Page 68 of Duality

He smiled, but the gun in his hand stole any pretense of civility. “Come with me.” There was a dangerous glint in his eyes that I recognized. He was unhinged and determined. If I didn’t go with him without a fuss, he would have no problem killing me.

I hesitated. Could I take him? Probably. But should I? We had the building locked down, and we still didn’t know where Marshall and Julian were. This could be our chance to find them and maybe also figure out some more information on who the new partners were. Ryan had shared some tidbits in his threatsearlier, and if he thought he was alone, maybe he would share more.

“Evelyn, don’t you dare,” Adrian said sternly over the comms. “Marcus is coming to you now.”

But he wouldn’t get here in time. And I had a chance to end this. Ryan would probably have no problem shooting Marcus as soon as he appeared, but for some reason, he hadn’t shot me yet. He wanted something from me, but I wanted something from him, too.

“Now.” Ryan stepped towards me, waving the gun in my face. He ushered me toward a side service door, his grip harsh on my upper arm. The moment we stepped into the narrow hallway, I discreetly pressed the button on my bracelet, activating the tracker.

“Goddamnit, Evelyn,” Alexander swore. “Marshall Beckett just entered the ballroom and has eyes on us. Do NOT do anything stupid. I’ve…”

Ryan’s eyes narrowed on the side of my face. His smile turned vicious as he reached up and plucked the comm from my ear. “We can’t have that, can we? We don’t need any white knights trying to interfere.”

He dropped it, crushing it under his heel. My stomach sank, but I kept my expression neutral. I had no choice now but to trust that they would find me. And they would. They had to.

“Come on,” he said, jerking my arm roughly. “There are some people who want to meet you.”

CHAPTER 30

EVELYN

Ryan led me down a series of empty corridors. I scanned each one, both hoping to see an SDS employee or an Archer, but also hoping that we didn’t see anyone. Citadel wasn’t in the business of loose ends, and I had no doubt that if we ran across anyone, Ryan wouldn’t hesitate to kill them. The look in his eyes was chilling, so I measured each of my inhales against the click of his footsteps on the tile, pretending the rhythm was mine to control even as panic drummed louder beneath my ribs.

Experience taught me that panicking wouldn’t do me any good. Instead, I categorized the twists and turns we took. We had definitely double-backed once or twice. Whether that was intentional to try to confuse me, or if Ryan had gotten lost, I wasn’t sure. Maybe he was trying to see if anyone was following me. I half expected to see the guys at some point, but we didn’t run into a single soul.

They were coming. Surely, they were. By now, Liam would have my tracker pulled up. Maybe Marshall Becket was holding them up? Either way, I just had to sit tight and be patient. And try not to get killed.

We turned the corner, and two men in dark suits stiffened, their hands darting to their weapons. They relaxed a moment later when their eyes landed on Ryan. They looked like private security, but I didn’t recognize them from Citadel’s employee records. New hires? Either way, they would be obstacles if I needed to get away.

They were guarding a door but stepped aside as we approached. The guy on the right looked me up and down, his beady eyes lingering on the slit on my dress, and I tamped down my disgust. It was definitely not the time to get huffy about a creepy guy eyeing me. I had other concerns. Like the gun digging into my ribs, and Ryan shoving me through the open door.

Inside, Julian Slater and a man I didn’t recognize straightened from where they stood in the middle of the room. It looked like an unused storage room. There were two entrances, the one we just came through and a second one that probably led into another room in the convention center. Probably nowhere near where the gala was being held, which added a layer of complication to my escape plan.

The strange man was dressed in a sharp grey suit with a burgundy shirt and tie. His tailored suit screamed wealth, but I didn’t recognize him. Another new player? Could this be the mysterious client that hired Citadel?

“Miss Evelyn Harper.” The stranger circled me as Ryan moved to stand next to Julian.

Ryan holstered his gun, clearly thinking I didn’t pose much of a threat in a room with three men. He was wrong, but I wasn’t going to play my hand yet. I grabbed my elbows with my hands, curling in on myself and making myself seem small and unassuming.

The stranger turned sharply to the other two men. “You’re sure this is her?”

Ryan arched an eyebrow imperiously. “It’s her. Our contact confirmed it.”

“The same contact that took your money and fled town?” the stranger asked, eyeing me with narrowed eyes and his upper lip curled.

I held in a snort. I would bet my life’s savings that Ryan meant Finch, which meant they didn’t know I killed him. Maybe this could work in my favor? Playing the unassuming executive assistant instead of the leader of the Archers?

The stranger didn’t argue further, but his lips compressed into a tight line, and there was a slight tic in his left eyebrow.

“Do I get the pleasure of knowing who my kidnappers are?”

Pain exploded across my cheekbone, and I fell to the floor. Pain and heat bloomed in my cheek, and when I lifted my hand to touch my face, my fingers came away dotted with blood. I really should have seen the hit coming. Men like Ryan Jacobs didn’t like to be questioned. But I was so focused on the stranger in front of me that I didn’t see Ryan’s hand until it was too late.

The stranger crouched down in front of me, his eyes following the trickle of blood trailing from my split lip. “Such a mouth on a beautiful creature.” His eyes skimmed slowly from the ragged edge of my lip to the swell of each bruise, narrowing a fraction whenever the damage failed to match whatever calculation ticked behind them. “Now, here’s how this is going to go. You’re going to tell me how much of a mess you’ve caused for my employer. Cooperate, and you won’t need to endure any more…unpleasantness.”

Unpleasantness? Was that what we were calling it now? And who was his employer? Who was he? Questions swam in my brain as I struggled to focus. My vision spun, and I blinked. I needed to focus on the danger in the room. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

“Why would I cooperate?” I asked. “You’re just going to kill me.”