It was just one of the many valuable lessons he had picked up from the Illusive Man.

His apartment was located in one of Omega’s safest, and most expensive, districts. The guards at the district gate — a pair of heavily armed turians — recognized him and stepped aside so he and his squad could enter.

Reaching his building, he punched in the access code at the main door, instinctively shielding the keypad from Sanak and the other batarians as he did so. The position of his body gave Liselle a clear view, but he’d already given the asari his building code several months ago.

The door slid open, revealing a small hallway leading to a set of stairs and a single elevator.

“Third floor,” Grayson said. “Take the stairs. The elevator’s a little slow.”

He led the way, with Liselle, Sanak, and the others following behind single file. At the top of the steps was another hall, with a single door on either side. There were only two apartments on each of the building’s five floors; that was one of the things Grayson liked best about this building — only a handful of neighbors, and they all respected one another’s privacy.

He went up to the door and placed his hand on the pad in the center. He felt a faint warmth as the biometric scan read his palm; then there was a soft click and the door slid open.

The well-furnished apartment beyond wasn’t large, but Grayson didn’t need a lot of room. A small entry-way where visitors could take off their boots and coats led into a sitting room with a single couch and a vid screen. A small window looked out over the street below. Beyond the sitting room was a half-wall separating it from the functionally simple kitchen. Through the kitchen was another small hallway leading to the bathroom and then to the bedroom in the rear. The bathroom was small, but the bedroom was large enough not only for Grayson’s bed, but also for the chair, desk, and terminal he used whenever he wanted to patch into the extranet.