Page 16 of Duality (The Archers #1)

SEBASTIAN

“ W e can discuss it more tomorrow,” Evelyn said, dismissing what I just said.

I knew that my darling Evie wasn’t quite convinced of my devotion just yet.

Or that we could be helpful to not only this mission but to all of the Archers’ missions.

She thought we only walked on the right side of the law.

She didn’t know how we’d operated when SDS first started.

We were intimately familiar with the shades of gray it took to get a job done.

But she wasn’t wrong about how we worked now.

Alexander and Marcus had worked hard to build SDS’s reputation, and our jobs now were strictly above board.

I had fallen in line, but I missed the thrill of the more dangerous jobs we used to do.

But now my perfect Evie was giving me an opportunity to walk back into the gray, and I couldn’t wait.

The door at the back of the room opened, and Grace walked back in, her expression grim.

Evelyn frowned when she saw her, and I felt a little murderous rage.

My Evie should always be smiling. Or wearing that sexy grim determination she’d worn when she’d fired out the window at the motorcyclist earlier.

Grace frowned when she looked at the rest of us. She didn’t seem to like us very much, which was fine with me. Their interactions over the past hour showed that Grace was very protective of Evie, and that was excellent. Evie needed more people in her corner.

“Yarlton is out,” she told Evie. “Two SUVs keep circling the premises.”

“Fuck,” Evie cursed, and I grinned.

Evie had tried to maintain her distance at the office, but over the last few years, she had allowed me glimpses behind the professional barrier she kept up. Cursing was a new layer to my usually so professional Evie.

Evie sighed heavily. “Okay, what about Clay?”

Grace shook her head. “Clay is out, too.” Grace hesitated, frowning. “The other places are full, so they’re not an option. After last month…”

Evie sighed again, looking tired, and I immediately wanted to fix it.

She stood, rubbing a hand over her face.

I resisted the urge to draw her into my arms and comfort her.

She wasn’t ready for it yet, and besides, I had to get the other three on board first. But once I got us all on the same page, Evie was going to have a team of devoted men at her beck and call.

Alexander and Adrian were already halfway there.

Marcus was going to be stubborn, but I saw the way he looked at her when she wasn’t looking.

He was intrigued by her. He just had to get rid over the rigid moral code he hid behind.

“Okay, I’ll take them to the Manor. Will you let Danny know we need the other SUV?”

“Are you sure?” Grace questioned, frowning. Evie nodded, holding up a hand when Grace opened her mouth again. She sighed and nodded. “He’s already got it stocked and is bringing it around,” Grace said.

“Good.” Evie looked at the rest of us. “We’ll continue this discussion tomorrow. Right now, I think it’s best if everyone gets a good night’s sleep, as it’s already late. We’ll take you to a safe house for the night and pick back up in the morning.”

I stood, resisting the urge to bounce on my toes. A safe house? The Archers were more organized than I thought. I should know better than to underestimate my Evie.

We drove for about thirty minutes to the outskirts of the city, where the houses were separated by several acres.

We pulled into a driveway with stone columns and followed a winding driveway back to an imposing brick manor house.

My eyebrows shot up. The Archers could afford a safe house like this?

My brothers and I lived in a two-story penthouse suite in the city, but this place felt expensive.

It was obviously old, and some of the brick was chipped away, but there were small things that indicated someone was fixing it up.

The driveway was freshly paved, and the landscaping was well-manicured.

We exited the SUVs, having taken two vehicles. Danny drove one and Evie drove the other. Out here, the only sounds were the crickets. The quiet was odd but refreshing.

Danny frowned at Evie, the first frown I had seen on his face all night. “Are you sure about this?” he murmured quietly to her.

She shrugged. “I can always sell it if this goes south.”

I frowned. What did she mean, sell it? Did she own it? Or did the Archers? Or was there a distinction? The Archers was like a complicated puzzle I was looking forward to unraveling.

As we walked up the short pathway to the door, I noticed the security cameras on the exterior of the house.

