The Six: Genesis | A Reverse Harem Novel

Sixty

As Charlie leads me to the rear of my jet, my steps falter.

Chris' face is more youthful in his sleep. The lines on his forehead are relaxed and the way he pinches his lips together when he's angry makes him appear older than he is. I wish he could spend more of his time simply being him.

I know we're a long way away from stability.

Someone is after us—after me. And it doesn't feel like they'll be stopping anytime soon. For once, it was nice to forget the chaos, but it still found us.

It always finds us.

I'll need to contact Ryker. He's probably aware of the shitshow at the house already. If steam isn't pumping out of his ears, it will be when he learns the extent of the damage.

I loved that house, and now it's gone. We can rebuild, but it'll never be the same.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Charlie whispers into my ear as he curled me into his embrace. Like a moth to a flame, I'm drawn to him. Eagerly, I push closer, fitting my head against his chest. "Hey, hey, hey.... what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Just glad we're okay," I say, clutching him tighter. "Do we know who attacked us? Iris is searching, but hasn't found anything, yet."

Charlie stiffens. His grip around my waist becomes so tight I'm plastered to his side. As he huffs a curse under his breath, I glide my fingers along his abs.

"Charlie... did I say something wrong?"

His head shakes, but he won't look at me. "I don't want you worried about what happened back there. I want you to focus on expanding our link and innovating. It's our job to keep you safe."

"Keeping my safe?" I narrow my eyes and squirm until he lets me go. The second I step away, a solid mask unfurls on his features. "How is not explaining what happened back there keeping me safe? How am I supposed to be safe when I don't know who's after me?"

This has never been. I've never not known who was on the other side of my attackers. The one who was goading the machines was a mystery, but they'd taken me head on.

Sending a bunch of armed men into my house in a wave of bullets and kevlar was a ballsy move. There are men and women who control the largest underground organizations in the world who won't come after me. It's not the machine they're afraid of—Ryker casts a longer shadow than them all.

And he takes no shit. You're more likely to wind up with a bullet between the eyebrows than you are to get your hands on me. He's spent the last decade insulating me from the blood and violence, but it doesn't mean I didn't see my fair share of death.

"Let us handle it."

Stubbornly, I shake my head, "No."

"No?" Charlie's right eyebrow raises. "What do you mean?"

"I mean no," my arms cross unconsciously and I become the picture of disobedience. "I'm not going to sit by and let you handle my problems."

"Blue... I'm asking you to let us do our jobs—not to pretend to be blind or deaf."

"Charlie, I—"

"Listen, we want and need you to be safe and not because you pay us." Charlie glances away from me, gathering his next words. "I'm in love with you, and if anything happened to you, I'd—"

He breaks off, swallowing down the rage flaring through our link. Red hot and suffocating, it swirls around in my head until my mind balks. Surprisingly, it fades away in a flood, angling back toward him like a tsunami calls the water from the shore.