Chapter 71

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Cherriot’s grandparents had summoned him to a building renowned throughout Boston for housing some of the city’s most prominent financial institutions. Their private office occupied the entire top floor, where, in recent weeks, the attorneys exclusively handling the Goodnight family’s affairs had been coming and going with unusual frequency.

There were countless matters of sufficient scale to require days of agonizing discussion: revising wills, canceling the unauthorized life insurance policies his uncle had taken out, amending the family trusts, and much more. Police officers visited regularly to report on the ongoing investigation, while a newly retained legal team remained almost permanently stationed there, preparing for the upcoming criminal proceedings.

A security guard who recognized Cherriot escorted him toward the elevators. Immediately after the incident, the man had offered endless, heavy-handed condolences every time they crossed paths. Now that some time had passed and his morbid curiosity had apparently cooled, he had begun asking instead when Cherriot intended to return to the league.

The guard cheerfully explained that he had only started watching the NHL because of Cherriot. Maintaining his practiced politeness, Cherriot sustained the conversation until the elevator arrived, then quickly stepped inside.

Before entering the building, he had worried that his mother might regret losing the trust. But once Dolly relieved him of that concern, his heart felt markedly lighter. The assets were immense, even by Cherriot’s standards. He had accumulated a considerable fortune through his salary as a professional athlete and income from lucrative modeling endorsements, yet the Goodnight inheritance remained staggering in scale.

Even so, it had never brought him a moment of genuine happiness.

The money had come to him only because his father had died, ensuring there was nothing joyful about receiving it. Then, when Cherriot declared his intention to become a hockey player, the trust’s conditions were spitefully altered so he could not inherit until retirement. From that moment onward, it had felt less like a gift than a burden. He had spent his life believing he needed to preserve it for the sake of his mother and father. Yet, if he continued shaping his entire existence around the rigid requirements of an inheritance, misery was inevitable.

Cherriot loved hockey far too much to retire early, and his sense of responsibility would never have allowed it anyway. He had agreed to transfer to Red Maple with one singular goal in mind: lifting the Stanley Cup with the team. Retirement was unthinkable before they came within arm’s reach of it.

More than anything else, he hated that the trust reduced Yuri’s very existence to a mere scandal.

Cherriot had no way of knowing the full truth of Yuri’s background, though Yuri himself had admitted it was anything but ordinary. The fragments Yuri had shared belonged to a world so distant from Cherriot’s own that they often seemed unreal. Much of it remained strange, dark, and difficult to comprehend.

None of it, however, had diminished Cherriot’s feelings.

Am I being too naive?

Benji had repeatedly warned him that remaining beside a man involved in dangerous affairs would eventually drag Cherriot into the same lethal orbit. Yet the catastrophe that befell the Goodnight family had been orchestrated by Cherriot’s youngest uncle—a man raised in absolute wealth and privilege. By Benji’s reasoning, such a thing should never have happened. Instead, Cherriot had nearly been murdered by his own flesh and blood. Worse still, the relative with ties to organized crime had turned out to be his uncle, not Yuri.

Ever since a complete stranger had murdered his father, Cherriot had believed that anyone willing to stain their hands with blood was fundamentally the same. Meeting Yuri had slowly shattered that conviction. Some people fired weapons to protect others. Nor were police officers and soldiers, officially sanctioned by the state, the only ones entitled to do so.

Yuri was far too complicated to dismiss as merely a dangerous man. Throughout their time together, he had killed no one. Instead, he had been the one who suffered.

Whenever Cherriot discovered yet another instance of Yuri driving himself beyond endurance and risking death for someone else, he questioned whether such a person could truly be called a monster. He could not bring himself to do it.

Cherriot did not claim that everything Yuri had done, including the things he had yet to learn, must therefore have been righteous. Still, Yuri’s past seemed to have denied him any meaningful choice from the very beginning. It was profoundly unjust to let decisions made under impossible circumstances define the entirety of a person’s life and condemn his humanity. Cherriot’s uncle and cousin had entered the world with more choices than most people would ever receive, yet they had willingly abandoned every trace of decency. Yuri carried none of the same stench.

Whatever truth the rest of the world chose to see, Cherriot had reached his own conclusion.

He loved Yuri. He was a man desperate to see Yuri Kiselyov smile even once more. What he wanted most was to become Yuri’s boyfriend, and, if possible, remain beside him for a very long time. Therefore, anything standing in the way of that future would have to be removed by Cherriot’s own hands.

But what would we do about our surnames if we got married?

He would like Yuri to take his name, but Kiselyov sounded far too magnificent to simply disappear. Besides, the surname Yuri used publicly was Campbell, which was so damned unimpressive that Yuri Goodnight sounded transitionally and unquestionably better.

Perhaps they could put the K from Kiselyov in the middle.

Yuri K. Goodnight…

“Cherriot? What are you doing here?”

