Shattered Lies (Web of Lies #3)(84)

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bertie sputtered as he rubbed his face.

“Roland came begging me for money since Manuel’s accounts were frozen. Said it was for that club you talked about starting at the Tech Ball three years ago. The one you wouldn’t let me join. The one Roland, Sandra Cummings, and the Stanworths were a part of. Don’t play fucking dumb, Bertie, it’s beneath you.”

Bertie slowly smiled. “You’re such a sore loser. You always have been. You just couldn’t stand the fact you weren’t included when Mrs. Mitchell approached me about this. You know, she told me all about your friend Stratton being picked for VP. He was supposed to be locked out of the government, but then Winston Mitchell went toes up. Did it bother you that we shut you out like we did your friend? Does it bother you we took that money from you, and you’ll never make it in the inner circle? How does it feel that I took your trusted employee and bought the bitch with my first offer? You should pay your employees better, Sebastian. Soon I’ll be sitting here with billions more than you. The stock market is opening soon, and my AI is ready to go. Is yours?” Bertie laughed as he leaned against his desk and crossed his arms.

Lizzy stood up slowly, ready to leap on Sebastian if he let his temper win out. He looked ready to blow the whole operation to get even with Bertie.

“Is that what this whole stupid group is about? What was the idiotic name you chose for it?” Sebastian pretended to think about it. “Mollia Domini, that’s it. So Mollia Domini isn’t about change like you preached at the Tech Ball, is it? It’s about making you money and keeping me in second place. Is that it? You did all of this to best me, since you knew I was coming for you? You’re pathetic, Bertie.”

Bertie’s face flushed with anger as he stepped forward. “You know what’s pathetic, Sebastian? The fact that you fell for it. Manuel made sure the money you sent for your resorts paid for the same bomb that almost killed Stratton. So I would run if I were you, Sebastian. Because while we hid it, we made sure eventually they’d find the connection. Then you openly gave Roland a million dollars, who will claim you personally put a hit on Stratton since the bomb failed. A hit my assassin will be carrying out shortly.”

“You have an assassin?” Lizzy gasped as she stumbled back in faux fear.

“Yes, my dear. He’ll be arriving shortly from overseas. Rue, handle this.” Bertie waved his hand in her direction. Rue stood from the couch and stalked toward her. She put a chair between them as Bertie and Sebastian ignored them. Their sole focus was on each other.

Sebastian’s jaw tightened. “I’ll tell them it was you.”

Bertie laughed. “No one will believe you. Not when all the evidence points back to you. Dance, puppet.”

“Wait!” Lizzy screamed as Rue lunged. She darted around the chair to stand next to Sebastian, who didn’t even bother to look at her.

“Ready to beg for your life?” Rue taunted.

“Dan March!” she shouted.

Rue and Bertie froze.

“Excuse me?” Bertie asked slowly.

“Your assassin. Is it my ex-boyfriend? I swear I’ve caught glimpses of him since he was supposed to be dead. Please, tell me I’m not crazy,” Lizzy begged. Sebastian finally looked at her with curiosity.

Bertie gleefully smiled. “So, Dan has been keeping tabs on you? Maybe I should save you for him to handle?”

“I’m sorry,” Lizzy said, blubbering as Rue approached her. “Dan’s not coming.” Her blubbering stopped, and she winked at Sebastian before taking Rue down with an uppercut that sent his head snapping up and his eyes rolling back. Before Bertie could scream, Lizzy turned to him. “Bertie Geofferies, FBI. You’re under arrest for treason.”

Bertie tried to run, but Sebastian snatched him by the neck and squeezed. “Going somewhere?”

Lizzy slipped a zip tie from her pocket and tied his hands behind his back. “Dance, puppet,” she whispered, shoving him toward the office door.

“Call my lawyer, Stan Detrick,” Bertie told his secretary with authority as he was pushed through the hall of his office. If he thought Stan Detrick would be able to wrangle him off the hook, he was badly mistaken. Stan wasn’t in his office at the moment. Roland said Bertie kept everything written down, and as agents swarmed the scene, arresting Rue and tearing apart every inch of the room, Lizzy knew it was only a matter of time before the book Roland described was found.

The elevator doors opened, and Lizzy handed Bertie off to Special Agent in Charge Cromwell. She stood in the background as Cromwell pushed Bertie forward. Reporters were being held back at the bottom of the steps leading into Bertie’s building. The second elevator opened and a pissed-off Rue was shoved forward. Right as the front door opened, Sebastian called out. “By the way, Bertie, your wife’s pregnant with Trip’s baby.”

Cameras flashed at Bertie’s look of outrage as he was dragged through the door and to the waiting car with Rue threatening everyone he could, including his stepmother and her unborn child. Lizzy shook her head and looked to where Sebastian had an amused smile on his face.

“You just had to do that, didn’t you?”

“You bet your ass I did.” Sebastian turned to her and held out his hand. “Well, Lizzy, it’s been a pleasure working with you. I look forward to working with you again.”