That rules out that possibility.
Harrison’s father was the one originally studying reincarnation and who he inherited Copeland Laboratories from. The man who Harrison is so totally obviously gone for isapparently a reincarnated soul and also a neuroscientist. Well, he’s a graduate student majoring in neuroscience. But whatever. Nerds are nerds.
And now the opportunity that’s been presented to me comes in the form of Harrison’s own enemy who’s been causing a lot of problems for him and the man he wants to be with. Apparently, this asshole has their own little corner of the dark web, which sounds similar to my own adversary I’ve been hunting.
I could destroy them both. Two birds, one stone.
But I keep that idea to myself for now.
I install a few more cameras around the condo. In the office, the kitchen, over the private, infinity-edge pool. By the time I’m fixing the last one into place just outside his bedroom, I’ve worked up a sweat. My glasses kept fogging, so they’re currently hanging from the collar of my shirt.
As I work outside his bedroom door, I get a peek of the large shower inside the en suite bathroom and groan. It’s fucking nice, which isn’t a surprise having seen the rest of his place. It’s three walls of glass, framed in brushed steel, the fourth wall a slab of dark stone that stretches from floor to ceiling. The tiles are oversized and seamless, the color of black sand. A rainfall head is set high above, wide enough to drench everything beneath it.
Even empty, it feels intimate. Too open, too exposed.
Like the one in a basement…
I swallow, grip my screwdriver a little tighter, and force myself to look away before my brain can wander any further.
After finishing up the last camera, I start packing my tools while running diagnostics on my tablet. Green across the board.
“The system will be live in two hours,” I say. “Credentials through the secure channelonly. If you try to access it from an unsecured device, it’ll lock you out and send me a very passive-aggressive alert.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I sling my bag over my shoulder and push hair that’s damp with sweat off my forehead. “Try not to get murdered before the system comes online. It would really hurt my professional reputation.”
“I have no plans of dying anytime soon,” he says as we head out of the hallway.
“Yeah, that’s what they all say,” I mutter more to myself.
Sometimes you make plans that don’t include dying, like running away with someone whose lips you barely got to taste.
But then death finds you first.
“You have a lovely place, Doc,” I tell him again, once more finding myself needing to change the subject. “Just wish you would’ve let me use that nice ass gigantic shower of yours.”
“You didn’t sweatthatmuch.”
“I hate being sticky.”
When we round the corner from the kitchen, I nearly run into Harrison’s back when he comes to a standstill.
“Lane? What are you doing here?”
Ooh. I get to meet the famous Lane already.
I sidestep around Harrison, and…yeah, I see why he’s going through all this trouble to keep this guy safe.
Lane is fucking gorgeous. His loose, light brown curls fall around a soft face with high cheekbones and full lips and honey-colored eyes. He’s a couple years younger than me, a little shorter, closer to my height, lean and athletic.
These days, Lane is more my type than Harrison, someone I wouldn’t be comparing tohim.
Right now, I can’t tell if he’s angry or sad, but he sure does look about ten seconds away from bolting out of here.
“Lane?” Harrison asks again when he doesn’t answer.
“Um. I…I just came by to, uh…to talk about my thesis.”