Someone called out to him while he was still mapping out his married name, despite not having even confessed yet.

Cherriot snapped back to reality. The elevator doors stood open, and Benji was waiting on the other side. Of all the people he could have encountered, it had to be the one man he found most difficult to face lately. Summoning an awkward smile, Cherriot stepped forward.

“What are you doing here, Benji?”

“The investigation,” Benji replied, sighing. “Your grandparents ‘specially requested’ that I report the progress to them every day.”

“That sounds exhausting. How are Uncle Jackson and Joseph?”

“They keep applying for bail. They’re also calling members of your family every day, trying to scrape together enough money to hire the best lawyers they can find.”

Cherriot nodded without much feeling.

For several days after Yuri was shot, rage had consumed him so thoroughly that he had wanted to find his cousin and shoot him himself. He could not understand how Joseph had tried to murder him, how members of his father’s own family could do such a thing, or how any human being could sink so low. The sheer incomprehension had eaten him alive.

Jackson and Joseph were now securely in custody, however. Because Benji, one of their own colleagues, had nearly died as well, the police were pursuing the case with particular ferocity. Tracking down every member of the Hell’s Watchmen involved in the contract would take considerable time, but the principal figures had been arrested. There was no longer any need to surround the family with dozens of guards as they had at the beginning. Once Jackson’s and Joseph’s convictions seemed all but certain, Cherriot’s fury gradually cooled.

In truth, Yuri’s awakening had probably done far more to calm his frayed nerves than the investigation ever could.

“Weren’t you removed from the investigative team?” Cherriot asked.

“I still receive progress reports,” Benji explained. “I’m one of the witnesses, so I have plenty to deal with regardless.”

“I see.”

Cherriot stepped out of the elevator and held the doors. Benji had clearly been on his way down, so Cherriot merely gestured for him to enter. Benji studied the chill in his manner, then let out a heavy sigh.

“I’m not going to say anything else against the person you love,” Benji muttered, looking defeated. “Could you forgive me already?”

Cherriot raised his brows, scarcely believing what he had just heard.

The two of them had remained awkward ever since their vicious argument while Yuri lay unconscious. Benji had apologized, but his fundamental disapproval of Yuri had not changed. After Cherriot learned that Benji had also met with his mother and advised her to remove Yuri from the house as quickly as possible, they had fought bitterly again over the phone.

Benji was considerably older and had always protected Cherriot with an almost smothering devotion. They had never quarreled like this before, much less remained estranged for so long. Sometimes, the sudden distance left Cherriot feeling as though he had lost a brother. Still, he could not accept Benji’s opinion, and he had resigned himself to the painful possibility that they might simply drift apart.

“Why the sudden change?” Cherriot asked quietly.

“Well, I…” Benji hesitated, then grabbed Cherriot by the arm and pulled him away from the elevator bank. Since the matter sounded worth hearing, Cherriot followed without resistance.

Benji stopped in a quiet corner of the corridor. Through the massive windows, the sky looked unusually clear and cool, and for a fleeting moment, Cherriot found himself wishing he could take a walk beneath it with Yuri.

“The authorities will need to contact Yuri soon for procedural reasons,” Benji said, breaking the silence. “You made such an enormous fuss that they postponed it, but he’s a key witness. They can’t exclude him from the investigation forever.”

Cherriot knew Yuri’s testimony would be essential. Yuri had personally confronted the hitmen sent to kill Cherriot and had also faced Joseph directly. Still, Cherriot feared that testifying might create legal complications for Yuri, so he had used Yuri’s temporary inability to speak properly as an excuse to delay the police interview.

“Is that all you stopped me to say?” Cherriot’s expression cooled once more.

Benji looked up at him with wounded irritation. “You’re really going to treat me this coldly over some stranger? It’s not as though you plan never to see me again.”

“You’d behave exactly the same way if I treated your wife badly,” Cherriot countered flatly.

“Hey, I’m married. You and he are…” Benji wrinkled his nose, waving a hand dismissively. “Forget it. I’m not ready to discuss this yet. I’m still trying to process the fact that you’re a free type. I always dreamed of playing with some beautiful little niece or nephew who inherited your spectacular genes.”

Hmm.

At the mention of a child, Cherriot’s mind instantly conjured an image of Yuri holding their baby. Yuri was the very definition of an exceptional Alpha, so pregnancy was naturally impossible for him. Yet, in Cherriot’s vivid imagination, Yuri cradled a daughter with dark hair and striking blue eyes who looked exactly like him.

Ah. I need to confess before any of that can happen.

Dolly was right. I should buy flowers on the way home. What kind would he even like? Maybe I should just buy every flower the shop has.

“Are you listening to me?” Benji barked, snapping his fingers.

“Not particularly,” Cherriot replied honestly.

“I’m about to tell you something concerning your prospective boyfriend, so you may want to start listening.”

