Page 16 of Cohesion

Jericho leaned forward, kissing him softly, with an underlying eagerness. Peyton deepened it, keeping Jericho in place even as his neck ached from the awkward angle. He didn’t care, didn’t want to let him go just yet.

“You’re all I can think about,” Jericho admitted.

Peyton faltered, their lips brushing.

“There isn’t anyone else. How could there be, when my mind is full of the four of you? This wasn’t supposed to happen. Sebastian was just another job.”

Peyton doubted it had ever been “just a job”, for any of them. If he believed in fate, he might have said this was its handiwork. Their attraction had brought them together, but something else entirely kept them here.

“You aren’t alone,” Peyton said. He kissed Jericho again. “What you’re feeling, we’re feeling it too.”

“That’s what scares me.”

“I didn’t think anything could scare you,” Peyton said, a smile forming. “All it took was some feelings?”

“What’s more terrifying than that?” Jericho brushed their noses, kissed him, and then moved back into his seat. “I don’t know what I’m doing any more than you do. I’m navigating new territory.” He smoothly merged back into traffic, what little there was, this far into a suburb full of rich houses that Peyton couldn’t have afforded even on the intense salary he’d gotten as a commando. “Whatever it is, I’m not interested in anyone else, so it’s not something you need to worry about.”

Peyton wasn’t totally convinced, but he could let it slide for now. Jericho oozed sexuality, and he’d had no problem flirting with all of them from the very beginning. He was comfortable in his own skin and clearly had no issues with letting people know he thought they were attractive. What happened when he found someone new that he liked the look of? Would the four of them be left in his rearview mirror?

They finally reached their destination, Jericho pulling into a short driveway in front of a large set of metal gates.

Not what Peyton had expected. “It’s a house.”

Jericho pressed a button beneath his steering wheel, and the gates swung open seamlessly. “Guess we can bypass your observation-skills tests.”

Peyton rolled his eyes. Were they going to test him on a bunch of random bullshit? Fucking fantastic. He had more than enough experience with evaluations in the military. For a bunch of people in uniforms with guns, they sure liked their paperwork. “Are we picking someone up or…?” This couldn’t be theiroffice, could it?

“Nah, this is our stop.”

Peyton glanced behind himself as Jericho parked behind two identical black SUVs. There was still room for another two, and more besides, in the garage itself. Even closed, it was obvious it had been made for multiple large cars. It was practically the same size as the apartment he shared with Will and Parker.

“It suits us, don’t you think? Just a rich kid’s toy in the middle of the suburbs.” Jericho leaned across Peyton and popped open the glove box, rustling around in it. He pulled out a black pair of sleek sunglasses and a small party-sized Snickers bar. He contemplated the chocolate for a second before putting it back with a shake of his head. “Not gonna poke the bear today.” He slipped the sunglasses on top of his head.

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jericho said with a knowing grin, like he had a secret no one else did.

“I won’t,” Peyton retorted. He didn’t want to know.

When he got out, he scanned the immediate area. The fencing had to be higher than six feet—eight if he had to guess—which meant a permit. Security cameras were mounted in plain sight: they wanted them to be seen. Thick green grass covered the front yard, with a well-maintained garden bed of colourful flowers surrounding the house. A smooth stepping stone walkway led to the small porch. Two large plants with overhanging healthy green ferns bracketed the simple wooden and glass-frosted front double doors. At the corner of the porch sat a small square glasstable and three metal chairs. The only things on the table were an ashtray and a cactus.

“There are a lot of windows,” Peyton said, gesturing at the house. The black exterior mixed with whole walls of glass was impressive and looked pretty damn nice. If he were going for “safe,” though, it wasn’t how he would have designed it. “Seems like a risk. I can’t see inside, but anyone would know it has to house something valuable. Is that one-way glass?”

“Just one-way mirror film,” Jericho said, joining him on the other side of the SUV. “Lets the light in. Hunter likes his plants.”

“Hunter likes hisplants?” Peyton asked, eyebrows raising. “That’s why you have a HQ so exposed?” Peyton wouldn’t have thought that was a valid reason for holing up in such an unsecure location, but what did he know about that? He didn’t have years of special command operations experience or anything. “For someone who keeps complaining about Seb’s bad security, I don’t think you have a leg to stand on here.”

“I’m not sure I’d consider eight-foot fences, with fibre-optic perimeter monitoring and camera surveillance, to be ‘exposed.’” Jericho grinned as he pressed his thumb to the pad at the door and then keyed in another code. “You have five seconds to get inside.” The door let out a shrillbeepand swung open on its own.

Peyton didn’t hesitate, sliding past him into the sleek interior of the house. “What’s with the timer?” he asked.

“Fail-safe,” Jericho said, coming in behind him just as the door closed itself. “There’s another keypad, there.” He pointed to a panel on the wall. “I can use it to turn it off if we need it to stay open longer. I’ll get you the codes later.”

“What happens if I don’t make it in time?” Peyton asked, shoving a hand into his pocket. He was getting “sliced and diced” vibes from horror movies. He checked the walls for any hints that there was anything installed, just in case.

“You get locked out.” Jericho chuckled. “Were you expecting something a little bloodier? Sorry to disappoint.”

“What is the fail-safe for, exactly?” They went to enough trouble just to keep the place hidden and looking like every other house in the rich neighbourhood. How much did they need? He took back his comment about Sebastian’s beach house.

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