Page 12 of Duality (The Archers #1)

ALEXANDER

A s the SUV squealed away, I struggled to find that icy calm I had perfected over the years at the absolute clusterfuck in front of me.

Evelyn Harper, our assistant of six years, a woman who mastered efficiency and poise and ran our office like a tight ship, had been keeping secrets.

Dangerous secrets if the last thirty minutes were anything to go by.

Who was she really? What did she want with us? With SDS? Were we safe with her?

Immediately, I dismissed the last question.

We were safe with her for now. Although the image of her pointing a gun at me would be seared into my brain forever.

I hadn’t expected the bullets whistling past my ear and the thud of the body that hit the ground behind me.

She had saved my life. But for what reason?

Before everything started, she had said one word to Adrian. Archers. Was she a part of the organization? The leader? Whoever was on the phone clearly deferred to her, but just how high up in the organization was she?

I should be furious, but it wasn’t fury running through my veins but fear and maybe a little bit of awe.

We dealt in a dangerous world and had made a few enemies over the years.

It was one of the reasons I tried to keep her at arm’s length.

Why all of us had. I wasn’t blind. Evelyn was an attractive woman, but because she worked for us, she was a potential target.

She would have become a bigger target if people knew she was important to us.

Our previous assistant hadn’t inspired these feelings in us.

Sure, we cared for Ethel like we cared for any other of our employees, but Ethel had been a woman in her sixties and had been content to just schedule meetings and grab us coffee.

She had been the one to recommend Evelyn to the role, and Evelyn had made it her own, quickly becoming an indispensable part of our business, and now I wondered if that was all for a different purpose.

The revving of motorcycles behind us had Evelyn twisting in her seat.

I envied the cool, calm mask she wore when it felt like my whole world was rocked under my feet.

I twisted in my seat as well, ignoring Sebastian’s coiled energy next to her.

He was already obsessed with Evelyn. A few years ago, he had come up with this crazy idea that we should all date her.

While Evelyn was gorgeous and smart, she was also our employee, and at the time we had been dealing with a client who needed protection from some bad players, so I didn’t want her to be a target.

I had spent the last few years trying to contain him over fear of being slapped with a harassment lawsuit, but now that he had gotten a glimpse of her secrets…

Well, my brother could be obsessive. In the business world it served him well, but now I worried it would burn away the tenuous grip he had on his sanity.

“Liam,” Miss Harp—Evelyn barked.

“I see them,” the male voice came through the speaker. “Not ours.”

Evelyn cursed, and my eyes widened. I had never heard her curse once in the years she worked for us. Just how much of her personality was a lie?

She unbuckled her seatbelt and rolled down the window.

Bracing herself against the door, she nodded to the woman driving.

Other than asking if Evelyn was okay, the woman hadn’t said another word, but her sharp brown eyes kept glancing from the road back to us as if she was measuring threats on all sides constantly.

She maneuvered the SUV in and out of the side streets with the grace and ease that spoke of experience with tactical driving. Just what were the Archers involved in?

When Evelyn nodded, the woman yanked the vehicle hard to the right, executing a 180 turn flawlessly.

Evelyn popped out of the open window, gun in her hand.

She fired three quick shots, picking off one of the motorcyclists, sending him crashing over the curb.

The other peeled off. Evelyn slid back into the car, and the woman gunned it again.

“Liam, where did they go?” she said, her voice sharp and commanding.

Adrian rolled down his window as we passed the alleyway the motorcyclist had disappeared down. He fired a few shots out the window. “Got him,” he said gruffly.

He and Evelyn shared a look, then she nodded at him.

Adrian had known who Evelyn was, but for how long?

I hadn’t known Adrian for as long as Marcus had, but he had fit into our company and our lives seamlessly.

The sharp pain of betrayal stung in my gut.

He made eye contact with me briefly, then looked away.

How had she swayed him to her side? He hadn’t even blinked when she had uttered the word “Archers” at the property.

Just immediately followed her lead. Adrian was the most honorable man I knew, so for him to betray SDS, betray us and Marcus…

What did he know about her that we didn’t?

“We’re coming in,” Evelyn said from up front.

“Got it. It looks clear but sending an escort to you.”

Motorcycle engines revved behind us, but Evelyn relaxed after checking the side mirror. Her hazel eyes locked with mine. “They’re friendlies,” she murmured.

Who was this woman, and what the hell was she mixed up in?

My brain struggled to reconcile the prim and proper receptionist with the gang leader in front of me.

