With the Blackburns in town, Kai was barely able to complete any tasks normally required of someone of his position. Instead, he spent nearly two weeks babysitting Levana, who was suddenly incapable of going anywhere without him after their day-long meetings. She insisted that she had missed him so much after their amazing trip to Venice, so how could he throw away the precious time they had together while she was there?

He was developing a nervous twitch around her. He took practiced, measured breaths a lot to refrain from gagging or screaming out loud in her presence whenever she said his name. It was a whiny pout that drew out his name into two syllables.

"Kai-ai, my feet hurt. Will you give me a foot massage?"

"Kai-ai, I want those diamond earrings."

"Kai-ai, I want Aimery to drive us in my limo, not this beaten up old car."

"Kai-ai, will you hold my purse?"

"Kai-ai, does this dress make me look fat?"

"Kai-ai, are you absolutely sure you don't want to fool around until we get married?"

He had to smirk at that last one. His mother had given him the idea to make up a story about a purity pledge he'd taken as a teenager that he was intent on not breaking before they were married. It had been the one line he would not cross. Luckily, Levana had eaten it up and pegged him as a die-hard romantic—albeit a foolish one. She liked to tell him that one day she would tempt him into breaking the pledge.

The thought made him shudder.

It was rare that the Blackburns stayed at the headquarters with them for long, though, and he hoped his feigned patience would pay off with them leaving as quickly as they'd come. Levana jetted all over the world in search of the latest fashion trends and beauty products. He also knew that when she disappeared for extended periods of time, she was usually recovering from her latest round of plastic surgery. She had a complex about her body—he'd known that about her since they were younger. He could barely remember what she'd looked like back when she was in college and had just started her journey in 'perfecting' her body.

And she did look perfect. Too perfect. It was like she had stepped off the cover of a magazine, air-brushed and ready to go. It was quite obvious that her body had been altered. Some men appreciated it; Kai did not.

The first time Thorne had seen her, he'd nearly fallen over in shock and told Kai how lucky he was to be 'forced' to spend time with this woman—even marry her. But Levana had not taken kindly to Thorne's presence, to say the least, and little by little even Thorne had started to understand that beauty was not all that mattered.

It was worse when she got angry.

When the coffee wasn't up to par with Colombian-grown standards.

When the customer service representatives dared blink at her the wrong way.

When a steak wasn't cooked to her idea of perfection.

When Kai wore a suit that clashed with her outfit.

He was still amazed at how calm Levana had been when she'd discovered him dining with Cinder. Because when Levana Blackburn got mad, she turned into a screamy, psychotic bitch.

It was embarrassing.

"You're going to go prematurely bald if you keep taking your frustration out on your hair."

Kai, hand indeed pulling on his mess of shaggy bangs, took his eyes off Section 23:b to cast an annoyed look at Thorne. It was his one night off and he would finish reading this report. "Don't you have someplace else to be? It's eight o'clock on a Saturday night."

Thorne, who was lounging on the couch in Kai's home office, raised an eyebrow in return. "And trust you not to go crazy by yourself here? I'm not that heartless."

"You hate the center. And my apartment."

"I was bored."

"And you're not bored now? You've just been sitting there."

"I'm playing a game on my phone."

"What do you want, Thorne?"

He gave Kai a strained smile. "Can I just make an observation? As your best friend."

Kai leaned back into his office chair. He would never get anything done until Thorne had to say whatever it was that had brought him here. "Let's hear it."

"You're a miserable person, Kai."

He crossed his arms. "Wow, thanks for that astute observation."

"I meant that in general you always feel miserable," Thorne corrected. "I know I've sometimes shot you down in the past when you've tried to talk about everything that's going on with Levana and"—he circled his hands wildly—"everything, but you can talk to me. I'm ready for it."

"You're ready for it?" He laughed dryly. "You're always complaining when I talk about how I feel."

"Well, you know I think you're just a little too emotional."

"Yes, you've pointed that out quite a few times in the course of our friendship."

Thorne was clearly trying to hide his discomfort at Kai's words with the way he was looking vacantly at the wall. "Yes, well."

"So what's changed now?"

"I'm reading a book on how to be more sensitive."

"You're what?"

"Just kidding. Listen. The other part of the observation is that things changed when you met Cinder."

