25. Rurik
TWENTY-FIVE
RURIK
“Rurik, wait!” K says.
I glance over at her. “This better be good.”
“These are his bodyguards.”
I look in the rearview mirror and recognize the driver. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Who the fuck is this guy, Vivian?” Driver bodyguard is smart and doesn’t move because while I’ve lowered my weapon, I haven’t put it away.
“A friend of mine. We were concerned witnessing someone half-carrying Ash out of a bar. I’m sure you can understand why.
It was dark, and I only saw you from the back.
” K already has her gun cleared and put away.
“What happened, Mark? Ash didn’t seem that drunk.
” She puts her hand on my arm, forcing me to lower my weapon.
“I don’t know, ma’am. I followed him to the bathroom and found him passed out there.
After a quick assessment of his condition, David and I decided the best course of action would be to get him home and call the staff doctor.
” Mark keeps his eyes on me in the mirror.
“Do you trust this guy? I don’t want to be bringing someone back with us your father wouldn’t approve of. ”
“He’s a close friend of mine. He was only helping.” K elbows me.
I de-cock the gun and hold it up to show him I’m not a threat.
“Then we can proceed back to the residence and get him evaluated?” Mark asks K.
“Yes, I think that’s best.” She glances at me, but if she thinks I’m leaving, she’s fucking high. “Rurik?”
I give her a look.
She shakes her head, and I may have to fend her off from trying to kill me for the next year and a half, but I’m not leaving his side.
We get him home and inside, and Mark and David leave Ash in K’s care to call the doctor and write their report.
K crosses her arms and turns on me as soon as the door is closed. “What the fuck?”
“I deserve that.”
“No fucking shit. How do you know my cousin? No, actually, why the fuck do you have his location? I told you he was off limits.”
“Technically, you told me he was off limits after I had his location.” I’m sure the explanation won’t help. Not with her.
“Don’t fucking try me.” She presses a knife to my throat faster than she should be able to move. But I’m not really worried.
“Do you want to fight me”—and lose—“or figure out who fucking drugged Ash?”
She presses the knife harder. One move, and I know she’ll open up my skin. “We don’t know he was drugged.”
I blink. “You think he drank too much and passed out? That’s not very Ash like. How much did he drink?”
“This isn’t over. You will be explaining yourself.” She finally lowers her knife. “I was with you. I missed the first half of their outing, so I can’t rule it out.”
“Where is Finn?” I’m gonna beat that mother fucker within an inch of his life if he kept feeding Ash drinks. And/or allowed him to be drugged.
“I need to call him.”
“You do that. I’m going to do a BAC.” I pat my coat pockets, thinking about where my emergency medical supplies are.
We have medical kits all over. Cars, in the Vault, at home, and backpacks for easy transport, but I also carry a few things with me because you can never be too safe. His drinks will be long gone, so I can’t test them, but maybe I can get King to see if there is footage from the bar.
While K calls Finn, I recheck his vitals, then draw a couple of vials of blood and pocket them.
I’m not saying I don’t trust her, but I don’t trust his family, considering how fearful he is about them finding out shit.
I’m sure K won’t be able to keep this from them.
And I’m not playing games when it comes to Ash.
K gets off the phone and returns. “The doctor is here, and Finn is on his way.”
I make myself scarce before K asks because I already know what I look like, and to be hovering around for another person is just too much of a risk. I do understand op-sec. So I don’t go on a murderous rampage. I wait outside for Finn, twirling my knife between my fingers.
“Who the fuck are you?” Finn asks when he walks up.
“Finn, I’m guessing?” He’s bigger than Ash. More muscular. Looks like he played soccer or lacrosse. One of those things all the noble boys do over there with their mates. He carries himself like a frat boy and is dressed like a finance bro, so I’m going to hate him.
“Right. You the arsehole who did this to my cousin?” He has one of the most punchable faces I’ve ever seen. Like if smug were put in to photoshop badly.
“No. I’m a friend of him and your sister who helped find him.” It’s going to be so painful to not start a fight. I’m going to have to remind myself all night that Ash will freak out at me if I fuck this up, and he may never let me suck his dick again.
Finn exhales sharply, reassessing me. “How do you know Ash? He doesn’t fuck with anyone.”
That’s what you fucking think, asshat.
Think of Ash’s cock, Rurik. Stay in the zen of the cum intoxication.
