King of Pride (Kings of Sin #2) by Ana Huang

I appreciated Felix’s attempts to reassure me, but the more we talked about it, the worse I felt. Reassurances from someone so successful sounded patronizing even when that wasn’t his intention.

“I know,” I said, more because I wanted to end the conversation than because I agreed with him. My eyes fell on his bare neck. “Where’s your necklace?”

His mentor, some woo-woo “be at one with the wave” type, gifted it to him after his first exhibition. I’d never seen Felix without it.

He scratched the back of his neck, his cheeks inexplicably red. “I, uh, lost it.”

My sisterly radar went on full alert. He was lying, but before I could probe further, the door opened again. Gabriel appeared, his backlit silhouette an ominous spill of darkness in the doorway.

Felix quickly stood. “It’s getting late, and I’m beat. I’ll see you guys tomorrow. You got this,” he added in a small whisper when he passed by me.

If by this, he meant utter and total dread, then he was right.

The third, tensest silence of the day sprouted as Gabriel took Felix’s vacated seat and the door shut behind my other brother.

I tucked my hands beneath my thighs.

He tapped his fingers on the bench.

I stared at the pool.

He burned a hole in my cheek and finally spoke. “I’m trying to help you, Isa.”

“Help?” Indignation ripped the word from my throat. “How is humiliating me in front everyone going to help?”

“I didn’t humiliate you. I asked you for something you promised us.” Gabriel’s mouth thinned. “Everyone always coddled you because you’re the youngest, but you’re an adult now. Words and actions have consequences. Promises require follow-through. We’ve been patient for years while you ‘figured things’ out in New York.” He made air quotes with his fingers. “Obviously, that hasn’t worked.”

Every word hit with the force and accuracy of a guided bullet. The flimsy walls of my indignation collapsed as quickly as they’d been erected, leaving me raw and exposed.

You’re an adult now.

Promises require follow-through.

That had always been my problem, hadn’t it? I could never keep a promise to myself.

I’d vowed I would finish the book by today and I couldn’t. I’d said I would swear off men after my ex and I didn’t. I’d pledged to prioritize my job at Valhalla and, well, we all knew how that turned out.

I didn’t regret getting together with Kai, but the weight of my failures carved hollows in my chest.

“You know what the clause says,” Gabriel said. “Find your passion and settle into a career by thirty, as judged by me and mom, or you forfeit your inheritance.”

That clause was the biggest hold Gabriel had over me. By the time our mom added it, he was already working for her and serving as the de facto head of the household, so it made sense to add him as judge and arbitrator.

The weight on my chest pressed heavier and heavier, squeezing tears into my eyes.

I didn’t care as much about the money. Obviously, I didn’t want to lose it, but forfeiting my inheritance meant more than giving up millions. It meant, without a shadow of a doubt, that I’d failed where everyone else had succeed.

“You don’t have to remind me,” I said quietly. “I know.”

“You have a year left. Move home. We’ll figure it out together.”

“Moving home isn’t going to change things, Gabe.” I couldn’t leave New York. Besides my family, everyone and everything I loved was there. “It’ll only make them worse.”

His mouth thinned further. “You have no accountability in New York. No one pushing you. If you stay there, you’ll never—”

“Stop.” A thousand voices crammed inside my head, fighting for attention. Mine. Gabriel’s. My parents’. Kai’s. Leonora Young and Parker and Felix and every other person I had let down in some way or another.

I didn’t humiliate you. I asked you for something you promised us.

Chase your dreams.

You’ll finish it. You’re too strong not to.

You and my son make a poor match.

The club has a strict non-fraternization rule. It is clearly stated in your contract.

It’s almost finished, right?

“Just stop.” Emotion cracked the syllables into half. “I’m not moving back. Let me figure this out on my own, okay?”

I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I knew I couldn’t do it with Gabriel hovering over me. His judgment would crush any freedom of thought out of me.

A long pause ensued.

Then he stood, his shadow shrouding me beneath the patio lights. “It’s your choice,” he said, his tone cool with disapproval. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

A second later, the door slid shut behind him, leaving me alone in the darkness and misery.





CHAPTER 36


Kai



“I want this done cleanly. No blackmail, no skirting the law,” I said. “I don’t want a single illegal activity traced back to me.”

“If you insist.” Christian Harper’s smooth drawl flowed over the line. “I have to say, it’s been a while since I’ve dealt with someone who has such inflexible morals. It’s almost refreshing.”