Page 74 of Cohesion

“No leverage. Me?” Peyton pointed to himself. “I’m leverage. They won’t risk killing me, when there’s a chance they could use me.” He would have seen how Jericho had handled Peyton. Seen the connection. The easiest way to get someone to talk wasto threaten to hurt someone else that was important to them. People had the ability to handle their own pain a lot easier than handling it happening to someone they cared about right in front of them.

Jericho let out a breath. “We need to get Hunter and Quinn here to clean up this mess.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Give Quinn the lawyer. Give Hunter the killer. We’ll clean up the mess in here and then let Quinn call people in to investigate the lawyer. Official channels don’t need to know about anyone else’s involvement.”

“They’re escalating.”

“Yeah, they’re getting desperate.”

Desperation paved the way for a lot of bad shit to happen. Nothing to lose, everything to gain. What were they going to do next?

Chapter Ten

Peyton froze with onestep out of the shower as he heard something. He strained to hear more, but there wasn’t anything else. No one should be there. Jericho had dropped him off and headed back to HQ. Sebastian and Will were at work. Will was finishing early so he could take Peyton to his brother’s auto shop, and he might be on his way but would still be a ways out. Quinn was at the lawyer’s place with Hunter, sorting out that clusterfuck.

He padded over to the toilet and lifted the cistern lid off, clutching it in his grip as he silently opened the bathroom door. The sounds were clearer now; someone was going through the kitchen drawers.

Peyton walked carefully up the small hallway and peered around the corner. He couldn’t see anyone. They must have crouched low behind the counters. What were they looking for?

He lifted the cistern and used the carpet in the living area to muffle his footsteps.

The figure stood, and Peyton pulled his arms back to take a swing. He stopped abruptly as the features registered. “Parker?”

“What the hell are you going to do with that?” Parker asked, raising his eyebrows. “Why are you naked? And wet?”

“I just got out of the shower, youdick.”

“Why am I a dick?” Parker asked. “I’m not the one walking around butt ass naked with our fuckingtoilet lidin their hands. You’re also dripping all over the floor.”

“I thought you were a burglar.” He’d thought it was someone worse than that, but Parker didn’t need to know about any of that. Peyton would doanythingto keep him from being involved. Would kill anyone, destroy entire countries, to keep blood from being anywhere near his twin.

“Was I supposed to introduce myself as I walked into myownhome?”

Peyton let out a breath and dropped his hands, the cistern lid heavy. “What are you doing here? Is school out already?”

“Pupil-free day. I was just out shopping for supplies. I would have told you, but you’re never home.”

“Neither are you!” Peyton protested.

“How would you know? Why don’t you go get dressed, and I’ll make coffee?” Parker gestured at Peyton’s waist. “Or are you just gonna let him swing free for a while?”

“I can do whatever I want with my dick.” Peyton grimaced at the cistern lid. A thorough hand washing was in order. Getting dressed was probably a good idea too. The air conditioning was on, and it was getting a little chilly down there.

By the time he’d washed his hands, finished drying himself, and dressed in beige cargo shorts and a blank tank top, Parker was at the dining table, nursing a coffee. Peyton slid into the seat that had the second cup.

“Feels like I haven’t talked to you for a year, when it’s only been like a week,” Parker remarked. “Maybe two. Time is hard.”

“Yeah.” Basic training had been the first time he’d ever been away from Parker for more than a day or two, and it had been hard. His first deployment had been worse. It had been a relief when Parker had moved in with them. Like a piece of him was back where it belonged.

“What have you been doing?” Parker’s smile turned sly. “Other than shacking up withfourguys.”

“You were gossiping about me withRiley?” He was the only one who knew there were four, not three, and Riley wasn’t into spreading information around. He had more secrets he was holding than any of them had ever realised.

“Not on purpose. I have a way of irritating him into spilling. I can’t believe Riley knew before me that you added a fourth to your… thing—your whatever thing. I thought we were twins.”

“Then maybe you should have just known already?” Peyton suggested, making a face at him.

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