They were placed discreetly, but after a decade of installing and building security systems, I picked them out easily.

They looked top of the line, a similar system to what I recommended for clients.

Evie had been paying attention over the years.

My heart warmed at her interest in my work.

I made mental notes to upgrade her system to my latest inventions. Nothing would get past my devices.

Evie unlocked the imposing entry door and pushed it open. It swung open with a loud creak. Given the state of the house, the creaking could have come with age, but it also served as a warning system if the door were to be opened by someone else.

Inside the entryway, Evie typed in an alarm code on the security system while my brothers filed in behind her.

The entry hall was large with an imposing staircase in front of us.

The wood floors were weathered and worn, and the handrail on the staircase looked unsteady in places.

To our left was the sitting room, dusty white sheets still covering most of the furniture.

Danny brushed by me, carrying several plastic bags. He walked through the doorway to our right and put the bags down on the dining room table before exiting out the door again. Adrian followed him out, and I smirked, wondering how that discussion was going to go.

Evie cleared her throat. “Kitchen is through the dining room. The living room is past the staircase along with my office and suite. Both of which are off limits.”

Wait a minute, this was her home? I took in the surroundings with a new eye. Even though the home was in a state of disrepair, I could see Evie’s small touches throughout in the paint swatches on the wall and the classic dining room set.

“You live here?” Alexander questioned. My big brother was thrown by the news, his eyes widening while his brow furrowed. He also took in our surroundings with a more critical eye.

“I do,” Evie nodded, her expression guarded, as if she was preparing herself for our judgment.

“But you live in that shitty one-bedroom apartment by the train tracks you wouldn’t let us move you out of,” Marcus spluttered, and I grinned.

She and Marcus had gone round and round on that a few years ago when he discovered where she was living. He had wanted to move her into our building, but she had stood her ground. Now, I bet it was so we couldn’t track her movements, or we might have discovered her secret identity much earlier.

Evie shrugged, a small grin on her perfect pink lips. “It was close to the office,” she said, mirth in her eyes as she watched Marcus.

“But you fought me on it!” Marcus said dumbly.

A full grin spread across Evie’s face before she bit her lip to hide it. “That was the most fun I had in a while.”

Marcus just blinked at her, and I clapped my brother on the shoulder. “I think you’ve met your match,” I murmured in his ear, winking at Evie. A faint dusting of pink covered her cheeks before she turned away.

“I only bought this place a few years ago. I’ve been restoring it in whatever spare time I have, which is not a lot.

” She shrugged. “But there are six bedrooms upstairs and one functioning bathroom, so you’ll have to share.

But more importantly, you’ll be safe here.

Not many people know about this. Even fewer can connect it to me, and you just met all of them. ”

So her lieutenants and that was it. For a safe house, it was practically perfect. An advanced security system, in the middle of nowhere, with practically no paper trail. Clearly, the Archers were more advanced than most people thought they were.

The door closed behind us. Danny and Adrian stepped through with the last of the bags.

“There should be enough food in here for a couple of days,” Danny said.

“And there are some extra clothes in here as well. I guessed everyone’s sizes, but they should be fine for at least tonight until we can figure out if it’s safe for you to go home. ”

Danny grimaced as he looked at all of us standing in the foyer.

He didn’t seem thrilled at having us in Evie’s space.

I was relieved to learn earlier that his protectiveness was familial and not romantic.

Evie definitely seemed to care about him when he would drop by the office, and I would hate to upset her by removing a rival for her affections.

“Thanks, Danny,” Evie said, directing a soft smile at him that made me want to claw his eyes out even if he was her cousin. “We should be good.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” Danny asked, his eyes moving over all of us before landing back on her.

Evie shook her head. “I need you out there tonight. We need to know what’s happening on the streets.”

Danny frowned but nodded. He wrapped her up in a big bear hug, then handed her the rest of the bags. He waited till she disappeared into the kitchen before pinning us with a look.