searches the club and finds Isabella. He pretends to be her boyfriend in order to scare away the man openly flirting with her. Kai’s control unravels further when he gives into his lust for Isabella. He instructs her to go upstairs and tell her friends that she is leaving.

Isabella leaves Verve with Kai, who brings her to the Barber—a bar themed to look like a barber shop. They go to a private room, where they give into their desires and have sex.

Kai is distracted at the company’s annual leadership retreat, his mind filled with thoughts of Isabella. Despite his present distraction, he still believes that he can “outsell, outsmart, and outperform every other member of the Young Corporation with [his] eyes closed” (160). While at the retreat, he receives texts from Isabella, who shares that she’s finally making progress on writing her novel from the comfort of the secret library room in Valhalla Club. 

Tobias shares with the retreat attendees—including the company’s board members—that he has reached a deal with Black Bear Entertainment after months of closed-door negotiations. Meanwhile, Kai is still struggling with the DigiStream deal. The news makes Kai reevaluate his competition. Among them is Russell Burton, the company’s chief operating officer for the past decade. He is a quiet, unassuming father whose “candidacy [i]s a formality after so many years of competent service, but judging by how green he turn[s] every time someone br[ings] up the vote, he would rather jab a steak knife in his eye than take on the burden of CEO” (163). 

After Tobias shares his news, Kai’s mother speaks to him in private. She warns him that his lack of closure on the DigiStream deal and his modern views regarding the company have some board members looking to vote in other directions. She warns him to not let his pride get in the way of winning, even if it means flattering those who hold the power.

After the unpleasant ending to the retreat, Kai goes to Isabella’s apartment. They sleep together, but Isabella notices that Kai is stressed. He reveals that his mother believes he might lose the CEO vote. Isabella is shocked to hear this because even though she’s never seen Kai in action, she believes that due to his worth ethic, attention to detail, and business savvy, he would be perfect for the job. 

When Isabella asks what his father thinks, Kai admits that his father is in Hong Kong and runs a financial services business there separate from the Young Corporation. His parents have been separated but not officially divorced for 10 years; his mother worked too much, and his father inevitably became resentful.