Page 49 of Duality

“Okay…” I breathed out heavily. “We need to figure out who this new client is, but we also can’t ignore the clear and present threat Citadel poses. Right now, they’re the highest priority threat as they’re the immediate danger. Once we take care ofCitadel, or maybe while we take care of them, we can uncover the identity of their client.”

Izzy nodded. “Agreed. Citadel is the biggest threat right now. We need to take them down. And fast.”

“How?” Maya asked.

“Whatever it is, it needs to be big and needs to put them out of the picture permanently,” Grace said. “We don’t have the resources for a long, drawn-out fight, especially with this new threat on the field.”

“Agreed,” I said. I bit my lip. This was going to require a complicated and coordinated attack. It was beyond the scope of the Archers alone. I didn’t realize I looked at Alexander until he spoke.

“Whatever you need from SDS resources is yours,” he promised.

Marcus glared at him, but Adrian put a hand on his shoulder.

“That would be helpful,” I said. “Especially because we’re going to need to circle the wagons on our more vulnerable populations. The last thing I want is Citadel going after the people we protect in the city because we pissed them off.”

“So we need to figure out who this new client is, take down Citadel, and protect the city.” Sebastian ticked off each item on his fingers like he was reciting a grocery list.

“Sounds fun.” Adrian grinned. The comment was so unexpected that I couldn’t help the bubble of laughter that escaped my throat, causing the others to laugh with me.

“Let’s get planning,” I said, pulling up a chair at the table. It was time to get to work. “Alexander, any ideas?”

His eyes widened slightly, then he nodded. “I agree. It needs to be a multi-pronged attack. You have contacts in the media, right?” he asked, looking between Maya and me.

Maya nodded. “We do.”

“I think one of the prongs should be public exposure,” he said. “Especially if we can release concrete evidence of Citadel’s misdoings. Not just in the last few weeks, but any evidence you’ve gathered over the years of them covering up crimes for their clients.”

Maya nodded, their fingers already flying across the keys, pulling up any articles we’ve done over the years. “Liam, I’m going to need your help and whatever you’ve found off the servers,” they said.

Liam nodded. “If Sebastian can help me, I can hand off some of that to him while I shore up defenses for our other operations.”

I looked at Sebastian, who nodded and grinned at me. “Happy to help, my darling,” he said, pressing a kiss to my forehead before going with Liam over to the computers against the wall.

I ignored everyone’s curious looks, although I’m sure my cheeks were pink.

Alexander smiled, the expression making him more devastatingly handsome than he usually was. “The best way to dismantle Citadel is to hit them where it hurts.”

I arched my eyebrow in question.

“Their finances,” Marcus said gruffly. “We go after their clients. Either by recruiting them to our firm or by exposing Citadel’s misdeeds. Most contracts have a good faith clause in them that states if the security firm acts in bad faith, the contract can be broken.” He wasn’t wrong. And I still had that list of companies that signed with Citadel but also had proposal meetings with us from after the meeting with Geoff Young.

Alexander grinned, an edge of danger to his smile, and I shifted in my seat as my stomach clenched. “And I know the perfect place to kick that plan off.”

Adrian’s brow furrowed, then his eyes widened. “That will be a security nightmare,” he warned.

Alexander smiled devilishly. “Like that’s ever stopped us before.”

“I’m sorry, where?” Izzy asked, just as confused as I was by the way her eyebrows wrinkled.

“The Mayor’s annual benefit gala in two weeks.”

Fuck, I had forgotten about the gala.

I glanced at Grace. That wasn’t the worst plan. It would give us time to get everything together. She nodded, agreeing with our silent conversation.

“All right. Let’s do it.”

CHAPTER 23