Page 61 of Reactant

“I have my own Instagram.” Six sniffed.

“I’ve seen your Instagram.”

“That sounded like an insult.”

“Probably ’cause it was.”

Jericho pulled up behind Sebastian’s silver Lexus in front of his beach house and put the car into park. “As fascinating as this is, we’re here. Text me updates? If it’s urgent, call me.”

“You got it.”

The phone cut out, and Jericho turned off the engine. The sudden silence was deafening. Neither of them made a move to get out.

Jericho tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “Look, he’s not safe. And someone is definitely gunning for him.”

“Sounds like they’re gunning for you too,” Quinn remarked.

“Why Quinn, are you worried about me?”

“I was just making an observation.”

“He’s as safe as he can be when he’s with all of you, or with me. That’s all I can give you. Guarantees are for liars.” They didn’t exist in his line of work. All he could do was use the skills that he had and work with the situation in front of him. That was all anyone could do.

“And that’s not you?”

“I’m many,manyfascinating things.” So many. “But I’m not a liar. Like it or hate it, I’ll tell you how it is. Life is too short for misunderstandings.” Especially of a sexual nature.

“I bet that gets you punched in the face.”

“If I had a dollar for every time someone punched me in the face, I’d have about… fourteen dollars? Which is not a lot of dollars, but it is a lot of times to get punched. Unless you’re a boxer or ring fighter of some kind, which I’m not.” One of those times had been Greer, and he’d broken Jericho’s nose. Jericho had broken his ribs, though, so turnabout was fair play, really. Six had refused to treat either of them and had made them go to the hospital as punishment.

Quinn didn’t respond to the quip. “You’re supposed to be good at what you do.” It was phrased as a statement.

Jericho knew it was a question that Quinn wanted an answer to.

“I’m the best,” he replied. It wasn’t arrogance, it was the truth. Jericho had been honed on the streets of Sydney and built himself up into someone strong enough to keep himself, and his brother, safe. When he hadn’t had options, he’d created them.

“Would Hunter agree with that?”

“There’s a reason I’m here and not someone else.” Not for lack of trying, of course. Bodyguard duty wasn’t his favourite, especially not for a suit who didn’t know the meaning of “safety.” Something had been different in Sebastian’s office. Jericho had beenhimself,and everything had shifted. It was shifting more now with Quinn.

“Why is Sebastian so important to him?” There was a challenge in Quinn’s voice. “There has to be more to it than just a professional stake. He’s not the only defence lawyer out there.”

“Because we only collect the best.” With that, Jericho opened his door and slid out. He could not have made that any clearer. They only dealt with the crème de la crème of the world. And that extended to Hunter’s pet lawyer because Sebastian knew how to get the job done. He wasn’t ruthless, he didn’t cut corners, and at the heart of him was a man trying to make a positive difference in a world that was increasingly overrun with monsters.

They were qualities that every single person working for them possessed. Integrity was the most important skill that anyone in their line of work could have.

Quinn followed him silently as they went up the driveway.

The more Jericho noted as he took in the house and the surrounding property, the more he hated everything about it. He hadn’t taken much notice when he’d been there the other day; they’d had more pressing issues. Now that he was noticing, he didn’t like what he was seeing. Sebastian could not have picked a less secure location to live if he’d beentrying. Zero fences. Zero security. It was visible from fucking miles away. Was he asking to be shot? Because this was asking to be shot.

No wonder Howell and Derrick had been able to walk right in. It had been pure dumb luck that Six had installed some hidden cameras only a day earlier, so they knew when something had been wrong. The ex-soldier, Peyton Sinclair, had handled it with an ease that made Jericho a little hard in his pants, but he was glad they’d gotten there in time to get rid of the bodies. They weren’t interested in involving formal authorities. Their strength was in their ability to stay in the shadows. The government sanctioned them, and they handled the rest of it.

Jericho took the two steps up onto the porch, then knocked on the slats of the wall near the swing seat secured with a rope on the roof. Cobwebs were starting to form around it; he doubted anyone had sat in it in a while.

“What are you doing?” Quinn asked. “Door’s over there.”

“Checking,” Jericho said absently. He rattled the small window on the side and scowled when he realised that there wasn’t anything more than a simple latch lock. The window screen would easily pop out as well. He peered through, and his heart sank at how much of the house he could see. There was no curtain, and the screen wasn’t frosted. It let him see directly into the entryway and then through the open archway that led to the living room and beyond to what little he could see of a kitchen: it was all there for anyone to see.

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