"Maybe we should change spots. You come sit up here, I'll lay on the couch, and we'll have a psychology session." He gave Thorne two very sarcastic thumbs up.

Thorne just draped his legs over the armrest of the couch in response. "I'm trying to be serious, Kai."

Kai glanced back down at Section 23:b. "Then hurry it up."

"What are you doing with your life? Why is your family's happiness more important than yours?"

"This is not your family, Thorne. We actually care about each other." It came out much meaner than he'd intended. "Sorry. You know what I mean, right? They love me. I know they do."

He looked back at Thorne, who thankfully didn't look offended in the slightest. "But look what they're making you do. Is it worth ruining your entire life over? You're twenty-six. You should control your own destiny, not them."

"Shouldn't you say that to a mirror?"

"That's exactly why I'm saying this to you. I messed up with Cress. Badly. I didn't have to, but I made that choice. Don't make the same one."

"Cinder hates me."

"That's where you're wrong. Cinder loves you. She just gave you an ultimatum. It's her or Levana."

Kai closed his eyes. "She doesn't know what she's asking."

Thorne was silent for so long that Kai went back to reading the report. He blamed his lack of concentration on Thorne's comments. Why did he have to bring it up now when he was just starting to get back into the swing of things? Why was Thorne, of all people, trying to tell Kai to be serious?

"You know you're going to continue being miserable if you don't make a dramatic change."

Kai threw the pen he'd been using to mark up the report on his desk. "Everything will collapse."

"So let it. Maybe you need total destruction in your life."

Thorne couldn't have been more wrong. Total destruction was the absolute last thing that he needed in his life right now. "I could do all that, and it might not even work out with Cinder anyway," he deflected.

"I guess that's another choice you'll have to make," said Thorne, shrugging. Why was Thorne acting like he was just talking about the weather? How could he be so casual about this? "I was too much of an idiot to think about the good things that were happening to me with Cress. And honestly—" Thorne cringed, as if what he were about to say would cause him a lot of pain. He shook his head. "Afraid. Yeah, I said it. Afraid. And look where that got me."

If Kai weren't so shocked at Thorne admitting to having an insecurity, he might have laughed or made a joke at Thorne's expense. Instead, he seized the opportunity to turn the tables. "So are you going to contact Cress?"

"No." Thorne put his hands in his pockets. "I think I've done enough damage for now. She needs some time away from me. Besides, I've thought about what she said. I don't really know anything about…well, being in relationships."

"But you're not scared you'll lose her?"

"I've already lost her."

"So fight for her. You're not engaged. You're not…I don't know, anything."

"I don't think it's a good idea. I've hurt her enough. She made it really clear that she basically never wanted to see me again."

"Maybe, but Scarlet said that she wouldn't have acted that way if she didn't still care, remember? Too much alcohol plus a surprise encounter with an ex can make anyone say things they don't mean."

Thorne was practically squirming on the couch. "I don't know, man. Maybe I just need to figure out my life before I can try to include someone else in it."

"So I'm not supposed to let my family dictate the future of my life but you're going to allow yours, who you don't even talk to anymore, to dictate yours?"

Thorne wrung his hands. "Can we talk about something else? Or maybe just not talk at all?"

Exasperated, Kai turned back to his report. "You're the one who brought it up."

"You still got an Xbox?"

"It's in the entertainment room, probably on a shelf somewhere."

Thorne snorted, then spoke in a haughty voice. "Well I'll be in the entertainment room, then."

When Thorne had left and Kai had read the same page twenty times without understanding anything, he trotted over to the couch and flung himself into it face-first.

Jannali Blackburn was possibly even more annoying than her daughter. Marrok Blackburn, on the other hand, just sat there with a faintly disinterested expression on his face as his wife commanded the room. Everyone just bowed down to her as if she were a queen and they were her loyal subjects, ready to do her bidding at a whim. He supposed that made Levana the spoiled little princess.

It might have been because he had spent far too much consecutive time with Levana. It might have been because his conversation with Thorne was still grating into his bones. It might have been because he was fed up with how much bullshit his parents took from the Blackburns. It might have been because of his zombie-like state after trying to catch up on all the work he'd missed.

Whatever the reason, Kai lost it when Jannali started telling everyone that he was the weak link of Rikan Corp.

