Page 64 of Duality

We all groaned when we saw the back of the dress, or the lack thereof. The fabric swooped down in a loose fold, settling just above her perfect ass.

“Stunning,” Marcus murmured, and a small smirk played on Evelyn’s lips.

“Are we ready to go?” Adrian offered her his arm, and I bit down the swell of jealousy.

She was supposed to be my date. But as she took his arm and swept out the door ahead of us, I was glad she didn’t see my reaction and the tightening of my pants. Sebastian made no move to hide his reaction, visibly adjusting himself and tugging at his tie.

“Come on, lover boy.” Marcus shoved Sebastian at the door. “You’ll have plenty of time to ogle her later. Focus on the mission first.”

Sebastian danced out of his reach. “I can multitask!” he insisted.

Sebastian slid into the back seat after Evelyn, and I walked around to slide in on her other side. Adrian drove, while Marcus took the passenger seat, his body angled so he could keep one eye on the road and the other eye on Evelyn.

She twisted the fabric of her dress in between her fingers nervously as Adrian guided us into the city. Her eyes had a faraway look in them that I recognized as her thinking look. She was no doubt obsessing over all the details of tonight.

“It’s going to be okay,” I leaned down to whisper in her ear. She shuddered softly as my breath danced across her bare skin. “It’s a solid plan.”

She didn’t answer me, but she nodded, her expression easing slightly, and I felt a warmth in my gut. She had trusted me to help her, and I wasn’t going to let her down. I knew she wasnervous about involving the mayor and the police. The Archers and especially Evelyn had seen how deep the corruption ran in the city, but the mayor was a good guy and a friend. Citadel was too large of an organization to make disappear by ourselves. No, going through the proper channels was the right call on this one. But it still made her nervous.

Knowing there weren’t any words I could say to ease her mind, I took one of her hands in mine and held it gently. Sebastian was pressed in close to her on her other side and had a hand on her knee. As we got closer to the convention center where the gala was being held, she grew stiffer and stiffer. We’d arranged to arrive fashionably late, along with many other attendees. We had just under an hour until the awards ceremony where we would make our move. As we waited in the line of cars, I tapped my comms.

“Comms check.”

“Hear you loud and clear, Mr. Top Boss.” Liam’s cheeky voice rang in my ear.

I rolled my eyes. Evelyn let out a soft laugh. Her body relaxed, and I stopped planning Liam’s demise.

“Status check?” Adrian asked, his grip tight on the steering wheel as he guided us forward.

“Only one of the targets has shown up so far. Ryan Jacobs. No sign of the others yet, but they may be in the car line with you.”

Marcus growled when Evelyn stiffened. It was clear to me that whatever Marcus went through when Finch had taken him had changed his feelings towards Evelyn. Well, it hadn’t changed them, as I knew they were already there, but whatever happened had gotten through his thick head that she wasn’t the enemy. Their conversation the other night had definitely helped as well. Evelyn was still cautious around him, though, and I didn’t blameher. She had been hurt before, and her walls were high. But he wanted to get through them. We all did.

“Danny and Grace?” Evelyn asked.

“They’re inside, along with Maya and Detective Patel. Everyone else is in place.”

“It’s showtime,” Marcus said grimly as we pulled up to the front.

I exited the vehicle first, holding my hand out for Evelyn to take. She shimmied out of the car, and I stood in front of her, blocking the view of onlookers, until she had smoothed her dress down. A red carpet stretched in front of us. The Mayor’s Gala was an extravagant event that let the rich and wealthy show off their “charity” in the form of lavish bids for various auction items. It was the business and social event of the year, and everyone who was anyone attended.

Adrian tossed the keys to the valet. The young man grabbed them out of the air. He dipped his head at Evelyn. He must be one of the Archers who were around tonight. Both the Archers and some of our SDS employees had embedded themselves as support staff. We weren’t able to staff the whole event but having just a few of our people on the inside let me breathe easier.

I offered Evelyn my elbow, and she wrapped her hand around it as we headed up the stairs. If I didn’t know her well, I would assume she was relaxed and confident as a small, regal smile played on her lips, but there was a minute tightness around her eyes. The photographers on either side shouted questions at us, but we kept walking. We would be giving plenty of statements to the press later tonight.

Sanders, SDS’s Alpha Team Leader, greeted us as we entered the large foyer of the convention center. “Evening, boss.”

“Sanders.” I nodded. “How is everything?”

“Quiet so far,” he said quietly. “But I don’t think it will stay that way.”

Evelyn stiffened beside me, and I placed a hand over hers and squeezed it softly. “We have the entrances and exits covered?”

“Most of them,” Sanders said. “What we don’t have a body on, we have cameras on. It’s a large place.”

That was the problem with convention centers. There were several corridors that staff used to move between rooms. The place was a maze, but I was confident we had it covered.

“Keep us updated,” I said to Sanders as I guided Evelyn past him and into the main room.