Page 18 of Cohesion

He played with the top button of Jericho’s shirt and shifted his hips, his growing hardness pressing against Jericho’s thigh. He groaned into Jericho’s mouth and rotated, sliding them together.

A beep sounded behind them, and Peyton pulled away. “What was that?”

“Gate,” Jericho said absently. He reached behind himself without letting Peyton go and picked up a small screen device. He squinted at it. “It’s Quinn. He messaged earlier before we left Seb’s, wanting to talk. Told him to meet us here but wasn’t expecting him here so quickly.” He pressed a button that said “open” and then dropped it.

“Talk to you about what?”

“No idea. He said he was going into the station; maybe he found something out.” He kissed Peyton softly and cupped his half-hard dick. “Maybe I can convince him to help me with this.”

Peyton doubted it. He’d never met anyone as professional and put together as Quinn. Though the idea that they were hot enough,desirableenough, to make him shed his inhibitions?

Maybe Peyton would help with the convincing.

Quinn barely noticed hissurroundings as he parked his car and was let into the exquisite house that was apparently the base of operations for this ragtag group who did dirty work for the government.

Jericho opened the front door, and Quinn stepped inside, not waiting for him to say a single word. “Is Greer part of your team?” When Jericho opened his mouth to answer, Quinn interjected with, “Don’t lie to me. I want the truth, Jericho.” When he asked a direct question, he needed Jericho to be truthful. Needed there to not be lies in this relationship, where there were already too many secrets.

Peyton stepped up to Quinn, the backs of their hands brushing. Quinn tried to give him a reassuring smile, not sure if he was successful. Peyton kissed his shoulder, lips lingering, eyes closed. Quinn turned, cupping the back of his head and holding him close to his chest. Just having him in his arms helped settle him. Strange how a single person could do that for his equilibrium.

Not just one. All of them did it for him.

He eyed Jericho, who was staying a good two feet from them, wariness in his gaze. Even Jericho gave him that feeling. It was without the kind of familiarity he had with Sebastian or Peyton, or the quiet ease he’d found with Will, but it wasn’t any less potent.

“I’m serious,” Quinn continued, refusing to get distracted. “No more fucking lies. No more half-truths. No dodging and weaving and being secretive.”

“Can I talk now?” Jericho asked, glancing between them.

Quinn hesitated, then nodded. “Okay.”

“Yes, Greer is a member of our team. He has been for a long time, but it’s not exactly common knowledge. How did you find out?”

“Well, not because you bothered to tell me,” Quinn said irritably.

“I didn’t not tell you on purpose,” Jericho said. He led them into the open kitchen and knocked his knuckles on the kitchen island bench lightly. “It just is? Greer has been part of the team for… longer than you’ve known him. It hasn’t come up, because why would it? It’s not relevant to my job or what you and I are doing. Should I make you a list of everyone that I know?”

“This isn’t justsomeone you know.This is someone I work with, and you knew that. You should have told me,” Quinn said firmly.

“I’m used to keeping secrets, not sharing them.”

Quinn deflated. He couldn’t hold that against Jericho. He lived a different life, with different rules. “Does anyone else know? Other people at the station?” Did Riley have any idea that one of his detectives was there for reasons that weren’t just about doing his job as a police officer? Quinn needed to tell him. It was an unfair secret to hide behind someone’s back. Not to mention completely unethical.

“Some secrets aren’t mine to tell.”

“Did you manipulate something to get him my case?” Quinn asked. “Do you haveotherpeople in the station? Just this one, or others? Is this a Seb situation, where it’s some kind of fucked-up quid pro quo?” How many people did this group know? How many did they control from the shadows? How had Quinn never run into them before?

Jericho’s expression hardened. “The agreement with Sebastian was created, negotiated, and fulfilled by Hunter, not me. If you have a problem with it, there are two people you can take that up with, and neither of them are me,” he said stiffly.

Quinn ran a hand through his hair. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I… Jericho, I need to be able to trust you. To know that if there’s important information, you won’t withhold it from me.”

“You can trust me.”

Could he? Jericho was unlike anyone he’d ever met. Sebastian was guarded, but Jericho waswalled. Locked up tight and hidden behind layers of personas that weren’t him.

Jericho let out a breath and looked to the ceiling for a loaded second. “Riley knows about Greer. It was why he hired Greer.”

“Riley knows,” Quinn repeated.

Peyton jerked against Quinn and pulled away. “Wait, you know mybrother?”

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