Page 70 of Disciplinary Action
“I will get Cal back into whatever school he wants. You aren’t the only one with money and influence.”
“It’s not me. It’s Roger. When Cal got Harvard and Matteo didn’t, it set Roger off. He lost a fortune to your boy’s father, and now, his little bastard snatches Harvard from his oldest grandson. He won’t be happy until Callum Whyte is ruined.”
“Roger Koch is a tool. What does he even bring to the table besides money? A good chunk of which he’s lost, as you just stated. I have connections. Money. Influence. And something else none of you have… Street smarts. I grew up with gangbangers, bookies, and drug dealers. Screw Roger. Let me take his place. Explain to me how this operation works, and let me help you expand.”
Rosalind’s brows knitted together. “Why do you care? Why are you pushing this so hard?”
“Because I’ve lived in Grant’s shadow since I was twenty-one years old, and now, he’s gone and people are still treating me like a child. Grant left me his money and his seat on various boards and charities, but I’m still an outsider. You all still treat me like an outsider. You know that’s not what Grant wanted. Not really. He taught me how to blend in with your crowd. How to walk and talk like you, dress like you, behave like you. He taught me which fork to use and how to tie a necktie. Nobody will ever see me as one of you until somebody like you lets me have a real seat at the table.”
Rosalind examined Gideon’s face, and he was grateful she couldn’t see the hairs standing up on his arms. He had her. He knew he did. She was going to crack.Come on. Come on. Just fucking tell me.
She sighed. “I can’t help you with Roger. He’s a necessary evil, I’m afraid. But Foy’s set to retire soon. It’s only a matter of time. He’s not a young man. It would be smart to have his replacement lined up. He can start making inroads with the dean now so you’ll be next in line.”
“Foy has that kind of pull with the dean?” Gideon asked, genuinely surprised.
“The dean has some…peculiar…fetishes that he’d like to keep under wraps. He does what we want him to. It’s why Roger’s so certain he can have you ousted from the university on a morality clause.”
Gideon tucked that information away for later. “We all have our vices.”
“Yes. Yes, we do.”
Gideon leaned forward. “So, if I’m going to do this, I need to know everything. Where do we start?”
Rosalind gave him one more hard look. “I suppose we start at the beginning.”
Gideon could do nothing but sit and listen as Rosalind dismantled a scheme that went far deeper than Gideon could ever have imagined, deeper than possibly even the agents listening had ever guessed. At the heart of it all was Tri-State and a billion dollar scam that proved just how far the rich were willing to go to keep their privilege and the scales tipped in their favor.
When Rosalind finished it was close to dawn. Gideon stood, allowing the older woman to walk him to the door. “I’ll call Foy and tell him to disregard Roger and the scandal with your boy. You just need to do your part. Get him to forget Harvard. I’ll happily call my connections with the other schools and smooth it all over as a misunderstanding.”
“Do me a favor. Don’t call Foy just yet. I want to talk to him myself. We have some things to work out first, if that’s alright with you.”
Rosalind smiled. “Of course, dear. If that’s what you want.”
He leaned down, placing a kiss on her cool, pale cheek. “Thank you, Rosalind. You have no idea how much your trust means to me.”
Once her door closed behind him, he whistled a tune as he made his way towards the elevator. As he rode the elevator down, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and grinned. “Did you get all that, boys? One down, one to go.”
Gideon slipped into bed just as the sun was coming up. Cal snuggled into him. “You smell weird. Like cigarettes and potato chips. Where’d you go?”
Cal hadn’t slept since he’d felt Gideon slip from bed at midnight, but he’d laid there with Alexa, wondering if Gideon’s disappearance was all part of this covert master plan to get Cal back into Harvard.
Gideon chuckled. “I told you, I can’t tell you everything just yet, but it’s all going to be okay.”
“You keep saying that,” Cal mumbled, inexplicably cranky.
Gideon kissed the top of Cal’s head. “And I mean it. You’ll be back on Harvard’s roster in a week or so, and you’ll get to have everything you wanted.”
Not everything.Gaining back Harvard meant losing nights with Gideon, which felt like losing everything. “Let me guess, you flew to Boston and slept with Harvard’s admissions counselor.”
“You figured me out.” Gideon laughed. “He smells like nicotine and potato chips.”
“Ew,” Cal said as he unbuttoned Gideon’s pants and slid his hand into his boxers. Cal wrapped a hand around Gideon’s soft cock, only then thinking to ask, “Why are you in bed with all your clothes on?”
“Because I have a meeting with the dean and my department head in approximately one hour, so it didn’t seem like I should get too comfortable.”
Gideon didn’t stop Cal from toying with him, lazily stroking and squeezing him until he was hard in Cal’s grip.
“Why do you have to meet with them?” Cal asked, biting at Gideon’s chin and throat.
