Page 20 of Duality

Silence followed Sebastian’s dramatic statement. It was almost comical how all four men turned to face me at his words.

I shook my head at Sebastian. “I should have known you would be the first to figure it out.” Six years of hiding it, and he figured it out from one clue. Okay, it was a pretty big clue…

Adrian cleared his throat, and I rolled my eyes. Any more visible displays of sass I had kept hidden all these years, and Marcus’s and Alexander’s jaws would be on the floor. I was acting totally differently from their professional assistant, Evelyn Harper.

Here, in Archers headquarters, I was Eve Harper, a take-no-shit woman. And it was time to see how much shit the Stone brothers were about to give me for the secrets I had been keeping. I guess it was time to go all in. I couldn’t really hide it all anymore. That scene at the warehouse had done a good enough job of that. But I couldn’t have let them die.

“Okay, figured it out second.”

Marcus’s head whipped around to face Adrian. “You knew?” His tone was accusatory, but the devastation that flashed across his face before he hid it had me wincing. I had hoped this wouldnever come out for that reason alone. Marcus and Adrian were closer than brothers, and Adrian keeping a secret like this was going to break that relationship, and it was all my fault.

Adrian shifted uncomfortably, no doubt seeing the same thing I did. “I did.” He didn’t try to hide it, even when Marcus’s jaw slackened before he scowled.

While Adrian and Marcus were having a silent stare off, Liam handed me a folder. I scanned the contents quickly, my eyebrows shooting up before I schooled my expression. Well, that definitely explained a lot of things. And solidified that I was the one who dragged SDS into this mess.

“So you’re the leader of the Archers?” Alexander confirmed.

“I am.” It felt weird saying it aloud. I know Sebastian had outed me—well, I had outed myself with my actions earlier—but I had spent so long keeping my two lives separate that freely admitting it to one of my bosses had my stomach pitting. But it was necessary. Hopefully, it wouldn’t blow up in our faces, and they would hear me out.

“Who was back there at the property? Why were they trying to kill you?” It was hard to read Alexander. He had his boardroom mask on, but there were no visible signs of anger. His signs were subtle, a tick in his jaw and tightness around his eyes, but those were absent now, so I relaxed slightly.

“Actually, they were trying to kill you,” Izzy said brusquely, folding her arms as she leaned against the table.

My lieutenants weren’t comfortable with the Stone brothers and Adrian being here, from their stiff body language. Danny had angled himself in front of me when Sebastian had made his dramatic statement earlier. I appreciated their overprotectiveness, but it wasn’t necessary. I knew these men, and they were more likely to have me arrested than to respond with physical violence.

“Us? Why? Who were they?” Sebastian asked. His eyebrows furrowed, and a frown crossed his handsome face. I had an indescribable urge to make him smile, and I shoved that feeling down deep inside me.

Grace and Izzy looked at me. It was my call on what to tell them. Danny rubbed my back comfortingly. He knew how hard I worked to keep my two lives separate. I rubbed my hand over my face. All in, right? It was time to come clean. Well, maybe not abouteverything, but everything that was relevant to the brothers and the threat against them. I didn’t want to see them dead, and they wouldn’t appreciate the severity of the threat if I kept some parts out. Still, it felt like peeling off a layer of my skin and exposing the secrets underneath.

“Okay, let’s start at the beginning,” I began. “A week ago, we became aware of a contract taken out on you.”

“What does that mean?” Marcus asked, scowling at Danny. What was his problem with Danny? All of the guys looked at him strangely, now that I thought about it.

“It means that someone wanted you dead,” Grace said bluntly.

“I’m sorry, but who are you?” Marcus asked. “Who are all of you?”

Right, I was shitty at introductions. “That’s Grace, Izzy, and Liam, and this is Danny.” I pointed to each of them and then jerked a thumb at my cousin. “They are my…lieutenants, so to speak.”

Izzy rolled her eyes. “I know you hate the title, but that’s exactly what we are.” It was a familiar argument, but it wasn’t the time for it, so I ignored it for now.

“Anyways,” I continued, trying to get us back on track. “We discovered a hit put out on the three of you on the dark web.”

“A hit? Who?” Alexander demanded, the skin around his eyes tightening.

“Citadel,” I said evenly, holding his piercing blue gaze. I had spent enough time with him that I could read the anger in his eyes. He looked like an avenging angel, and I couldn’t help the flutter in my stomach, but this was so not the time.

His brow furrowed. “Citadel? Why?”

“Why didn’t you just tell us about the threat?” Marcus accused, his eyes looking at me like I’d just killed his puppy. He clearly had no interest in forgiving or forgetting my ‘betrayal’ any time soon. Even if I did save his and his brothers’ lives.

“Gee, I wonder how that would have gone down,” I drawled. “Good morning, Mr. Stone. Here are the notes for your 9 a.m. meeting. By the way, did you know Citadel put out a hit on you and your brothers last night?” I get that he was angry, but he was also a smart guy. How did he think that was going to go?

I gave him a look like “are you dumb”, and Sebastian chuckled. Marcus shot him a dirty glare, and he shrugged. “What? She makes a good point. How did you want her to work that into conversation?”

“Maybe not by lying in the first place!” Marcus demanded. “She’s been working for us for years. She’s probably compromised all of our systems and our clients.”

“I did not compromise any of your clients,” I responded icily. That was a line I had fervently drawn in the sand. I knew it would devastate them if they ever found out, and I wanted to protect them. Plus, SDS didn’t do business with anyone dirty, anyway, so that made it easy to hold that line. “Nothing I did brought you any harm.”