If only I could talk to the guys about it, but I was too afraid that all the walls here had ears and that I would be jeopardizing their safety after David warned me to keep it a secret. It sure would have helped to be able to talk to them though. Between the four of us I felt like we could figure out a way to win at David’s game and possibly gain freedom for all four of us.
I spent a lot of time the following week in the dorm room at the end of the hall, staring out at the cemetery and pushing my brain to come up with a viable solution. The guys seemed worried about the fact that I was spending so much time alone, but I assured them that I just had a lot on my mind that I needed to think about and that everything was fine. I was a horrible liar though, and I think they could tell.
The more withdrawn I became, the more all three of the guys tried to pull me closer. Julian literally tried to pull me closer and wrapped himself around me tighter at night while we slept. Michael tried to sneak in questions during dinner or while we were having wine, to figure out what was going on with me and hoping that I wouldn’t notice his attempts at prying for information. And Adam seemed to be stalking me protectively and showing up either on the third floor while I was there checking on the students or standing in the open doorway at the dorm room at the end of the hall when I would go in there to think.
I tried repeatedly to tell them that I was fine, but I really wasn’t, and they could tell. They all became exceedingly protective of me and much more careful to watch what was going on around us.
But when someone unexpected arrived on the Lineage campus, that set things off even more.
His name was Rob, and although he was supposedly a “transfer student”, I knew how unlikely that actually was. One of the few things that hadn’t changed about Lineage, was the way that the school blocked outside admissions from random people who weren’t already either related or in some way invited into the school by its current members or administration. The thing that really gave away how odd it was, was when I went to deliver a maintenance request from my floor to David and he seemed completely unraveled by the new student’s presence.
He grabbed the request paper out of my hand when I handed it to him and threw it on top of his desk. Then he sent his security guards out of the room to speak with me alone. I was worried that it had something to do with our little game, but it didn’t.
It had to do with Rob.
“You’ve seen the new student on campus by now, I’m sure?” David asked with an inflected ending that made it sound like a question.
“Yeah,” I answered. “I’ve seen him around. Why? Is he a friend of yours?”
“Quite the contrary. I believe he is an undercover agent.”
“Like a cop? Or the feds?” I asked.
Interesting. That would definitely explain why David is acting so uptight all of a sudden. If the feds are here on campus, it won’t be long until his drug operation is discovered and shut down.
“Something like that,” he said as he eyed me suspiciously. “Don’t start getting any ideas about reaching out to him. I still own almost everyone in this town. You squeal about anything and it will be the last sound you ever make.”
“Geez,” I said as I rolled my eyes. “That was dark. Guess you’re not too happy he’s here then, huh?”
“Of course, I’m not happy he’s here. That’s a stupid thing to say, even for you.”
I reached for the door to leave. I’d had enough of David for the day and didn’t want my mouth to get me in any more trouble.
“Lisette,” he called before I made it out the door and into the hall. “I’m putting him on the third floor with you. Mostly because I trust your boyfriends even less than I trust you. Keep an eye on him.”
Great, one more person to have to watch over.
Rob was already back at the dormitory when I got there. I heard him introducing himself to some of the other students and telling them that he was a grad student and an internal transfer from other school. To be honest, it all kind of sounded like a bullshit story. I went up to introduce myself as the resident advisor and my breath got stuck in my throat as he turned around to face me.
He was gorgeous.
Not that needed another guy in my life to fall for, because I definitely DID NOT. But it was hard not to be a little swept-up by this guy. He was built, with chestnut brown hair and deep blue eyes, and when he reached out to shake my hand, even his forearms were defined by muscular lines.
“Hi,” he said. “I’m Rob. Are you the R.A.?”
“Huh?” I asked.
I understood the question, I was just still trying to get over how beautiful his eyes looked against his olive complexion.
“The resident advisor?” he asked, speaking slower this time as if I had trouble hearing him.
“Oh, yeah,” I answered as I quickly snapped myself out of it. “I’m Lisette. Let me know if there’s anything you need.”
“You,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
“I need to speak to you,” he said. “I have a few questions about the campus.”
Damn, I needed to get control of myself here. “Oh, sure.”
Rob asked me a few things about the campus, some which seemed a little odd, like things about when the overhead walkways were built and who constructed them. I didn’t really know the answers to most of the stuff he asked about. But they weren’t the kind of questions a normal, transferring grad student would ask. I was pretty sure David was right and that this guy was some sort of undercover agent.
And when he had finished asking me all the questions that he had, he asked me one more thing.
“Do you have a room on this floor too?” he asked.
“No,” I said, recognizing that it was probably a good thing that I didn’t have a room next to this super-hot new guy. “All the advisors stay on a different floor together.”
“I see,” he said. “Well, I hope I’ll still see you around a lot.”
“I’m sure you will,” I smiled.
And, we did.
It seemed like everywhere I went during the next week, Rob was somewhere nearby too. I think that even the guys noticed it because if I had thought they were pulling tighter around me before, it was nothing compared to this. They acted like a pack of alpha males and formed a literal circle around me every time Rob walked by.