“We crew together.” I’m painfully nice, and I can only imagine this is what Mother must feel like when she has to seduce some fuck to kill them.
He makes quite a surprised face. “Sorry, mate, you don’t look the type.”
I flash him a big fake smile. “I get that all the time. But you can ask Ash when he wakes up.”
“I will.” How can this douche canoe’s sister be K?
I have so many questions about his family now.
Finally, K returns and brings us both into their kitchen.
And this is where I see my research on Ash was not good enough.
This place is listed as campus housing, but I see how strategic that was.
This isn’t ‘student’ housing for the affluent.
This is a fucking house on campus that their family has probably owned since the school’s inception, and they use it to house each generation when they are here.
That way, they fulfill the requirement to ‘live on campus.’ Which tells me they are at an entire level of old wealth I hadn’t considered.
Maybe Ash’s fears about being gay make a little more sense. Old money gets weird about that shit.
K and I quiz Finn, but he’s both too drunk and too naive to have been paying attention to Ash’s drinks.
He swears Ash didn’t drink that much but can’t even comprehend a guy getting roofied.
Which almost sends me into a blind rage.
The only reason he’s still alive is because he genuinely feels bad. She lets him fuck off to pass out.
And we’re left alone with Ash.
“So is it K or Viv?” I lean against his desk, not trying to hide how comfortable and familiar I am with his room. If I have to assert my dominance over Ash’s space I will.
“I had to separate my lives.”
“Why?”
“You don’t get it after what you’ve seen tonight?
” She sighs and looks out the window. “Because all of this is a prison, and I’m not even chained to it like the two of them are.
” I knew she meant her brother and cousin.
“At first, I was mad about him inheriting the title because I can’t, but the older I get, the more I realize I don’t want it. ”
Old money plus title makes a lot of sense. The pieces are all coming together. But Ash isn’t the oldest. Why would he be subject to the same rules if he wasn’t going to inherit?
“So you got fucked by gender and spit in their face by joining Legacy?”
K laughs and nods. “Something like that.”
“Why aren’t you helping him?” I nod at Ash. “You two are related. That basically gets him a spot…”
“I had no idea he planned to join. I was shocked at the trail. And he doesn’t know. I wasn’t going to tell either of them, and… Well, I didn’t think he’d make it past the first round. Now…I don’t know…it’s never been the right time.”
“Why does he want to join?”
She lifts her shoulders, gaze flicking over to him. “I don’t know. And how can I ask without revealing something? I don’t even know why he came to school here. He was going to go to St. Andrews.”
“Doesn’t everyone in your bloodline go to school here?” It was a leap to assume. But considering the house, I was sure I’d find endowments.
K narrows her eyes. “I should be surprised at how quickly you work things out, but then I remember who your mother is. Our dads are brothers. It’s their entire line that goes here.
Ash’s mother’s side is another story. Different traditions.
They all go to St. Andrews. He was going to follow in her footsteps. ”
“What made him change his mind?” I almost feel bad asking because this is far more information than Ash has ever given me, but maybe that’s why he’s here. To avoid being whoever his title is.
Maybe if I was a gay lord, I’d want to escape my life, too. Couldn’t be me, though. The Velleity is owned by a gay man. He doesn’t tolerate any of that shit. Especially on his property, and if you can’t do business at The Velleity, good luck getting any work.
“I think his father, maybe his godfather. They are big on family tradition. I don’t know.
He doesn’t say much about it. We were close as kids, but he pulled away in high school, and it hasn’t been the same.
I just felt like I was getting him back.
” Her eyes well up, and since I’m a big softy, I wrap her up in a hug.
She leans into me for a moment, welcoming the comfort.
I release her and continue digging, unable to help myself. “Wouldn’t they care more about his older brother going here?”
She hesitates—only slightly, but I catch it. What isn’t she saying about Ash’s older brother? “There was no shot of that happening.”
Astor. The name comes back to me, and I fucking feel like I’m missing context. In fact, I know I’m missing something.
Could she have misspoke, and Ash’s older brother is Astor?
Could his brother be the fucking Astor Hastings?
He can’t be. There’s no fucking way. He can’t be that much older than Ash.
But my stomach twists, and I have a bad fucking feeling about all of this.
“So now that I’ve answered all your questions… What is this?” K nods at Ash.
I wince. I know Ash isn’t going to be happy no matter what I say. I just can’t win tonight. How do I even explain this without pissing off Ash?