Page 41 of Duality

I shrugged. “Kind of. It’s my fault they’re in this mess, so I’m just trying to clean it up.”

Carter frowned, his eyes narrowing. “Explain.”

Sebastian took a step closer at Carter’s brusque tone, but I held up my hand.

“Basically, Citadel thinks SDS runs the Archers as their illegal side project, and Citadel has started targeting the Archers.”

“But the hit on your safe house was before the contract was taken out on the guys,” Carter said, frowning as he began to pace. It was his way of processing.

I nodded. “It was, but that could have been their warning shot.”

Carter inclined his head. “What do you need from us?”

“For you not to take the hit contract for one,” I said, watching Carter closely. “Then any information you are willing to share about Citadel and their reasoning for hiring you for information gathering.”

Carter exchanged a long look with Samson, and the tension in the room thickened. He nodded. “You have my word the Ghosts won’t take the hit.” I tried not to let out an audible sigh of relief, but I could feel the tension in the air lifting. “As for the information gathering contract; they wanted schematics and guard duty shifts of the SDS building.”

I frowned. That seemed beneath the Ghosts. They usually did larger contracts that were more specialized.

Carter nodded. “You’re right. It was unusual that they would reach out to us for this. It’s why we haven’t accepted yet. But I reckon they are having a hard time finding anyone to take the contract against SDS. Your men have a reputation.”

My men? They weren’t my men. But wait. A reputation? I knew SDS was well-regarded in the world as an honorable firm, but that shouldn’t be a deterrent for most mercenary groups. Money talked more than morals. The guys exchanged quiet, knowing smiles, and I remembered Sebastian’s words during the B&E the other night about not being Boy Scouts and bending the rules. Maybe their past wasn’t as squeaky clean as they pretended. To be fair, I never really looked too closely into their past before I came to work for them.

Samson cleared his throat and held up his phone. “You should know it was a two-part contract. The second part was just posted.”

Liam cursed and started typing as Samson continued.

“The second part is an attack against the SDS office. They want to burn it to the ground.”

Fuck.

“When?” I asked as the room burst into conversation.

“Tomorrow night is what’s in the contract.”

“Liam?” I asked.

“Already on it, Boss Lady.”

I held out my hand to Carter. “Thank you for the information.”

He nodded and took my hand, shaking it before using his grip to pull me closer. Sebastian and Alexander stepped closer, but Carter ignored them to lower his head close to my ear.

“Be careful, Little Archer,” he murmured. “Although it’s nice to see you gathering a strong harem to have your back.”

What the fuck? That was not what I thought he was going to say. I frowned and opened my mouth to scold him, but he just smirked and stepped away.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He held out a hand to Alexander to shake. “Take care of Little Archer, would you?”

“We will,” Alexander promised.

My head spun. What? I didn’t need anyone to take care of me.

“Carter,” I warned, and he just laughed at me. Laughed at me!

“I’ll be in touch if I hear anything else.” He waved over his shoulder as he and his men disappeared out the door. What the fuck just happened?

Sebastian stepped up next to me and bumped my shoulder with his. “I like him.”