Benji had finally reached the true point of his hesitation. Cherriot folded his arms and looked down at him, deliberately correcting one crucial detail.

“I’m the prospective boyfriend. Yuri is the one who gets to decide.”

“…Whatever. This concerns him,” Benji said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “While confirming his identity during the investigation, we discovered that he’d once been involved with the Drug Enforcement Administration. That led us to speak with an agent named Kalisi Vinter, who handled his case.”

Cherriot fell silent. He had desperately wanted to hear about Yuri’s past from Yuri himself. Still, he sensed that these particular circumstances were not something Yuri would be able to bring himself to explain anytime soon, and he could not find it in his heart to stop Benji from speaking.

“He was involved with the Russian mafia. That much is true, but I was told he also endured horrific things,” Benji explained. “The agent clarified that although Yuri did participate in illegal activities, he was very much a victim as well.”

Benji immediately raised a defensive hand. “I’m not saying what he did was right. Vinter made that perfectly clear, too. A criminal is still a criminal.”

He dragged a hand across his forehead several times, visibly struggling to explain something that did not fit neatly within the rigid moral principles he had lived by his entire life. Cherriot understood the conflict. Benji was the sort of man who had probably never so much as dropped litter on a sidewalk; he had always tried to live as correctly as humanly possible.

“But Yuri cooperated fully with the DEA,” Benji continued, his voice softening. “The information he provided allowed them to dismantle a major drug organization, and the charges against him were subsequently cleared. Legally, he doesn’t have a criminal record. Even if reporters investigate his background, I don’t think it will create a problem for you.” Benji released a heavy, long-held breath. “I’ll keep watching the situation to make sure none of this leaks to the press.”

Cherriot had long since decided that Yuri’s criminal record, if one existed, would change absolutely nothing between them. Even so, an overwhelming wave of relief washed through him at the concrete knowledge that there was no legal landmine waiting to detonate in their future.

Cherriot wanted to date Yuri openly. He wanted to hold Yuri’s hand in public, take him out on real dates, and answer honestly whenever anyone asked whether they were together. If paparazzi and reporters posed no serious threat, Cherriot would gladly announce their relationship to the world the very instant Yuri granted him permission.

After I confess, of course. Today. I’m definitely doing it today. Even if I have to sit Yuri down for an hour and stammer through every single word, I’m going to tell him.

Cherriot unfolded his arms, and the lingering hostility gradually left his face. Joseph’s brutal betrayal had already cost him one member of his family. Cherriot did not want to lose someone as fiercely loyal and precious as Benji, too. Benji had reached out his hand first, and Cherriot could no longer pretend not to see the gesture.

“Will you apologize to Yuri?” Cherriot asked.

“…I didn’t exactly do anything wrong to him personally.”

“You made it painfully obvious that you disliked him.”

“To be fair, he really is danger—”

Cherriot’s expression darkened by threatening degrees.

Benji hastily backpedaled, proposing a compromise. “Fine! I’ll thank him instead. He saved your life. If he hadn’t been there, you would’ve died inside that villa. I know that.”

“When?”

“After you successfully become his boyfriend?”

The flattery was entirely transparent, but hearing the word boyfriend instantly lifted Cherriot’s mood.

“How did you confess when you first asked your wife to date you?” Cherriot asked, genuinely curious.

“I’m still not ready to have conversations like this with you,” Benji groaned, exasperated. “You’re both male Alphas. How the hell would I know how that dynamic works?”

“All right,” Cherriot chuckled softly. “Regardless, I accept Benji’s desperate plea for reconciliation.”

“When was I desperate?!” Benji grumbled, but the moment the final remnants of tension between them dissolved, a familiar, foolish smile broke across his face.

Their unexpected conversation had significantly delayed Cherriot, and he decided it was finally time to send Benji on his way.

“I should go. Grandmother called me here, and I’m already well past the time we agreed to meet.”

“Oh. So that’s why you’re here.” Something subtle in Benji’s tone suggested he knew far more than he was letting on.

Cherriot immediately pressed him. “What is it?”

“You’ll find out when you go inside,” Benji teased, stepping back. “The family members have been summoned one by one today to amend their trusts. The will has been substantially revised as well.” Benji planted a firm hand between Cherriot’s shoulder blades and urged him forward.

They reached the elevator. After pressing the button to descend, Benji waved at Cherriot, who still stood there looking utterly bewildered.

“Don’t worry,” Benji offered with a parting wink. “It isn’t anything you’re likely to dislike.”

“If you’re going to hint that much, wouldn’t it be easier to just tell me?”

“There’s far more satisfaction in hearing certain things for yourself.”

Benji stepped into the arriving elevator and departed, leaving Cherriot smiling despite his burning curiosity. Eager to finish the delayed appointment, Cherriot approached the firmly closed double doors of the private office and pushed them open.

Whatever awaited him inside, absolutely nothing would change what he wanted.

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