Page 16 of Ravaged Devotion

“You’re a sound engineer,” Lenore pointed out.

“What would you do at a tech company?” Bowie frowned.

“Make jingles?” He shook his head. “Who knows.”

“Why are you so calm about this?” Lenore asked.

“Because there’s no way he’s going to really do it,” Bowie said. “Right?”

“I sort of owe them.” Rue hung his head.

“Bullshit,” his friend argued. “You don’t owe them crap.”

“Vadim,” a voice called out a moment before a tall man rapped his knuckles against the edge of Rue’s desk. “Looking forward to the retreat?”

Rue stared at Penn Augustine, reminded of yet another reason not to want to go on this business trip.

Penn was the son of one of the members of the board. He’d probably been on a dozen of these trips already, and was no doubt here to lord it over Rue. The animosity between them wasn’t a secret. Before Rue had fallen from grace, the guy had kissed his ass every bit as much as he did every other Black Hart, but now he seemed bitter.

He was jealous that Rue had the opportunity to be something he never could, and yet Rue was actively giving that chance away.

Many didn’t understand his refusal to move into Castle Black, the building on campus where the Black Harts called their home. There was an entire floor in said building with Rue’s proverbial name on it, but he’d opted to remain at Hart estate, commuting to and from university.

Station and power had never mattered to Rue, and even if those things had, avoiding Ryker took precedence over everything else.

Still, his refusal to accept that position meant rejecting the Black Heart title and all the perks that came along with it, like the forced—and often times faked—respect of people like Penn.

“I’m the one who recommended the lodge to my mom,” Penn continued. “They’re cutting down the staff to ensure we can all enjoy ourselves without a million strangers roaming about, and they have a ton of outdoor activities. I heard you used to be good with a gun.”

“Who’d you hear that from?” Lenore asked, but was promptly ignored.

“What do you say?” Penn smirked, the look dirty. “Dare to come out hunting with us?” His gaze swept down Rue’s body, but not in an appraising way. “If you run fast enough, I bet you can make it out of the woods alive.”

“Did you seriously just threaten to shoot him?” Bowie stood. “In broad daylight?”

“Come on. Take a joke.”

“No one believes you were joking,” Lenore stated, and this time Penn snorted at her.

“Like it matters what people like you believe.”

“What—” Bowie clamped his mouth shut the second the professor entered the room. He glared as Penn winked and went to take his seat on the other side of the classroom, slowly lowering down into his chair. “Forget about him, Rue.”

“Yeah, and don’t worry,” Lenore added comfortingly, “we’ll both be there.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Bowie agreed.

Rue smiled at them, then settled in for the lecture.

He ended up spacing out for most of it, mind caught up on roses and messy sheets and the look on Ryder’s face when Rue had told him he didn’t like him back.

An hour and a half passed in a blur, and it wasn’t until students were standing and gathering their things that Rue realized everyone had received their project papers back except for him.

“What do you feel like for lunch?” Bowie asked, swinging his backpack over a shoulder.

“Go on ahead,” Rue said. “I have to speak with the professor first.” He didn’t wait for him or Lenore to reply, darting to the front of the classroom before the older man in the wire rim glasses could leave before he got the chance to talk to him. “Professor Rain.”

“What is it, Mr. Vadim?” The professor continued placing his items into his bag.