CHAPTER 32
Sloane
Operation Perry Wilson went into full effect that Saturday at Dante and Vivian’s annual holiday gala.
Before Josephine was born, they’d hosted it at their house, but since they didn’t want to disturb the newborn, they rented out the Valhalla Club’s ballroom for an “intimate” gathering featuring three hundred of Manhattan’s richest and most powerful.
One of those three hundred was Kai Young.
“I know that look,” he said when I approached him at the bar. I’d brought Xavier as my date, but we’d split to take care of our respective businesses first—me with Kai, him with Dante. “Who are you planning to destroy?”
Next to him, Isabella gave me a grin and a thumbs-up when he wasn’t looking. She’d offered to broach the subject with Kai, but I’d declined. This was my fight, and she’d already gone above and beyond.
“I think you know,” I said. “He’s a mutual thorn in our sides.”
“Let me guess.” Kai glanced at his fiancée, who quickly averted her gaze and pretended to study her drink. “Initials PW?”
“Yes.”
“He’s a disreputable blogger. I know you’re upset about recent posts he’s published”—Kai’s tone indicated Isabella had ranted to him about it on more than one occasion—“but as the CEO of a media company, I can’t get involved in my friends’ personal fights.”
“This isn’t personal,” I said. “He may be a disreputable blogger, but you’ve been battling him for web traffic and clicks for years. Plus, you despise the man. He’s everything that’s wrong with journalism.”
“What he does isn’t journalism,” Kai said immediately. I arched an eyebrow, and after a small beat, he shook his head with a wry smile. “Point taken.”
For someone like Kai, who operated by the rules and an innate sense of honor, Perry’s sleazy methods were akin to smearing shit all over the business the Youngs had spent decades building. One bad apple could ruin the entire bunch.
“What if I told you there was a way you can beat him and make sure he won’t be a problem in the future?”
“I’d say if something sounds too good to be true, it is.” Kai finished his drink and set it down. “But I’m listening.”
I told him my plan. He listened without interruption, but when I finished, he shook his head.
“He won’t agree to that,” he said. “He won’t have a choice.”
“Amendment: Why would I agree to that? I want to be less associated with him, not more.”
“Because it won’t be him. It’ll be his property, but the man himself will be gone.” My voice turned coaxing. “Think of how great a story that would be: Kai Young transforms popular but controversial gossip blog into a shining beacon of respect in the dirty celebrity-news industry. No one else would even attempt to clean up the blog’s reputation. You pull it off, and you’ll be a legend.”
Kai studied me in that quiet, thoughtful way of his. Isabella’s face popped up over his shoulder again; this time, she gave me a double thumbs-up.
Nailed it, she mouthed.
“Isa, love, stop talking to Sloane behind my back,” he said without turning around.
Her face fell. “How do you always know? I swear you’re not human,” she grumbled. “But fine, I’ll hang out with Ále until you’re done. She and Dom better not be hooking up in the library again…”
She kissed him on the cheek and wandered off. Kai’s gaze followed her affectionately for a second before it returned to me.
“Between this and Xavier’s club, you know how to sell a pitch,” he said.
“That’s my job.” I inclined my head. “Thank you for helping him, by the way. Your list has been incredibly helpful.”
“I merely gave him my contacts. It was up to him to close the deals, which he did. Securing Vuk Markovic as a business partner is no small feat.” A smile flickered over Kai’s mouth. “I should’ve known not to underestimate him after Spain.”
My senses went on high alert. “What do you mean?”
“The blog post about you in Spain,” he said. “He reached out after it was posted and asked if I could throttle its reach. I didn’t know him well, but he was quite insistent. Obviously, I couldn’t guarantee anything since the Young Corporation doesn’t own Perry’s blog, but I could stop our outlets from picking up individual posts.”
What he didn’t say was that his company owned almost every major news website and media outlet. By suppressing pickup, he’d effectively killed the post. People could share it on social media, of course, but the story hadn’t been juicy enough for that. Without oxygen, the embers died a quiet death.
Xavier hadn’t said a thing about it. I’d assumed people weren’t interested in the personal lives of publicists, even if Xavier was involved. Maybe that was true, or maybe it had become a nonstory because of what he’d done before we even started dating.
Emotions swelled in my chest, and I fought to marshal them into some semblance of order.
“As for your proposal, it’s an intriguing one, but I can’t commit to it quite yet,” Kai said, oblivious to the chaos his casual statement had incited. “I’ll have to discuss it with my team.”
That was what I’d expected, and it was better than an outright no. I was confident his team would see things my way after they weighed the pros and cons because the pros far outweighed the cons.
After Kai left to find Isabella, I ordered a double shot of whiskey and let it burn away the tingly lightheadedness that accompanied any thoughts of Xavier.
Now was not the time to blush and swoon over him. I had a revenge plan to finish enacting.
Armed with fresh determination and a stomach full of hard liquor, I sauntered over to the gift table where Tilly Denman and her friends were giggling over something. I’d bet my color-coordinated closet that Tilly had already swiped one of the gifts, but I wasn’t here to police her kleptomaniac tendencies.
In our world, Tilly and Co. spread gossip faster than a wildfire through dry brush, and I was counting on them to do exactly that when I turned my back to them and pretended to take a call.
“Hi, Soraya…what’s wrong?” I paused for dramatic effect. “Calm down. Tell me what’s wrong.”
The giggles behind me immediately dwindled to silence.
Soraya (one name only) was one of the biggest influencers on the planet. Famous for her chatty vlogs, sexy outfits, and striking good looks, she had over 150 million followers across her platforms, and they were rabid. As in, someone once paid two thousand dollars for a napkin she’d used at the Met Gala.
Anything she did was news, and any scandal she was involved in was big news.
“No, listen to me. You can’t go to his house. He’s married.” I lowered my voice enough to make eavesdroppers think I was discussing confidential matters but not enough that they couldn’t hear me. “If people find out you and Bryce…” I walked away, suppressing a smile at the cliff-hanger I’d dangled in front of Tilly and Co.
Bryce was another influencer with a rabid fanbase. He’d recently gotten married in a splashy wedding, every second of which was documented on his YouTube channel, but there’d been rumors about him and Soraya for years.
My friends had stoked those rumors through various channels leading back to Perry, and it was only a matter of minutes before “confirmation” of Bryce’s alleged affair with Soraya reached the blogger’s ears.
A rational person would ask why an experienced publicist would discuss sensitive client matters in the middle of the season’s biggest party, but Tilly and her friends didn’t care about logic. They simply wanted drama and gossip.
I’d done my part. Now I just had to sit back and watch Perry take the bait.
Since my work for the night was finished, I did a quick lap around the room to say hi to clients and important players before meeting up with Vivian. Xavier and I had agreed to reconvene at the bar when we were done with our tasks; since he wasn’t there, I assumed he was still talking to Dante.
