Page 9 of Duality (The Archers #1)

EVELYN

M y eyelids grated against my eyes like sandpaper.

Groaning as the words on the screen swam across my vision, I gently rubbed my eyes, trying not to smear the makeup that covered just how exhausted I really was.

A week had passed since Eric and Brittany were killed, and I was no closer to finding out how Citadel had discovered the location of our safe house than I had been a week ago.

I was averaging maybe two hours of sleep a night, mostly in fitful naps where Eric and Brittany came alive in my dreams demanding to know why I hadn’t gotten justice for them yet.

My tenuous grasp on my two lives was starting to slip through my fingers.

Something had to give, but nothing could without having devastating consequences.

Fighting off a wave of exhaustion, I decided to walk this contract down to Marcus instead of sending another assistant to do so. Hopefully, some increased blood circulation would wake me up.

Instead of the elevator, I walked down the two flights of stairs to the legal floor. While Marcus had an office on the executive floor, he split time between that office and his office on the legal floor.

Murmured conversation floated through the door, indicating he was on the phone.

Approaching his office, I heard him talking on the phone.

I knocked softly on his door, peering through the window next to it.

He lifted his eyes from his computer, and his eyes widened.

I rarely made paperwork runs. He waved me inside and gestured towards one of the chairs opposite his desk.

I settled into the soft leather and leaned back, sighing softly.

I had just gotten this pair of heels and hadn’t fully broken them in yet; the toes were pinching.

Marcus wrapped up his call with one of our vendors from the sound of it. “Is everything okay?” he asked, leaning forward, his green eyes scanning over me as if he could peel back the layers in my brain and figure out what was going on.

All four of them had been watching me more closely the last week since my admission in the conference room over lunch. Their concern was touching, but it made searching through SDS servers that much harder.

“Yes, I just needed to stretch my legs.” I waved off his concern, ignoring the warmth that spread through me.

Part of me ached to tell him everything and let him fix it.

His military experience would be invaluable in this situation, but I knew his moral code would get stuck on the fact that I lied to him, and I would be no use to the Archers in a prison cell.

“We’re not working you too hard?” He didn’t let it go.

I was working too hard but not because of SDS.

The work here was hard but not unreasonable.

No, in addition to trying to find answers about Eric and Brittany’s deaths, we still hadn’t found any more information on Young Enterprises, and two of our other open cases had stalled out online, which meant we all were hitting the streets trying to get information the old-fashioned way.

It was a clusterfuck, but I didn’t know what else to do except to keep going.

“I’m fine, truly.”

He kept me pinned with his green stare. I had seen his piercing stare work on even the most seasoned lawyers and clients to divulge their darkest secrets, but unluckily for him, I was immune, so I just arched an eyebrow at him.

“You know you can come to us with anything, right? Even if it’s not work related,” he pressed.

I appreciated the sentiment, but that just wasn’t true.

Marcus wasn’t the only one with a strict moral code.

They had built SDS on the premise of law and order, honesty and truth, and even though their support would be invaluable, the Archers walked on the gray side of the law too many times for them to stomach it.

“Thank you,” I said. “Now, Kenton Industries emailed over the contract with some changes.”

Marcus nodded, taking the paperwork from me. “I’ll review it after lunch.”

I nodded. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I slid it from the pocket of my green silk pants. The message on the screen was from our secure messaging app, and when I opened it, ice rushed through my veins, and the edges of my vision blurred, narrowing on the message on the screen.

I shoved the confusion and panic down and looked back up at Marcus, who was now looking at me with narrowed eyes. Fuck, I must not have done a good enough job of hiding my reactions.

“Is that all, Mr. Stone?” I asked, forcing cheer into my tone, my brain racing as I tried to process what I just read. I needed to get somewhere isolated.

“That’s all, Miss Harper,” he said slowly.

Before he could say anything else, I nodded and rose.

Trying to keep my pace measured, I quickly found the single bathroom on this floor and locked myself inside.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket again, ignoring the tremble in my hands as I re-opened the message from Liam.

As I read it, anger replaced the confusion and fear.

Citadel just put a hit out on the dark web for the Stone brothers, Liam typed. $3M payout. $1M per brother. Digging into why.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Why the fuck was Citadel targeting my bosses?

What did they hope to gain by taking them out?

This felt like more than an attempt to sabotage their business and steal clients.

This was personal, but why? As far as I knew, there was no real bad blood between Citadel and SDS.

Sure, there was a healthy business rivalry, but the city was big enough for both of them.

What would have prompted this reaction? A hit? Citadel really had lost their minds.

My throat felt tight as sharp pain stabbed through my chest, accompanied by the mental images of the brothers lying dead on morgue tables like Eric and Brittany.

My breaths were shallow as I tried to focus.

No, this couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t lose anyone else I cared about.

And I did care about the four of them. Even if I would never act on those feelings, I liked Alexander, Marcus, Sebastian, and Adrian in a more than professional way.

I would never tell them, but I was tired of Citadel going after the people in my life. Enough was enough.

I debated leaving the bathroom and calling them together, telling them what I found.

But what would I say? Oh, by the way, I found out from one of my lieutenants that there’s a hit out on you on the dark web.

They would have so many questions about why their assistant, Evelyn Harper, knew any of those words.

Then they would discover that I had been lying to them for years, something that would no doubt be the biggest betrayal in their eyes.

Then would come the yelling and accusations about working for them, which weren’t totally wrong.

Then they would likely fire me. And if they fired me, not only would we lose access to their databases, but I also couldn’t keep them safe.

I was far more concerned with the latter than the former.

I couldn’t say anything. But I could handle it before they ever knew. I quickly sent off a message to Liam. Monitor and let me know if anyone takes the contract.

I sent another message to Grace. Adapt Operation Burn It Down to include four more packages.

Operation Burn It Down was the codename we decided on if my team needed to extricate me from SDS because my identity had been compromised.

Grace messaged back a confirmation, and I released the breath I was holding.

It was fine. Everything was fine. I had a plan.

I could keep them safe without them ever knowing it was me.

Except when I exited the bathroom, Marcus was waiting for me. I schooled my expression to something neutral. “Was there something you needed, Mr. Stone?”

He rubbed a hand along the back of his neck, looking like a sheepish schoolboy for a moment. “I just wanted to check on you.”

My heart clenched. If he only knew. “Thank you for your concern,” I said diplomatically. “I’m fine, though.”

“You seemed upset earlier when you checked your phone. Are you sure everything’s okay?” he pressed. “Was it about your…friend?”

I shook my head, offering him a smile that felt shaky, even to me, but willing him to drop it. I had to get my shit together, or he wasn’t going to let it go. “Everything’s fine. Just thinking about what I wanted to eat for lunch.”

Doing something I had never done before, I looped my hand through his elbow and allowed him to escort me to the elevator. “I was thinking Indian. Thoughts?”

Marcus stiffened for a brief moment at the contact. I tugged my hand back, worried I overstepped, but he placed a hand over mine and squeezed it briefly before letting go.

“Indian sounds good,” he said. “My treat.”

I squeezed his arm. “Thank you,” I murmured.

I could do this. I could keep them safe while protecting the Archers and my identity and burying my feelings for them. Right? I couldn’t lose anyone else. I wouldn’t survive it.