Page 109 of Lady Killer

Ali-gator: Anything?

“Rude.”

Me: Hello, Alister, I am well, thanks for asking. It’s a bit nippy out for March but it’s nice and warm in the lab.

Nothing.

I sighed, rolling my eyes.

Me: Nothing, yet.

Me: But there’s something here.

Me: Only a monster would wear boat shoes in Connecticut in the winter.

Ali-gator: You would know.

Me: HOW DARE YOU!!!

Me: I wear Italian leather loafers.

Me: Handcrafted.

Me: Artisanal!

Me: I would cut my feet off before putting them in boat shoes.

The bastard left me on read.

He was with Luz tonight, tucked away in the townhouse.

I would have been jealous of him getting to play with her without me, but I knew she had a midterm in Locke’s class, and nothing closed my girl’s legs faster than the threat of an A-.

Refusing to give up, I poked around the rest of the pharmacology department’s offices. The actual labs were downstairs and required a code to access. I could get it, if I wanted, but I figured I might as well start here and return another night if needed.

With a deliberation that I rarely possessed, I made my way through each room.

You could tell a lot about the hierarchy of the department by their offices. The graduate students shared tiny, often windowless rooms, while the associate professors were two to an office, with a little square footage. The tenured professors had all claimed the large single rooms, complete with actual windows.

Clayton and Melody worked under a Dr. Jeffrey Reed, and his office was one of the largest of all. He must have been pulling in significant funding for the department to get a space like this. Alas, it was just as empty of anything of interest as the rest of the floor.

With nothing to show for it, I made my way back down the corridor. My phone buzzed again.

Daddy Lucian: Family meeting tomorrow, 4:00 p.m.

Daddy Lucian: Leave the girl at the townhouse.

Luz was absolutely coming with.

Although, it might take some convincing. She still wasn’t Lucian’s biggest fan, what with the whole “threat to her life” hanging over her head.

They just needed to spend some more time together.

I was on my way out the door when my eyes snagged on a small alcove across the way from Clayton’s shared office. Empty coat hooks lined its walls, and a large pine wardrobe that screamed Ikea had been pushed against the far wall.

Opening it revealed nothing but a large collection of white lab coats, and I was about to shut it when I peeked at the top shelf.

At first glance, it appeared empty. It wasn’t.