Chapter 13

After a long silence, he pressed his lips into a thin line and jerked out a short nod.

"Good. Now get thefuckout of my office."

If I had to look at him for another minute, I might do something I'd regret.

He must've sensed the impending danger because he got up and hightailed it to the exit without another word.

"And Luca?" I stopped him before he opened the door. "If I find out you've violated my rules and contacted Maria again, I'll kill you myself."

My fist slammed into his stomach, hard and precise. My first hit of the night.

Adrenaline buzzed through me as Kai grunted at the impact. Anyone else would've stumbled and gotten the wind knocked out of them, but in true Kai fashion, he only paused for a few seconds before shaking it off.

"You seem upset," he said as he countered with a left hook. I sidestepped it with millimeters to spare. "Bad day at work?"

A hint of amusement shaded his question despite the direct hit he'd just taken.

"Something like that."

Sweat dripped down my forehead and coated my back as I worked out my frustrations in the ring.

I'd come straight to the Valhalla Club after work. Most members preferred the on-site spa, restaurants, or upscale gentleman's club, which meant the boxing gym rarely saw any traffic except for me and Kai.

"Heard the Santeri deal is moving along, so it can't be that." Kai was barely out of breath despite the aggressiveness of our opening round. "Maybe it's not work. Maybe…" His expression turned speculative. "It has to do with your engagement to a certain jewelry heiress."

He let out another small grunt when I landed a hit on his lower ribs, but that didn't stop him from laughing at my scowl.

"You should know better than to try and keep something so big a secret," he said. "The whole office is buzzing about it."

"Your staff should spend more time working and less time gossiping. Perhaps then, circulation wouldn't be down."

My engagement announcement wasn't scheduled to run inMode de Vie's coveted online Style section until mid-September, but the luxury fashion and lifestyle outlet was the crown jewel of the Youngs' media empire. I'd be surprised if Kaididn'tknow about the engagement ahead of time.

"Never thought I'd see the day you get married." He ignored my dig. "To Vivian Lau, no less. How'd you manage to keep her a secret for so long?"

"We're not married yet." I blocked another attempted punch. "And I didn't keep her a secret. Our engagement is a business arrangement. I didn't fucking wine and dine her before we closed the deal."

The wordengagementleft a bitter taste in my mouth.

The thought of shackling myself to someone for the rest of my life was as appealing as walking into the ocean with concrete blocks strapped to my feet.

I preferred work over people, many of whom didn't appreciate coming in second place to contracts and meetings. But business was lucrative, practical, and, for the most part, predictable. Relationships were not.

"That makes more sense," Kai said. "I should've known mergers and acquisitions would take over even your personal life."

"Funny."

His laugh faded when I hit him with an uppercut to the jaw, and he retaliated with a punch that knocked the air from my lungs.

Our conversation tapered off, replaced by grunts and curses as we pummeled the hell out of each other.

Kai was the most mild-mannered person I knew, but he had a vicious competitive streak. We'd started boxing together last year, and he'd become my go-to partner for blowing off steam because he never held back.

Who needed therapy when you could punch your friend in the face every week?

Hit, duck, dodge, hit. Over and over until we ended the night with a tie and significantly more bruises than when we'd entered.

But I'd finally worked off the edge of my anger, and when I met Kai in the locker room after my shower, I'd gained enough clarity not to lose my shit on my brother again.