Page 83 of Ravaged Devotion

Searching the first and second floors provided nothing. They didn’t run into the missing workers that Cyril and Thea had been sent to find earlier or Jesse. But Rue was honestly more concerned about those who remained.

If this was a horror production put on by someone, then the list of suspects wasn’t that long. Cosima had honestly been his best guess, but since her body was currently in the closet, as out of sight as possible, that seemed unlikely. Rue felt confident he could rule out his own friends, which left the children of the board members, and the missing board members themselves.

Without a motive, it was hard to narrow it down.

“Rue?” Lenore called him, and he realized he hadn’t answered her earlier question.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “She was surprisingly unorganized.”

There were folders and files in the drawers of her desk, but all without labels. It didn’t help that he wasn’t sure what he was even looking for in the first place.

Probably nothing.

He’d known going into this that suspecting her was a long shot, but he’d convinced himself he might be able to find something useful about the power, weather patterns of the area, or…he didn’t know. Something.

“There’s a list of emergency contact numbers,” he rambled. “A lot of good that does us. Passwords to the resort’s online accounts. A list of regular clients. A game pamphlet.”

“Cosima didn’t come off like the gaming type,” Lenore said lightly, clearly trying to brighten the vibe.

“Goes to show you never really know a person.”

“Speaking of…You and Ryker? Is that happening now?”

Rue paused and lifted his gaze, resting it on her where she stood across the small room. He’d opted to check the desk despite the body in the closet next to it, trying hard not to think too much on that part of the equation. Now he frowned, mind effectively distracted from the death and rot.

“Bowie is heartbroken you know,” Lenore continued, chuckling when Rue’s frown deepened. “Oh please. Don’t tell me you didn’t realize he’s in love with you?”

“He is not.” Rue dropped the stack of seemingly useless papers he’d been sorting through and straightened.

“He is,” she insisted. “But that doesn’t matter. You don’t owe him anything. I’m just saying, try to be…delicate. We’re all already under a ton of pressure. Seeing you with Ryker, especially after everything he’s done, isn’t easy for Bowie.”

Rue felt a stab of guilt at her implication. Though she hadn’t said as much, it was clear she was referring to the death of their friend. “Ryker didn’t kill Adams.”

“Bowie thinks he did.” She blew out a breath. “Can you blame him? That sort of thing is easy for a Black Hart.”

“I’m a Black Hart.” It was the first time Rue was saying it out loud and he tensed as soon as the admission passed his lips. This was a part of himself he’d been openly denying for years now. The privilege that his last name allotted him, a thing that set him apart from his friends.

Not something that made him better, he didn’t believe that for a second.

But a truth that neither of them could deny.

Rue had advantages that others didn’t. Advantages that came first from being the son of the Vadim family, then from being Rhys Hart’s step son, and now from being Ryker Hart’s…whatever he was.

Because he was something.

“He promised to keep you both safe,” Rue said then, not really sure what he was hoping to convey by telling her.

“You trust him?” She clearly had her doubts. “Don’t forget all of the things he’s done to you. I know you were friends practically your whole lives, but these past few years have been really bad. We’ve all been worried about you. Especially when you told us you were transferring to Sacrum Cor. Everyone knew it wasn’t going to be an easy transition.”

“I can’t get back the life I left,” Rue agreed. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t still fight for the one that I want.”

“And that,” she pursed her lips, “is a life that includes Ryker Hart?”

“Yes.” It always had been. Ryker had always been Rue’s end game. His twin’s deceit had momentarily put a pause on things, had forced Rue to spend the last few years coming up with ways he could get Ryker back, but they were on the right track now.

The relief he’d felt when he’d learned he’d never been with Ryder was unparalleled. It’d weighed on him, but now that guilt and self-loathing had transformed into a bitter anger toward the youngest Hart twin. Thinking on it, it wasn’t out of character though. While the twins were close, Ryder had always been the more devious of the two. Ryker tended to be more upfront, his fury always burning too brightly to hide.

The more Rue thought on things, the more he felt he understood Ryder’s motives even. It wasn’t jealousy. The fact he’d chosen to abandon this world in favor of a virtual reality was proof that Ryder had never held any feelings for Rue.