Page 54 of Duality

“So what? Citadel tells you to infiltrate the Ghosts and take down the Archers?”

Finch smiled. “You always were the smart one. But yes, I infiltrated the Ghosts. I had heard rumors that the Ghosts and Archers were linked and knew that if I could play the long game, it would pay off.”

“What does Citadel want with the Archers?”

Finch smiled again. “They’ve become a nuisance, and Citadel is going to eliminate them all. They should have stuck to college campuses and left the big dogs alone.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Finch shrugged. “They were content to let them stay in the city, but a few months ago, the Archers meddled in the wrong thing and got some judge that Citadel had in their back pocket impeached and made enough noise that leadership noticed. Soreally, they did it to themselves. Now Citadel’s got plans for your little girlfriend and her organization.”

I remembered that case. It had been big news when the story broke. The judge had been exposed for taking bribes and covering up crimes. I hadn’t realized it was the Archers that had taken him down, though. That judge’s skewed decisions had impacted hundreds of people.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I said to cover my rising dread. Fuck, this was bad. If that judge was in Citadel’s pocket, and it was the Archers that lost them that asset… Yeah, Citadel was out for blood. Fuck. Add in this new mystery client, and no wonder they had put out a hit order.

Finch shrugged. “Your brothers’ girlfriend, then. I’ve seen the way Sebastian looks at her. She seems pretty free with her affections. Maybe I’ll take a turn with her before Citadel wipes her and her organization from the earth.”

“You won’t touch her,” I snarled. Over my dead body would he touch her.

He grinned. “Touchy, touchy. Too bad you can’t do anything about those big feelings you’re having. Now…” He stood and patted my head like I was a fucking dog. “Let’s go see how much you’re worth to your brothers.”

He left the room through the metal door to my right. Rico stayed behind, fading back into the shadows behind me. It was a move designed to psych me out, but it was amateur hour. I had survived worse. Evelyn might not want anything to do with me after I had treated her like shit, too caught up in my own trauma to realize that she wasn’t the enemy. Citadel and Finch were. She may never want me like she wanted my brothers, but I wouldn’t let Finch hurt her. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her ever again, not even me. Now I just had to get out of here alive so I could keep that promise.

CHAPTER 25

EVELYN

“Marcus is missing,” Adrian announced from the entryway of the dining room.

I froze mid-scan of the document before me and lifted my head to look at him. Marcus was missing? Sebastian and Alexander stilled next to me. Liam looked up from his computer at the end of the table, and I nodded at him. He started typing, and I knew he was tracking Marcus’s phone.

“What do you mean, missing?” Alexander said tightly.

We weren’t supposed to go anywhere alone, and of all the people to disregard that rule, Marcus, the rule stickler, was not the one I had been worried about.

“He left four hours ago to meet Finch and still hasn’t returned.”

Finch? Carter’s man?

“What was he doing meeting Finch?” I asked, frowning.

And what was he doing going alone? We were all traveling in pairs, and I thought he had joined Danny and Grace when they left for HQ this morning. Maya was having lunch with their dad, Detective Patel, to see if there were any rumors floating around the city about this new client of Citadel’s. Danny, Grace, and Izzy were at HQ, streamlining our operations. We had toput a hold on taking new missions right now, and it was eating at me. People needed our help, and we weren’t able to help them without putting them in more danger. I needed this Citadel situation wrapped up, and Marcus had gonealonesomewhere? What if Citadel had captured him, or worse, killed him on his way to or from the meeting?

“Marcus didn’t say why,” Adrian said grimly. “I tried to get him to let me tag along, but…”

Alexander groaned, rubbing a hand over his attractive face. When he had walked into the dining room earlier dressed in sweats, I had wanted to climb him, but I shoved those urges down now. This was serious.

“But my brother is a stubborn bastard.”

Adrian shrugged. “I was going to say a stubborn asshole, but that works, too.”

Alexander frowned and started rustling through the papers in front of him. He pulled the laptop he was working on closer and started typing. Had he found something? Or knew where Marcus might be?

“I tracked his phone,” Liam announced, not even glancing up from his screen. “It’s off now, but the last known location was an abandoned garage off Fenton by the location of the first attack. I’m accessing his last messages now to see if there are any clues.”

The large projection screen behind him turned on, and Liam started sharing the messages he was pulling from Marcus’s phone.

Finch:“Mad-Dog, it’s Finch. I’ve got information you need to know about your girl. It’s bad and affects your brothers.”