If he were a violent man, he probably would have thrown all three Blackburns out of the 27th floor window at that very moment. It was a good thing that he didn't have such tendencies; there were currently too many would-be witnesses in the room with him anyway. Then again, Levana probably wouldn't even die. All of her plastic surgery—including but not limited to what he was sure had to be butt implants—would likely serve as a proper cushion to break her fall.

Instead, Kai shot to his feet and threw the thick stack of papers in front of him into the air. They rained back down on them. "I can't even—! This is—!"

"Kai, calm yourself." His father stood up as well, a sternness clouding his normally placating eyes. Everyone else in the room remained silent. Even Jannali, for once, had shut up, mesmerized by his reaction.

"You!" He pointed at Jannali. "You are ruining my father's company. And everyone here"—he waved his hands at the rest of the Board of Directors—"agrees with me! This is a corporation, not some sort of kingdom in which you rule the world. Last I checked it was called Rikan Corp, not Jannali Corp."

"Kai."

"The only reason it looks like I'm not able to do my job is because I'm wasting my time toting around your ridiculous excuse for a daughter! Who is a grown woman, may I add!"

Levana's mouth dropped open, but it snapped shut quickly. He knew one of her temper tantrums would come on soon. It didn't matter; Kai was already throwing his own. This time, he would match her word for word. He would not hold back.

"Kai," his father hissed. "You will join me outside this instant."

Seething, he cast one last disdainful look at the Blackburns before storming out like a little child from the boardroom. His father, who was much better at hiding his emotions, followed him. He said nothing as he pushed past him and swiped his ID to enter his office.

The CEO's office. The only place where he would be sure no one would be able to follow them.

"I should fire you right now for the behavior you displayed in there."

"Please do!" Kai exclaimed, still fuming. "Because if you fire me, I won't have to marry anyone. All my problems are solved!"

His father sat down in his chair with a deep sigh. He observed Kai, the lines around his eyes crinkling as he considered him. "There's some liquor in my fridge. Help yourself."

Kai started. "I don't want any liquor."

"No? Well at least get me some then, because I'm going to need it to get through the rest of this day." Kai didn't budge. "Will you at least sit down?"

"Fine."

"I've always wondered when this day would come. It took longer than I thought it would, if I'm honest."

"What are you talking about?" he grumbled.

"Your mother and I knew that this strained relationship with the Blackburns would eventually make you snap in anger. We're proud of you for how well you've handled it so far."

"Easy for you to say. You don't have to marry someone."

Rikan held up his hand. "You're not the only one who had to make sacrifices, Kai. Every day I watch a small part of my company slip more under her control. I'm sure you've noticed the direction Rikan Corp is going with the recent merger documents I asked you to read."

"It's not really a merger. It's an acquisition, the way it's written. You know Bromstad Holdings will never agree to it."

"Ah, but eventually, not even Mr. Bromstad himself will have a choice. You know Jannali—she's been working on his company too. She thinks acquiring their resources will make us a key player in Europe as well."

"She means the key player. We already have a strong presence in Europe even without this unnecessary acquisition. What she's suggesting will put millions of people out of work!"

His father sighed again. "I know. It's not the direction I would have taken my company."

"Obviously."

"But you, Kai, can actually make a difference. If you choose to see this through, you can change everything." He pointed at the wall. "Sitting in that room is a woman who, despite her flaws, keeps choosing you. So you yelled at Jannali. Who hasn't gotten angry at his mother-in-law? It's practically a rite of passage. She'll understand."

Kai cringed visibly at the term mother-in-law. If that was how his father wanted to bend this situation, then perhaps he should have yelled at her a long time ago. In fact, he could keep behaving rude and disrespectfully as part of his rite of passage.

"It's not too late. Go take a walk. Cool off. Then buy some flowers. Come back and apologize—first to Jannali, for making her look bad in front of the Board, and then to Levana, for calling her names."

When Kai was almost out the door, Rikan added, "Don't forget. You have the power to change what happens, Kai."

Three days later, Kai finally bought some flowers.

They weren't for Levana.

