Page 11 of Dichotomy

She took in Adrian and me standing in her new kitchen. Her nose twitched, and I knew she could smell the lasagna. She sighed, muttering something to herself as she closed her eyes and looked up. Her hands were on her hips, and she looked like the picture of righteous indignation. I buried my chuckle as Adrian approached her carefully, glass of wine in hand like an offering to appease an angry goddess.

As Adrian distracted her, I took an opportunity to look her over as if she had been injured when I wasn’t around. It was a possibility with so many people gunning for her. Plus, she was so stoic, so used to handling everything on her own, that it took me six years to figure out that she had a whole dual life I knew nothing about. A dangerous life.

Tight lines around her mouth and eyes spoke to the stressful day. It wasn’t just the interview with the FIA agents. Her life’s work and the future of her organization were at stake here. And more than that, everyone she had ever helped, or was trying to help, in the city was now at risk. On top of all of that, now we were dealing with the fallout of Citadel and everyone jumping ship to us. It made me want to wrap her up in bubble wrap and hide her in my bedroom away from the world. No one could survive that much stress without it affecting them. How muchmore pressure could she take before she broke? We would never find out, because I was determined to take it from her before I would ever let her fall.

She took the glass of wine from Adrian without saying a word. Her mouth was still pinched. I cracked open the oven door, so the smell of the garlic bread wafted into the room. Her eyes narrowed at me as if she knew I was playing dirty. I almost cracked a grin at her fierce expression. I had respected the hell out of her when I thought she was just my assistant. She ran the SDS office with an iron fist and inspired both fear and awe in people. But now that I knew how much good she accomplished in the city and how much she took on her shoulders, it only made me respect her more. And if I hadn’t had a chance to get to know her over the last several weeks, the look she was leveling at me now would have sent shivers up my spine. But that was before I had fallen head over heels in love with her. She was irritated at us, but there was also something else in her eyes. Resignation. Like she had known this was coming.

Her eyes glanced over me to the pile of paperwork that was sitting on the kitchen island. Her Archers laptop and tablet were sitting neatly next to it. Her lips tilted in a frown, and I had no doubt that Danny was going to be getting an earful later. When Marcus had come to us earlier, I immediately texted Danny to enlist his help.

When we first met him, I wasn’t sure what to make of him. He was fiercely protective of Evelyn but also knew that she was going to stand on her own two feet. From what little I knew of Evelyn’s history, the bond the two of them had was strong. Stronger than any bond I knew. He could have pushed Evelyn to stay away from us, but instead, he seemed to know exactly what she needed. Although I had no doubts that if Evelyn wanted nothing to do with us, Danny would have made it happen.

“It’s time for the grand tour!” Sebastian announced like he was presenting a royal palace instead of a three-bedroom apartment. He bowed low before her, gesturing dramatically for her to head down the hallway.

Her lips quirked a little bit at his antics, and I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. She wasn’t too angry with us if she still found Sebastian funny. Sebastian had a knack for breaking the tension and making friends wherever he went.

However, I had never seen him become obsessed with someone like he had with Evelyn that first day she’d started working for us. Originally, I had been worried I was going to have to be on guard for an HR report when he first flirted with Evelyn, but she had just looked at him coolly and shut him down without being cruel. She’d handled him beautifully, and he had become even more obsessed. You would think with all his flirting, he was a playboy, but I had never seen him flirt with anyone before her. Before Evelyn, his obsessions were his toys in the tech lab, and after Evelyn…well, she became his.

As Sebastian guided her down the hallway, Marcus and Adrian joined me in the kitchen.

“That seemed to have gone smoothly,” I said to Marcus.

Marcus frowned, rubbing his temple as he stared down the hallway after them. “Too smoothly. I expected more of a fight.”

Adrian laughed and clapped a hand on Marcus’s shoulder. Four years ago, Marcus had come to me and asked if we could hire Adrian. His name had barely come out of Marcus’s mouth before I’d said yes. Adrian had saved Marcus’s life in many ways when they served together in the military. When Marcus had joined his platoon, Adrian had taken Marcus under his wing and taught him the lay of the land. The lessons the more experienced soldier had taught Marcus had saved his life, and the bonds they had built in the military were just as strong as the blood bond I had with him. I could have been jealous of Adrian, but he wasgenuinely a good guy, and over the last four years, I had built my own bonds with him. Besides, it was because of him that Marcus was even standing in this kitchen.

After Marcus’s last mission had gone wrong, he’d faced a court-martial for how he’d gone after his commanding officer. Adrian, a well-decorated soldier, had interceded on his behalf and smoothed things over, allowing Marcus to be honorably discharged. Marcus came home and threw himself into law school as his way of coping. He battled injustice and lies every day now, trying to fill the void that losing those three men on the mission had carved out in him. But it wasn’t until Evelyn had joined us that I had started to see the life come back to his eyes. She challenged him in all the best ways. I knew these last several weeks had been rocky between the two of them, but now that his head was out of his ass, he was going to make it up to her.

“Did you expect more of a fight, or did you want a fight with her?” Adrian asked, offering Marcus a beer with a knowing smirk.

“And what are you expecting when she realizes she doesn’t have a coffeemaker?” Marcus shot back.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and I coughed to bring their attention to them. I would love to be a fly on the wall when Evelyn realizes Adrian removed the coffeemaker from the kitchen and took it to his apartment. He was determined to get her off coffee and onto tea. I didn’t blame him, but I was glad I wasn’t on the frontlines for that battle.

The timer dinged, and I pulled the lasagna and garlic bread out of the oven. Just in time.

“You know you’re cheating with the lasagna,” Evelyn said softly behind me.

I straightened with the pan in my hand and turned to face her. I gave her a wink as I side-stepped around her to put the lasagna on the table.

“We’ll do anything to keep our girlfriend happy,” I threw over my shoulder.

“And safe,” Marcus added.

I turned in time to see her roll her eyes, but a blush danced on her cheekbones. “Shall we sit?” I gestured towards the table.

Adrian refilled her glass, while Marcus pulled out her chair. Sebastian slid into the seat next to her while Adrian took her other side. Marcus sat next to Adrian, and I sat across from Evelyn at the head of the table. Everyone was quiet as I dished out the food and we started eating. It had been a busy day at the office.

“Before I forget,” Evelyn mumbled around a bite of food, swallowing it before continuing. “I’m going to send an email to Lacey tomorrow. I’m sure we’re going to get Citadel employees applying to work at SDS because Citadel is imploding, but we’re going to want to make sure we do extra background checks on them to make sure they aren’t plants from the Unholy Trinity.”

The side of my mouth tilted up at the nickname Liam had given the three Citadel leaders. “That’s a good idea. Copy me on it, please?”

“Of course.” She nodded and went back to eating.

“Sooooo…” Sebastian said. “Nothing to say about the new digs?”

I groaned as Sebastian intentionally poked at Evelyn.

She rolled her eyes. “Will anything I say change your mind about me staying here?”