Chapter 56: Cleaning House

"Please tell me you're joking. Patrice has been with me from day one. I trust her more than anyone else besides Hayden." Natalia felt the tears welling up in her eyes. She thought over the past four years, and all the time they'd spent together. How could Patrice do this to her? She clutched her stomach feeling like she was going to vomit.

"I wish I was. They've been sharing emails for a long time. She always let him know what you were doing, who you were with, and all your business information. It looks like he was okay with that until you and Hayden started your relationship. That's when the emails to her became more intense, and he wanted to know everything about the two of you." Dorian felt bad and hated to be the one to break the news.

"Hayden, call Dennis now. I want to go with them when they go to NC. I want to confront the rats who have turned their backs on me." Natalia had tears running down her face, but they were tears of anger.

"Are you sure you want to go there?" He asked with concern. Hayden didn't want her to leave the hotel.

"Yes, I'm sure. Let's see how they act when they have to look me in the eye. I'm done playing nice. I'm ready to kick some ass." Everyone in the room was staring at Natalia in shock. It was the first time any of them had seen so much fire in her. Hayden picked up the phone and called Dennis.

"Hello?" The detective answered.

"Dennis, we need your help. We've found who's dirty at NC. I had Dorian check out Natalia's staff, and we've found three we need to get rid of. Two of them need to be arrested, and one needs to be fired. Also, one of the two that need to be arrested is Natalia's assistant Patrice. She's Jon's sister and has been feeding him information on her for years."

Dennis couldn't believe it. He'd met Patrice and never thought she would be the one to hurt Natalia. She seemed genuine.

"Okay, I'll get Andy, and we'll go to NC now." Hayden looked at Natalia.

"Can you meet us there? Natalia wants to be there when you arrest them."

"Alright, we'll wait for you outside. See you soon." Dennis hung up and called Andy.

"Dennis and Andy will meet us there. Are you ready?" Hayden asked, and she nodded. He called the car service and ordered a rush transport van. They said they would be there in twenty minutes. He got Natalia ready to go, and they got in the elevator.

The transport van was waiting for them when they got downstairs. They helped carefully load Natalia into it. When they arrived to NC, Dennis and Andy were waiting outside.

"Are you sure you want to go up there?" Dennis asked Natalia.

"I have to. I hired all of them. I put my trust in them, and they betrayed me." Hayden pushed her past them and inside. They all rode in the elevator together. When they reached the office, Natalia tried to control her anger from erupting the minute she saw any of the snakes.

"Take me to my office. Dennis and Andy, please stay with me, and I'll have Hayden bring each one in. Starting with Aaron, then Laura. We'll save Patrice for last." They all nodded and headed to her office. She saw Patrice on the phone but ignored her.

When they got to her office, Hayden pushed her behind her desk. Dennis and Andy stood on either side of her while Hayden went to get Aaron. When they walked in, Aaron smiled at Natalia.

"Hey, boss, it's good to see you," Aaron said as he sat across from her.

"I have one question for you. Do you think I'm stupid?" The smile froze on his face, and he looked at her in confusion. He then noticed the two men standing next to her.

"I don't understand." He said nervously.

"I found out what you've been doing behind my back. You've been taking businesses out from under me for your own gain while pretending to be doing it on my behalf. You're fired, and all the contacts you've made have been told about your deceitfulness. Now get out of my face and out of my office." Natalia motioned to the security that Hayden had arranged to be there. Two men came in to escort him out.

"Natalia, I did this for you to help your business while you were laid up." He yelled as he was pulled out of the office, but she ignored him. Even now, he chose to lie to her rather than be honest. After he was gone, she looked up at Hayden.

"Go get Laura." She said, and he nodded. He was getting a feel for why they had thought of her as the ice queen at one time. His woman fought fire with fire. He brought Laura in, and she knew right away that something was wrong.

"Hi Natalia," She said nervously, wringing her hands.

"I don't understand what I did to make you want to steal from me, but you're going to have a lot of time to think about it. Not only are you fired, but I'm pressing charges against you. I have always treated you like family, and this is how you repay me?" Natalia glared at her as she began to cry.

"I'm sorry; please don't make me go to jail," Laura said through her tears.

"You're not sorry for what you did. You're only sorry you got caught. Get her out of here and bring in the next snake." Dennis put handcuffs on her and led her out of the office, sitting her in a chair where they could see her. She sobbed while trying to avoid the stares. Everyone had caught on that something was going on. Hayden went to get Patrice next.

When Patrice saw Hayden coming for her, she was confused. She had seen Aaron being escorted out by security, and Laura was in handcuffs, but what did they want her for? There was no way they knew her secret. Natalia must want to go over some changes with her. She walked into her office with a smile.

"Hey, Nat. I'm sorry I didn't know what Aaron and Laura were up to. Do you want me to post their jobs?" She asked. Only then did she see the fury on Natalia's face, and her confidence wavered.

"How could you, Patrice? You were my best friend. Even though you're Jon's sister, how could you stab me in the back? Did I do something to make you want me dead?" Natalia stared at her and felt nothing but numbness.

"Yes, he's my brother, but I didn't break any laws," Patrice said, looking toward Dennis and Andy.

"You were feeding a serial killer information on how to get to Hayden and me so he could kill us. How exactly is that not breaking the law?" Patrice's eyes got wide. How did they get all that information? Since they had it, she decided to stop the charade and crossed her arms, smirking.

"I'm a good actress, aren't I? Jon told me how you broke his heart in college. When I saw you place an ad for an assistant, I made sure to be the best assistant you could ever have. Jon has been messed up since you broke up with him. It's your fault he hurt those women. If you just died already, then he would stop." Natalia stared at the woman who she had thought was like a sister to her.

"I told you how he cheated on me, and that was why I broke up with him. I told you everything. You are just as delusional as he is. I hope you rot in hell, you crazy bitch. Your scum of a brother will be joining you there soon. Lock this rat up and throw away the key." Natalia said to Andy and Dennis. They were both impressed with how she held herself together with each person. They would do the official interrogations at the station, but still, she had been effective. They put handcuffs on Patrice and walked her and Laura out to the car.

Hayden turned to Natalia and saw her shaking. He knew it was from rage. He walked behind her and rubbed her shoulders.

"Are you okay?" He asked. She looked up at him and smiled.

"I'm better now that we've cleaned house. Will you ask Will to keep watch over everything? I want him in charge until I can find people I can trust." Hayden nodded as he started to push her out of the office. He wanted to get her back to the hotel where they had more security.

"Let's get out of here before we run into Jon," Natalia didn't say anything as he pushed her into the elevator. Little did they know Jon was already there and had witnessed the entire ordeal.