Page 1 of Cohesion

Chapter One

Jericho opened the slidingdoor, and Persephone brushed past him out onto the veranda. He leaned over the railing, wind rustling his hair against his forehead and tickling his bare chest. The sound of waves crashing against the nearby rocks was soothing. Persephone wandered down the stairs to the beach, content to take herself for a walk. Every so often, she looked up, making sure that Jericho was still watching her.

He kept an eye on her, but his mind was somewhere else entirely. Back in bed, with four men he couldn’t get out of his mind. Sebastian, Quinn, Will, and Peyton were still fast asleep. At three in the morning, he should be too. He hadn’t been able to settle enough, not even with Quinn wrapped around him, his body heat like a hot water bottle.

Jericho had grown up on the streets, doing anything and everything that he had to, to keep himself and—more importantly—his brother, safe. He’d been arrested for murder at fifteen years old. If he’d been smarter, he might have been morecareful, but all he’d thought about at the time was revenge and anger. Instead of going through a trial, with a guarantee of being locked away, which would have left his brother all alone, he’d been given a choice.

Maybe it had been the wrong decision, choosing to become a weapon for the government in exchange for shelter and comfort. But it had kept them fed, and given him and Hunter the chance at an education, a life beyond just surviving.

He’d gone through hell and back as a child. Had shed more blood and tears than anyone his age should ever have to. The training that had turned him into who he was today hadn’t been much better, but at least it had made him strong enough to stand on his own two feet. He’d been broken down to nothing, built back up, and now nothing could ever take the freedom he’d gained away from him.

Despite his rocky beginning, nothing that he’d gone through had terrified him as much as waking up in bed with four men who were becoming too important, too quickly. Sleeping with them was one thing, but feelings? Intimacy thatmeantsomething?

He gripped the railing tighter and bowed his head, exhaling raggedly. What was he supposed to do with that? He wanted them. Of course he did. They were all so fucking beautiful. Not just physically, but inside as well. Quinn was a rock, steady and beating and ready to catch Jericho whenever he needed it. Willwasthe beating heart, with infectious energy and a smile that could drop Jericho to his knees. Peyton reminded him of a butterfly, something to be cradled and protected, never trapped. He’d created a shield around himself, but it wasn’t who he was. And Sebastian. Jericho wanted to shove him to his knees just as much as he wanted to protect him. That mouth should never be left to its own devices.

Jericho wanted all of them and each of them. The thought simultaneously made him want to crawl back into their bed, and run as fast and far as he could. There wasn’t room in him for this kind of need. His job, hislife, didn’t have room for it. He didn’t need it, he didn’t want it, and he didn’t know what to do with it.

He pulled his phone from the pocket of his jeans and dialled a familiar number, pressing the device to his ear. His wireless headphones were in his bag somewhere, and he couldn’t go back inside to search for them. He’d be too tempted to slide into the spare bed and sleep there instead, away from the turmoil of his thoughts, and he knew that would hurt Quinn. And the others. For some reason, thatmatteredto him, even when it shouldn’t.

Six picked up, voice already alert. “Jer? Where do you need me?”

A twinge of guilt twisted in Jericho’s gut. “Nowhere,” he said. “Just a social call.”

“Oh.” Shuffling noises came through, and then Greer’s voice in the background, too low to hear. “He wants to braid my hair,” Six answered in a quiet voice. Jericho snorted when Greer threatened him with bodily harm. The suggestion was creative, at least. “Don’t be rude. Go back to sleep or kneel on the floor for me, your choice.” Greer’s next response was also too low to hear, which was a shame. “You were lucky I was giving you a choice in the first place. You just lost that. Get on the floor.”

Persephone waddled up the stairs and sat at Jericho’s feet, dripping wet and her tongue drooling.

“You weren’t supposed to go for a swim,” Jericho hissed. Now he’d have to find a towel to dry her.

“You can do better than that, Greer,” Six said. “I taught you better.”

“I didn’t call just to hear you punishing Greer and fucking him,” Jericho said dryly. Wouldn’t be the first time he’d heard or even seen it since they weren’t private about it, but tonight hewasn’t much in the mood for it. He had his own problems to deal with, and he had questions he wanted answered.

“It’s so hard to entertain people these days,” Six drawled. “Give me one second, I need to take care of this.” It went quiet. Six must have dropped the phone on the sheet face down.

Jericho knelt down and scratched Persephone behind the ear. Wet fur clung to his fingers. She dropped to her back and exposed her stomach, complete trust in him not to go for her jugular. She should have been more concerned. Jericho wasn’t a good person. Her instincts were terrible for a beagle.

“Okay, I’m here,” Six said.

“Do you want me to call back?” Jericho asked in amusement.

“No, take your time. Greer is very comfortable where he is.”

Jericho bet that was either a lie, or Greer wasverycomfortable in a way he would soon regret. Jericho wasn’t a fan of edging, but Six sure was.

“What did you find out today?” Jericho asked.

“You mean yesterday? It’s after midnight. It only still counts as today if I haven’t slept yet.”

“Six.” Jericho stood and leaned back against the railing, leaning his head back and letting the wind attempt to shake free his roughly tied-up hair.

“You couldn’t have waited until tomorrow to ask me?”

“No.” It had been a quiet four days, and that made him itchy. Where was Arthur Mulhall, and why were they finding it so difficult to locate him? Finding a needle in a haystack was their job and their specialty. Jericho wanted him six feet under, along with anyone else who was associated with him and had tried to hurt the men he cared about.

“Hunter recalled Spence and Ken from Melbourne.”

Jericho frowned. The two of them were down there searching around for as much information as they could about Mulhall andthe drug organisation he’d been in charge of before he’d been incarcerated. “Why?”

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