He walked up the familiar parking lot to Alak's Lucky Garage, not even trying to conceal the bouquet of peonies. Thorne, who was with him, carried a coffee crate and a bag of pastries. Kai picked nervously at his shirt—it was starting to get far too warm outside these days, so he'd elected on just wearing khaki shorts and a black polo shirt. Still, the humidity was making everything cling to him in an unpleasant manner. It did not serve to give him the extra boost of confidence he needed at the moment.

Alak acknowledged them with a raised eyebrow from the counter and motioned for them to sit down while he finished his phone call. Kai sat, but Thorne sauntered up to the counter and dropped the coffee crate along with the pastry bag in front of him. Alak's lips quirked and he quickly finished the phone call.

"Thorne! To what do I owe this honor?"

"I've come to bribe you with sweets, naturally."

Alak chortled, but moved his eyes to Kai suspiciously. "This the guy who's in love with my favorite mechanic?"

Kai sat up straighter, but Thorne just winked at him. "Naturally. And we're going to need to borrow said favorite mechanic, as a matter of fact."

At that, Alak did not smile. "She's already had her break."

"What if I told you that the Rampion is in desperate need of a new spoiler?"

"A brand new one?"

"The old one's looking a little shabby." Thorne pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and flattened it against the counter. "I want this one."

"That one is a premium spoiler. It's $3,000 just for the part. Doesn't include labor. We'd have to remove the old one as well. To make it look right is going to take some time."

Thorne nodded grimly. "It's going to cost quite a lot."

"Indeed."

"I'm practically redesigning my car."

"I know."

"And just think how much you would make if I decided to bring my business here."

Alak harrumphed. "You've considered other places?"

"I might. If you're not willing to give Cinder a break right now."

"Sounds like a bribe."

"That's business, my old friend. My buddy Kai here needs this favor. And he might need to borrow Cinder in the future from time to time. She's too much of a workaholic to not come back and finish her shift, you know that."

While Alak eyed the paper on the counter greedily, Kai sat there, impressed at Thorne's persuasion abilities. He really would have a lot of potential in the business world, if he would ever consider taking on an actual job.

"Fine," Alak said. "You can have her. But I want you back in here next week with the Rampion to discuss the plans."

"Why don't we take a look right now?" said Thorne. "She's sitting in the parking lot and is definitely in need of some attention.

Alak hopped off his stool and disappeared into the garage. Thorne sat down next to Kai and clapped him on the shoulder. "Good luck, buddy."

"Thanks. I owe you."

"I know. I'll be sending you the bill once the spoiler is complete."

They were both laughing when Alak came back in the shop with Cinder in tow.

Kai jumped up immediately. "Cinder—I'm sorry to surprise you at work. There's just something happening at 4:00 P.M today that I need you to see, so it couldn't wait until you were done." He checked his watch. "That gives us about thirteen minutes."

Cinder glanced between Kai and Thorne, unsure of what to do.

"He broke up with Levana," said Thorne.

"Thorne!" said Kai.

"What? If you would have just said that as your opening line, maybe she wouldn't be wondering why you're here."

Alak nodded to Cinder. "You can go."

"I'm not finished with—"

"I've worked it out with them. Now go."

Kai extended the flowers to Cinder but she walked past him and out the door. He grimaced, but hurried after her quickly. When he got outside, she was standing in the bright sun to the side of the building, seemingly not bothered at all by the glaring summer heat.

"What did you do? Pay my boss to allow me to leave? Do you have any idea how sexist that is?"

"I was actually hoping you'd think it was romantic." He scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. "I broke up with Levana and I had to tell you. Thorne was thinking of getting a new spoiler anyway. We used it to our advantage." He held the peonies up lamely. "There's a press conference that'll be aired on CNN at 4:00 P.M. I'm leaving Rikan Corp."

One eyebrow raised slightly. "You're leaving Rikan Corp?"

"Yes."

She didn't say anything.

"I didn't do it just for you," he continued. "I wish I could sweep you off your feet and make some grand declaration of love by saying that I left my entire family and future in chaos because I'm so madly in love with you. The truth is, I am madly in love with you. And you were a big part of my decision. But I left Rikan Corp because it was the right thing to do. I wouldn't have been able to go through with it—marrying Levana I mean. You were right. I wasn't happy. I have no idea what I'm going to do with my life now, but at least I'm no longer trapped in something that was so toxic it was slowly destroying me."

"But…what about your family?"

