Page 46 of Reactant

“I was young, not dumb. I chose defence to protect the innocent, and that was how I chose to do it.”

“What he was up to as Warren is what got us attacked?” Peyton asked.

“We assume so, yes,” Quinn said. “The two men that attacked you, their names were Dane Howell and Errol Derrick. They were head of a low-level drug organisation. They’d been bringing drugs into the country using quite frankly terrifying dolls that got through customs through sheer dumb luck. The man that was found in your apartment was their handiwork and an ex-client of Sebastian’s. A second victim, Richard Burrows, was found in the park, and while we haven’t confirmed if they were responsible or not, his grandmother was supplying the dolls, without knowledge of what they were being used for.”

“That was the fifth guy that got away during the raid I was part of,” Will said. “We thought intel might have been wrong, but he must just not have been there at the right—or wrong—time.”

Quinn exhaled and scratched his neck. “So if it wasn’t Jericho, then who was killed yesterday?”

None of them had an answer.

“What does he do?” Will asked. “Hunter,” he clarified. “If Jericho was undercover, that means good guys, right? Do bad guys infiltrate drug organisations?”

“Rivals, maybe,” Quinn said, “but they weren’t big enough to be any kind of competition to the big leagues in Sydney.”

“Black ops,” Peyton said quietly, his hand stilling on Sebastian’s chest. “They have to be. Government-sanctioned wet work.” He tapped his fingers on the counter. “They offered me a job.”

“A job?” Quinn repeated. “Please tell me you said no.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Peyton said. “They gave me a card.”

“Where is it?”

“I’m not giving it to you.” When Quinn scowled, Peyton mimicked the expression, darkness invading his blue eyes. “I’m sorry; when did I turn into the child of this group? It’smychoice, and out of all of us, I have the most experience withwet work.”

“That is not—”

“Yes, it is,” Peyton said. “You can fancy it up however you want. I was a special forces sniper. What is it you think I did? They pointed me at a target, and I killed for them. What else do you call that?”

“It wasn’t like you were aiming at innocents, Peyton,” Will said in a low voice. He knew more about what Peyton had done than he was sure he was supposed to. The first time Peyton had talked about it, he’d aggressively thrown it in Will’s face, like Peyton had thought he would turn around once he knew what he’d done. Will had never looked at him differently. Never could.

He saw Peyton’s heart, and there was nothing but good in there. His actions didn’t change that. What he’d beenorderedto do didn’t change that. Will would follow him anywhere, would never think badly of him. None of them were free of blood on their hands. The only thing that allowed Will to sleep at night was knowing that he had only ever taken a life if he’d had no other choice, and if he’d been protecting an innocent. That was hisjob. It was all their jobs. To be the shield that protected those that couldn’t protect themselves. Even Sebastian, in his own way.

“Do you want to take the job?” Quinn asked.

“I haven’t decided,” Peyton said defensively.

Will moved across the small space and put a hand on Peyton’s knee, squeezing gently. Peyton gifted him with a small smile that made warmth dance around his heart.

“Will you at least talk to us about it before you do?” Quinn didn’t sound like he was trying to be patronising, only that he wanted to bepartof it, and Will understood that on a visceral level. Peyton was incredible and could take on the world if he wanted to, and Will never wanted to hold him back from that; he only didn’t want to be left behind.

Peyton’s gaze bounced between them. “Is that what we’re doing now? Checking with each other before we make decisions?”

Quinn put his mug on the counter and bent his elbows back, bracing his hands on the edges. “What are you asking?”

Will bit his lip. This felt like a good time to bring up his questions. “Are we dating? Do we—are weboyfriends?” It sounded juvenile, but he didn’t know how else to say it.

Sebastian settled his hand on Will’s hip, his fingers sliding in under the waistband to tease his skin. “Boyfriend is a weird word,” he said. “Do we have to use that terminology?”

“Is this just something casual?” Will asked quietly. If that was the case, he didn’t want to do it. He wasn’t interested in no-strings-attached sex. Taking Sebastian home had been an outlier and not one that Will wanted to repeat. Peyton was his best friend; theylovedeach other—which was a revelation that was still making his heart sing—and while he wasn’t expecting the same kind of love confessions from Quinn or Sebastian, he wasn’t interested in them being semi-regular fuck buddies. That seemed somehow worse than him not fitting: him only being good enough for sex.

“I…” Sebastian’s lips parted. “No,” he said slowly. He took his glasses off and rubbed his nose before putting them back on. “I’m not saying no, I’m just asking if we can use a different word. This isn’t—I don’t spend more than a night with a person. Not since…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but the look he gave Quinn wasfull.

But he had with them. More than one. And he’d spent time with them that wasn’t just sex. That had to mean something.

Will couldn’t contain his smile. “What about Bae?”

Sebastian studied him carefully, like he wasn’t sure if Will was being serious or not. Will tried hard to maintain his innocent smile.

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