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The temporary ones that they’d set up were good, but they could be better. Jericho had gotten Six to come by that afternoon and install a few more temporary ones, but Jericho would need to organise to get something done properly if he was going to be spending any kind of extended time in the place. And who knew how long this bullshit would continue? Everyone at HQ was working overtime to clean up their streets, but these things were never quick. Or easy.
How much temptation could he take before he gave in and sold his soul?
JERICHO SHOWERED WITH A dog watching him. She sniffed his leg while he was towelling off, and he had to push her nose down when she tried to stick it where it didn’t belong.
“I can handle drying that part, thanks,” he told her.
She sat back, her tail swishing across the tiles.
“Why can’t you give me some dignity and at least close your eyes while I get dressed?”
Her ears flicked, and he could have sworn she winked at him. What a minx. He draped his towel over her head and tried to get dressed quickly while she found her way out of the sudden tunnel.
He didn’t bother putting on a shirt and instead tugged on some black briefs and a pair of loose-fitting black pyjama pants.
Persephone checked her bowl and pushed it around the floor as Jericho checked the glass balcony door connected to the dining area and then through to the back door from the laundry. And then the front door because of course there were three fucking entrances to the place. Just one more time. It wasn’t paranoia if someone was out to get you.
“You’ve already had dinner,” Jericho told her as he triple-checked all the windows—and the places he’d stashed a few goodies that Sebastian didn’t need to know about. “Plus extra because Will isn’t subtle.”
He hesitated at the foot of the stairs on his way to his temporary room.
It would be a colossally bad idea to join them. He didn’t belong here. This wasn’t his world. He was just here to protect Sebastian and to finish recruiting Peyton properly. Sleeping beside a person, being that vulnerable, wasn’t the same thing as having sex with them.
Persephone nudged him. He glared at her, and she nudged him again. “You and I need to talk about boundaries. I can’t go up there, you understand? I’ll never come back down.” Figuratively. He’d need to come back down to eat. And leave the house. He tried to limit the number of times he jumped out the window of a second floor of a house. It wasn’t zero, but he preferred to keep it under triple digits.
She yipped.
“Shh.”
She did it again.
He was being bullied by a dog. He couldn’t believe this. He was never telling Six about this.
Jericho closed his eyes, his heart stuttering in his chest. This was a mistake. He knew it was. He didn’t know how he would come back from it.
He took the stairs slowly, one foot after the other. Left, right, left, right, a juxtaposition of fear and elation taking root in his stomach.
He shouldn’t be doing this. “Compromised,” didn’t even begin to cover it if he went through with this. Hunter was going to kill him.
He placed a palm on the bedroom door. He could hear them shuffling around, murmuring to each other.
What the fuck was he doing?
Persephone shoved through the door, toddling her way to her bed.
Jericho froze as the four men turned to look at him.
Busted.
Too late to turn back.
“Come to join us?” Sebastian asked from where he was settled on the left side of the bed. Beside him was Will, then Peyton, and Quinn last to complete the sandwich. There was still room on the bed but not a lot. How would they even all fit? They’d need to be practically glued to each other. What if one of them kicked? Even if it was just the four of them, they were going to need a bigger bed. Unless they liked sleeping on top of each other.
Will smiled as he ate— “Are those Jumpy’s?” Jericho asked. He hadn’t seen a packet of those since he was a kid. They still sold them?
Will pulled out a handful of small kangaroo-shaped potato chips filled with air and popped them into his mouth, crunching loudly. “There’s an entire shelf of snacks,” he said, his mouth full.
“I have a niece that’s eight and nephews that are six and five,” Sebastian explained. “It’s kept stocked for them.”