"I don't know," he said quietly. "This news hit them hard. They're re-evaluating the situation and seeing what their best interests are at this point." Kai laid the flowers on the ground and reached for her hands. He was actually surprised when she didn't pull away. "I was hoping that, well, with this news…that you might reconsider being with me. But if that wasn't the only thing keeping us apart, I'd rather know sooner than later. I just need to hear it from you, Cinder. Do you…still love me?"

Her eyes searched him. Those beautiful, deep, brown eyes that he loved so very much. "You're not engaged anymore?"

"No."

"Are you technically engaged even if you're allowed to date other people?"

He laughed. "Definitely not."

"So you're 100% single?"

"No."

"No?"

"I suppose I should amend my answer. The 100% really depends on whether you still love me or not."

She scrunched up her face in thought, and a part of him wanted to laugh, the other run away in terror. But then she squeezed his hands. "Of course I still love you, you idiot."

Kai nearly collapsed in relief. He wanted to kiss her, hold her, press his forehead against her—anything, but he was too scared to push his luck. He had learned the hard way that Cinder needed to warm up to him in her own time. And he had betrayed her trust a lot. He would take it slow now, play it safe.

So he just grinned instead. "Thank the stars." He reached for his phone. "We need to move to a place where I can get Wi-Fi or we'll miss the press conference."

Cinder took his phone from him and stuffed it into her pocket. "Screw the press conference."

Then she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and kissed him. Eyes still open from surprise, he quickly shut them and placed his arms around the smooth curve of her waist. In that moment, he knew that everything was going to be just fine. He would figure it out, he would find something else he was passionate about, he would—stars, Cinder was really into it!

Unable to think about anything but the beautiful girl in front of him any longer, he maneuvered the two of them to the wall of the building. They stayed there, wrapped up in each other, until Cinder finally pulled away after several minutes, gasping. "I missed you."

Kai, still trying to reclaim his thoughts, grasped for the first thing he could think of. "I'm jobless now, by the way. May eventually end up homeless if I can't get a new job."

Cinder pressed her body against his again and murmured into his neck, "I'm not that worried about it. Don't you have a trust fund or something?"

Kai pulled her back. "Is this the part where you tell me you were only with me for my money?"

She laughed. "Of course."

"Seriously though, I have to think about what my next career move is." He took her hand and reluctantly began to lead her back around the building. "First I think I should take a small vacation, though."

"Where will you go?"

"Nowhere. I just want to sit at home and do absolutely nothing. Not have to worry about anything." He grinned at her. "Besides you, of course."

They stopped in front of the entrance to the garage.

"I should probably get back inside," she said.

"But I have you for at least another half hour. Alak doesn't know we're skipping the press conference."

"How about you let me finish working and I'll see you in a few hours when I'm off? I'm only working until seven tonight."

"That's three hours from now," he whined.

"Some of us have jobs."

"I'm unemployed for like, ten seconds and you're already holding that against me."

Cinder kissed him again. "I've got to keep you on your toes."

"You know, one positive thing about this is that you won't have to worry about the fame anymore. After, of course, the paparazzi has a field day with me leaving Rikan Corp."

Cinder rolled her eyes. "You think it was the fame that bothered me? Did you forget who my late stepfather was?"

"He wasn't that famous."

"Shut up."

"Kiss me again and I will."

Note: Yay for Kaider back together! I know some of you were worried. :)

I'm not usually one to ask for reviews, but I just spent practically my entire day on this, so if you liked it, please take a second to let me know. Also, it's disheartening when I write a chapter that is one couple centric and then anonymous reviewers leave demanding remarks solely about why I didn't include the other couple. Here's the reason: if I want the story to actually be good and believable, I can't just jam everything into one chapter. I hope that you enjoy this story because it does offer two POVs and there is plot development and all that (hopefully good) stuff. Lately I've been getting a lot of comments demanding one pairing over the other - not just in this fic, but in all of them. It's one thing to say that you're excited to see how the next couple will work out (which is awesome), but it's another thing entirely to say something like "ugh, why didn't you write Cresswell!?" I didn't write Cresswell because this chapter is in Kai's POV and is about Kai making up with Cinder. I'm sure this is obvious to so many of you, but it's been coming up a lot lately in my stories that feature more than one couple, so I finally had to say something about it.