14. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Lana

O nce I leave Dr. Clarke’s visitors alone in his suite, my senses start to return to me. The spicy-sweet scent of Shadow’s perfume is little more than a memory that fades out more and more the further I move away from the source.

My head clears after the flush of lust drains out of my body.

My panties feel damp, and my skin is oddly tender, but I finally stop feeling like I’m dangerously close to having some kind of spontaneous orgasm in front of, and because of, two incredibly attractive strangers.

It's been one hell of a morning, that’s for sure.

I step back into the reception area and Erika looks up from her desk.

She gives me a friendly smile and I realize she probably would have felt it if I’d still been having lusty feelings. That would have made for an embarrassing encounter.

Thank God all I’m full of right now is relief.

It’s bad enough having to make it through awkward encounters with people I’m attracted to.

I really don’t need that kind of uncomfortable energy with my new receptionist.

I slow to a stop at her desk. “Everything good?”

She nods. “All under control.”

“Excellent,” I reply, heading to my office.

I find out I forgot to lock the door again, but considering Erika’s out here now I probably don’t need to worry about that. I head inside, closing the door behind me.

I lean back against it for a couple minutes, just letting myself breathe until I feel normal again.

It wasn’t as intense as I think it was. It couldn’t have been.

I’m just seriously overdue for a hot and heavy fling.

It’s been too long since I got laid.

Pushing away from the door, I’m ready to get back to the chaos of my inbox.

The thought of a dozen angry emails I’ve missed since I’ve been away from my desk makes me want to sigh and take an impromptu coffee break, but if I did that, I’d only come back to even more of them. There’s no avoiding the monotony of the predictable onslaught.

I’m halfway to my desk when a knock on the door makes me turn back.

“Just a minute,” I call out before I take the few long steps toward the door.

I don’t expect to see Pete standing out there in the hallway when I open it.

Despite catching my breath and letting go of the overwhelming feelings of lust I was just drowning in when I left him with his Omega in Dr. Clarke’s suite, my heart starts to race all over again the moment I set eyes on him.

What the hell is wrong with me today?

He’s taken, Lana. Cool your jets.

I seriously need to think about getting on a dating app. Weeding through creeps and losers to find a guy I might want to sleep with at some point in the near future doesn’t sound like much fun, which is honestly why I’m not already doing it, but it’s got to be better than developing crazy crushes on every sexy unavailable person I meet.

“Oh, Pete. Hey,” I manage, as his intense gaze settles on my face. “Um, what can I do for you?”

“I need a list of names, of your existing security staff.”

I raise an eyebrow at his demand.

No please or thank you, and it’s not a request.

I’d bet good money he doesn’t know how to make one of those.

He crosses his arms when I don’t immediately invite him in or answer his demand.

“I’m happy with the staff I’ve got. Dr. Clarke said your pack’s company might be able to provide some extra support. That’s all we need here. I’m not firing my existing staff.”

“Our company is superior to whoever you were using before. Your existing staff let a threat get past them. Someone in this building is looking to target you …”

“We don’t know that. You’re making something out of nothing.”

He smiles, in a cold way that doesn’t reach his dark eyes.

“There’s a camera in that hallway. It’s active. Someone on your security team either saw who unscrewed those light bulbs, or one of them did it themselves.”

I frown as that information sinks in.

“No. That’s not … It can’t be.”

“Whatever. I’ll be keeping you in sight until we know who the threat is, either way.”

“There shouldn’t be a camera up there.”

“Why not? It’s an inhabited part of the building.”

I press my lips together as a chill starts to come over me.

Shaking that feeling off isn’t going to be easy.

Not now.

“That wing wasn’t in use until the emergency with those Omegas. Cameras were never set up in that part of the building.”

And getting them installed wasn’t even on my crazy-long list.

Why would someone put one up in that hallway?

It doesn’t make any sense.

“Well, there’s one in that hallway so someone’s up to something, and if you want to know who it is, you’d better give me that list of names.”

I bite down on my lower lip as I think it over.

“If someone in security installed that camera, then the feed must go to the security office.”

He frowns. “Not necessarily, but what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking about asking them when it was installed.”

“If they have anything to do with it, whoever you’re asking will play dumb. It’s better if you don’t address it.”

“So, I shouldn’t visit the security office and check the camera feeds to see if there’s one for that camera?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.

“No, you shouldn’t. But I should. My company’s about to come out here and I need to know what kind of coverage your guys have.”

It sounds like the smart move, but I’m not about to let a stranger wander around the academy alone, and I doubt Melvin will be too pleased if a guy with prison tattoos shows up at his door unannounced and without an escort.

“I’ll take you down to the office. We can talk about giving you access to the list of staff after we’ve checked out the feed.”

A big part of me is hoping this is all some stupid mistake.

Maybe I okayed the camera when I was in the middle of other more important stuff, and I just completely forgot about it.

It’s possible. I guess.

“Lead the way,” Pete says, stepping back to give me the space to step out of my office.

He follows me into the reception area, and I nod at Erika in passing.

The elevator seems like a bad idea with this guy, but the stairwell that leads to the basement is darker and more enclosed.

It’s only one floor down.

It’s not like anything’s going to happen.

Despite the fact he was looking at me like he’d love to bend me over my desk, while his dick was obviously hard, and he complimented me in his sexy, rough accent.

Okay, yeah, this isn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done.

Fingers crossed I get back to my office without doing anything inadvisable.