Adrian didn’t seem too concerned, and Sebastian was head-over-heels for her already, so I would just have to wait and see.

I needed to gather more information before I made my next decision.

If the Archers were a threat to my brothers and me, then they would need to be dealt with, even if Evelyn was involved with them.

She had protected us and likely saved our lives, but it wasn’t clear yet if she saved us because we were an asset or because she cared about us. Only time would tell.

We continued for another fifteen minutes to the rougher part of town. When we pulled into an alleyway, the motorcycles peeled off. The driver and Evelyn got out, and Sebastian practically shoved me out of the car in an effort to get to Evelyn.

“Is this your super-secret lair, Evie? Can I be your sidekick? The Robin to your Batman? The Winter Soldier to your Captain America?” He bounced on his toes, and Evelyn watched him with a bemused smirk on her lips.

“Let’s table that discussion until later,” Evelyn said.

“You and your brothers might not want anything to do with me after we talk.” Her eyes flicked to me, and the caution in them sent a knife straight through my gut.

I didn’t like that expression on her face, especially when it was directed at me, but I didn’t know enough about what was happening to contradict her.

Sebastian stilled, his expression fierce. “That would never happen. You’re stuck with me forever. Like a barnacle to a ship.”

Evelyn’s lips parted, but no words followed.

Leaving the silence hanging, she turned and strode toward a door hidden in the shadows.

I hesitated, but Adrian retrieved Marcus from the back of the SUV and followed Evelyn inside without question.

Whatever Adrian knew or didn’t know about Evelyn, his instincts had saved our asses plenty over the last few years, so I followed him inside.

Our driver placed her thumb on a scanner hidden under a fake brick, and my eyes narrowed with interest. That was smart. To anyone else, this just looked like an abandoned alleyway, but clearly, it was something more. What else was she hiding?

Evelyn’s lips quirked when she looked at me. “Easy there,” she murmured. “You can’t have all the secrets unless you’re all in.”

Her husky voice made my heart skip a beat even as my brain warned not to fall for her. But it was really too late for that warning. Although the events of the last few hours, plus whatever lay beyond that door, may change that.

We went through two more doors, each requiring a thumbprint and a code, before entering a large room.

A large conference table that could hold twelve people dominated the middle of the room.

To the right was a desk with several screens mounted on the wall and two chairs in front of it.

To the left were some couches, where Adrian deposited Marcus gently.

Three people stood in front of the table, waiting for our arrival.

A man with messy blond hair in his early 20s stood with his hands in his hoodie pocket, headphones around his neck.

The manic glint in his grey eyes reminded me of Sebastian, and I made a note to keep the two far away from each other.

A woman with olive skin and black hair pulled back in a bun wearing camouflage fatigue pants and a black t-shirt stood next to him with her hands clasped behind her back.

Every inch of her screamed military, from her stance to the sharp way she evaluated us.

Her lips thinned, and I got the impression she wasn’t thrilled we were in her space.

Next to her was a man I recognized. An easy grin was plastered on his face as he watched us approach.

He ran his hand back through his hair, pushing the brown curls back from where they fell over his eyes.

This man had been by the office a few times to pick Evelyn up for lunch.

Evelyn had never shared his name or who he was to her, but I’d never forgotten his face.

A sharp flare of jealousy spiked in my gut when he strode forward and hugged her.

Next to me, Sebastian stilled, and his blue eyes sharpened on the man. Clearly, he remembered him, too.

The man handed her a pair of tennis shoes, and she slipped into them.

I forgot she had taken her heels off back at the property.

She placed a hand on the man’s shoulder to balance herself, and I wanted to rip it off.

Shocked at the sudden irrational rage I felt watching her touch another man, I forced myself to step back and study the space more.

The back of the room was lined with floor-to-ceiling cabinets with a door tucked away in the back right corner.

“Let’s wake up Marcus,” Evelyn said, straightening. “I would rather only have this conversation once.”

The woman who had driven the SUV nodded and went back to the cabinets, rummaging around before appearing with an alcohol pad. Adrian took the pad from her and tore it open, waving it under Marcus’s nose. He startled awake, his eyes blinking rapidly as he took it all in.

“What the fuck?” he snarled. “Who fucking knocked me out?”

“I did.” Adrian’s voice took all the bluster out of my brother’s sails as he stared at him, slack jawed.

Sebastian slumped down next to Marcus and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “You missed a lot, big brother.” Sebastian grinned. “Our Evie has been keeping a lot of secrets. Starting with the fact she’s the leader of the Archers.”