Page 123 of Cohesion

Six reluctantly moved, eyes not moving from Xavier. The tension in the room was stifling, and all Quinn wanted to do was get all of his men out of there and somewhere safe. He didn’twant to spend even a second longer here. Whatever pissing contest was happening right now, he wanted nothing to do with it. Couldn’t they wait until Sebastian and Spencer were taken to a hospital?

“Your guard dog wants to fuck you, Alex,” Xavier drawled.

Six surged forward, lifting Bianca with dangerous intent. “The fuck did you just say?”

Hunter pressed a hand to Six’s chest and halted him. He backed off when Hunter shook his head.

The exit was right there. They could all deal with this bullshit while Quinn got his men out of this dilapidated building and somewhere Sebastian could be looked over.

Xavier tipped up Hunter’s chin. “He can’t have you. Because you already belong to me.”

“Keep pushing, asshole,” Six snarled.

“Did you get hurt?”

A muscle in Hunter’s jaw twitched. “No.My mendid. Courtesy ofyours.”

Xavier inhaled slowly, and Quinn could almost have mistaken the look for one of regret. “I didn’t know.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that it’s the truth. I don’t have so many hours in the day that I keep track of everything. That’s why I have trusted men.”

“Yeah, well, they fucked up,” Six said, scowling.

“Yes, they did. Where is Olivia?”

“Not here,” Hunter said stiffly.

Sebastian leaned more of his weight on Quinn, and Quinn twisted, sliding an arm around his waist, attention switching completely to who mattered most.

“Can we wrap this up?” Quinn said quietly to Jericho. “He needs a hospital.” And the entire place gave him the fuckingcreeps. He wanted out of there, now. Never wanted to see it ever again.

“I was thinking more a nap and a margarita,” Sebastian said, smiling.

“We can negotiate.” The only place they were going was straight to the nearest hospital.

“An unfortunate turn of events,” Xavier said. He ran the tips of his fingers down Hunter’s cheek, and Hunter’s lips fell apart with a shaky breath. “I apologise, and I will of course rectify this mistake.”

“What mistake?” Sebastian spat. “Your fucking asshole henchmen kidnapped me!”

“Yes,” Xavier said simply. His gaze flicked over Sebastian’s face. “As I said, a mistake. Any and all treatment is on me, of course.”

“Don’t do me any favours,” Sebastian snapped sarcastically. His lip was bleeding again, and he licked it clean.

“This one isn’t for you.”

Quinn’s jaw dropped when Xavier kissed Hunter, right in front of all of them. Not a mere peck on the lips. One that was deep and clearly not their first. “We’ve had dealings with them,” was an understatement.

Six sneered but didn’t try to stop them.

Mulhall tried to make a sudden run for it, and the two men of Xavier’s who were with him grabbed him. Cain hesitated and stepped out of their way as they hauled him to the centre of the room. The TOU officer’s eyes met Quinn’s briefly. None of them were really sure what to do in this situation. It hadn’t been part of their plan.

Xavier let go of Hunter, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. When he turned back around to face Mulhall, the rage in his eyes was enough for Quinn to raise his weapon again, gaining the attention of too many weapons in return.

Quinn knew that look. It meant death.

“He’s to come in and face the right kind of justice,” Quinn said firmly. It was one thing to destroy the very law he upheld to protect someone he loved. This kind of execution was altogether different. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—allow it to happen.

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