Shattered Lies (Web of Lies #3)(56)
Lounging in all his arrogance was Rue Geofferies, Bertie’s son and a vice president of the company. He was in his forties with a full head of light brown hair, blue eyes, and a smirk that let Lizzy know he was the type to smack his secretary on the ass and tell himself she liked it.
“Haven’t I seen you at the Blonde Beaver strip club?” Rue asked with a laugh that combined into a snort.
“No, but isn’t that where you met your wife?” Valeria shot back, not looking the slightest bit offended. Rue slammed his mouth shut. His wife was one of the most stuck-up, elitist heiresses known to man. “Oh wait. That’s your mistress. How do they get along? I bet they share cake recipes and talk about how you like your dick sucked.”
Lizzy grinned and went to ignoring the little shit on the couch. Bertie had been observing them the entire time. “Mr. Geofferies. I’m—”
“Elizabeth James, employee of Sebastian Abel. And this woman is Valeria McGregor, an employee at the bar you also run in Quantico. Quaint little place, Quantico. Although I’m curious as to why disgraced DEA and FBI agents are here. I read your father died. That must be hard.”
Lizzy wasn’t surprised he knew who they were. He wouldn’t have let them up otherwise. After all, Bertie made his money in tech when Sebastian was still a twitch in his father’s pants. This was a man who was ahead of Sebastian in the race for artificial intelligence, and he’d easily know everything about her by the time she had hung up the phone in the lobby.
“Yes, it’s always hard to lose a parent. I wanted to talk to you about your artificial intelligence software.” Lizzy walked to the desk and took a seat that hadn’t been offered to her.
“What artificial intelligence software?” Bertie followed and took the seat at his desk as they effectively shut Rue out of the conversation.
“You should know in a tech age like this, there is no such thing as privacy. Everything is controlled and manipulated. The question is, what will you give me to tell Sebastian you’re behind him?”
Bertie narrowed his eyes at her and examined her closely. Lizzy didn’t flinch. She could do the bored look as well as anyone. Valeria was currently checking out her fingernails and sighing impatiently.
“How do I know you’re not a corporate spy?” Bertie asked slowly as he leaned back into his chair and steepled his fingers.
Lizzy smiled slowly. “Of course I’m a corporate spy. How do you think I know so much already? Now, what is it worth for me to tell Sebastian whatever it is you want me to tell him?” Lizzy shrugged. “Or I can tell him about how you’re ready to launch the software.”
“No wonder he employed an FBI agent. But what’s she here for?” Bertie asked, finally looking to Valeria.
“She’s here in case you get any ideas about keeping me here,” Lizzy answered as Valeria returned Bertie’s examination.
“You think you two could stop us if we wanted to keep you here?” Bertie sounded incredulous. Lizzy sat back and waited. She didn’t have to wait long. One of the knives that Valeria had on her was thrown. Rue screamed and shoved himself backward as the blade impaled itself in the couch, inches from his balls.
Valeria winked at Bertie who unexpectedly smiled. “What is Sebastian paying you?”
“A lot,” Lizzy answered.
“I’ll pay you double whatever he’s paying you to join my team. All off the books, of course. You can still take your money from Sebastian and stay in DC; just report back to me with everything he’s doing.”
Lizzy let herself smile. “Aren’t you glad you took my meeting?”
“Very. Tell me about Sebastian and where he is on his artificial intelligence software. Has he tested it yet?”
“Within a week.”
Bertie nodded. “Good.”
“How is that good? You haven’t tested yours yet either.”
“I’m not worried. My test will be done very soon. I’ll bury Sebastian like the cockroach he is.” He looked at Rue, who was still white as he wrenched the knife from the couch.
“Why do you two hate each other? I would think you two would actually want to partner up since you’re so similar.” Lizzy had weighed the pros and cons of disclosing information to Bertie and had decided the motivation behind their feud to be more important than rumors of Sebastian’s software.
“There’s only room for one at the top, Miss James. I didn’t work my whole life to come in second. I’m sure Sebastian feels the same way. I can admire him, which I do, while doing everything in my power to make him fall at the same time. Now, what else can you tell me about Sebastian?”
23
Alex had never worked with someone before, and certainly not someone more talented than he was. He knew enough to know someone like Crew wouldn’t like it. It would be a blow to his ego. However, Alex found it so sexy when Roxie bit down on her lip as she did the seemingly impossible with ease.
She would ask him his ideas, and together they found a way through CBL’s firewall and into their network from where they sat parked in front of the hotel. Even though the signal was weak, they were able to hop onto CBL’s Wi-Fi and into their network.
“That’s fab,” Roxie gasped as she followed Alex’s idea on how to gain access to Locke’s computer once isolating it on the network. “I’m in.” Roxie’s fingers flew and her eyes didn’t move from the screen as she read. Alex waved off the valet once again and waited to hear what she’d found. He was going to take her upstairs to meet the rest of the team, but Roxie was onto something. Once she was onto something, she didn’t stop until she’d found it.