Page 12 of Duality

“Maybe it’s time to bring them into the know,” Izzy said carefully, and my gaze snapped to hers. Tell SDS who I was? Was she crazy?

“There is not a world in which that goes well,” I warned her. “I’ll be fired on the spot. And you know how much the information I’ve gathered has helped us.”

It was information we needed now more than ever, and no matter how useful I was to the guys, they wouldn’t hesitate to fire me for my betrayal.

“I know it has. But from everything you’ve said and everything we’ve gathered, they are good guys. Their resources could be helpful when we go after Citadel.”

She had a good point, but I hesitated. I couldn’t see how it would go well. Marcus had such a black-and-white code of honor and truth from his military experience that had been implemented across the company’s operating procedures. I had lied to him, to them, for years. There was no way he would take it well, that they would take it well. Besides, would they even believe in the Archers’ mission? The Stone brothers were well off and came from a firmly upper-middle class family. They ran in the same circles as some of the people we took down. My checkered past was so far from their ivory tower that there was no way that telling them the truth would end well.

And there was a small voice that whispered my biggest fear in telling them. That they wouldn’t want me. Not that we had any kind of relationship now, but the brothers plus Adrian were the closest I had ever gotten to anyone other than my lieutenants. The Archers consistently proved to me how fucked up the world was. The Stone brothers and Adrian were the exception. The banter and, dare I say, friendship I had found with them, even as their employee… Well, it had gotten me through more rough patches than they would ever know. If I told them, I would not only lose the best source of information the Archers had, but I would also lose them. And I liked my job. I liked the work that SDS did. If I told them, I would probably never be able to work in security again. Not unless Liam crafted a whole different identity for me, but even then…

“Just think about it,” Izzy said, reading the conflict in my eyes. “You don’t have to make a decision now. But…”

“But what?” I needed her to spit it out.

“But it’s okay to lean on someone sometimes. Or multiple someones.”

“I lean on you all,” I tried to protest. I leaned on them for the Archers’ work. Most of the time. But I tried not to. It was the job of the boss to protect their employees.

“No, you don’t,” Izzy corrected, but her tone was gentle. “Not in the way I’m talking about, and you know it.”

“I’ll think about it,” I conceded, ready to be done with this conversation. “But later. For now, we need to find out how this leak happened and how we can prevent it from happening again.”

She was just trying to help, but now wasn’t the time. The Archers were the justice for the people the system failed, and right now, we had to sharpen our arrows.

CHAPTER 6

EVELYN

Ishould have stayed home today.

Hot liquid splashed over the cup and onto my hand, and I hissed, fighting the impulse to just chuck the cup of coffee at the wall. Instead, I placed it down next to the sink and slipped my hand under the cold water.

“Is everything okay?”

I jolted at the sound of Alexander’s voice. Fuck, I was in bad shape if I hadn’t noticed him sneak up on me.

“Yes, Mr. Stone.” I pasted a smile on my face as I faced him. “Just got a little overzealous pouring the coffee.” Or a little distracted, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.

It was my fourth cup of coffee for the morning, but he didn’t need to know that. I never made it to bed last night, busy combing through every piece of information my lieutenants uncovered. It wasn’t until my alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. that I had dragged myself away from HQ and headed to my small apartment to change. We were still no closer to figuring out how Citadel knew about Brittany and our safe house, and it was driving me crazy.

Alexander moved into the kitchenette, and I cursed internally when I realized he had been talking to me the whole time I was lost in my head.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stone. What was that?”

His blue eyes sharpened as he studied me. I knew the professional mask I usually kept up was slipping, but I wasn’t going to be able to fix it today. Once I figured out where the leak came from and got some sleep, maybe. But today, I just needed to focus on surviving. The morning had been busy with meetings, including the R&D meeting, and that helped keep my mind off things. But if I stopped moving, I saw them there, Brittany and Eric, lying cold and pale on the coroner’s table.

I shook my head unconsciously, and Alexander frowned. “I said I ordered lunch for everyone. It’s set up in the conference room.”

“You ordered lunch?” I blinked at him. I couldn’t remember the last time he’d ordered lunch.

He huffed at me, his eyes crinkling with amusement. “Contrary to what you may believe, Miss Harper, I can order my own lunch.”

“That remains to be seen, Mr. Stone.” The banter helped ease the tension in my shoulders, and I moved past him when he gestured.

I could feel the heat of him at my back as he guided me to the conference room. It was as if he wasn’t sure I would make it there unless he was there behind me. I faltered at the doorway when I saw the rest of them sitting in the room. Marcus frowned at me, and I arched an eyebrow at him before slipping into a seat next to Adrian. I didn’t have the energy to deal with Sebastian’s energy today without slipping. Adrian glared at the mug of coffee in my hand and the reddened skin of my fingers. He grabbed a bottle of water from the center of the table and shoved it at me.

I took a sip of coffee just to fuck with him. His eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth to speak, and I placed the coffee down and picked up the water. His lips pressed together as he watched me take a sip.