You’ll only embarrass me wearing that dress. / Chapter 16 / 70

Chapter 16 - The Venom of Montgomery

As Marcus Cole dragged the weeping, thrashing Julian Conway out of the boardroom doors, Montgomery Sterling remained standing by the window. His panic had evaporated, replaced by the icy, calculating malice of an old predator with nothing left to lose.

He slowly adjusted his cuff links, staring out at the Manhattan skyline where gray storm clouds rolled over the Hudson River.

"You think you’ve won, don't you, little Harrell?" Montgomery said, turning slowly to face Phoebe. "You stopped the corporate takeover. You saved your precious company from an SEC freeze. But you don't understand the kind of game I play."

Thomas moved instantly, stepping between his uncle and Phoebe, his fists clenched at his sides. "Get out of here, Montgomery. You have twenty-four hours before the Department of Justice unseals the indictment against your offshore syndicate. If you have any sense left, you’ll take the first flight to a country without an extradition treaty."

Montgomery chuckled—a dry, rattling sound that made the hairs on Phoebe’s arms prickle.

"Extradition?" Montgomery sneered, his gaze sliding past Thomas to fixate directly on Phoebe. "I spent thirty years in the shadows waiting to take my revenge on Raymond Harrell. You took everything from me, Raymond! You took the Sterling maritime contracts in '94! You supported my brother when he had me cast out of the family!"

"You tried to burn down your brother's home with his family inside, Montgomery!" Raymond roared, taking a threatening step forward, his voice shaking the glass walls. "You were an animal then, and you're an animal now! If you ever speak to my daughter again, I will personally bury you so deep the worms won't find you!"

Montgomery smiled—a terrifying, psychotic grin that revealed stained teeth. "I won't need to speak to her, Raymond. Because you took my life thirty years ago... and today, I take hers."

Before Thomas or Raymond could react, Montgomery reached into his tailored overcoat, his hand plunging toward his inside pocket.

"Thomas, look out!" Phoebe screamed, lunging forward instinctively.

Thomas moved with blistering speed, tackling his uncle to the marble floor before Montgomery’s hand could clear his jacket. The sound of a heavy metal object clattering across the floor echoed through the vast boardroom.

It wasn't a gun.

It was a small, high-pressure pressurized aerosol canister, the nozzle cracked open by the impact against the marble.

A hiss of fine, colorless mist sprayed into the air.

Thomas scrambled up, coughing violently, grabbing Montgomery by the collar and slamming him against the floor. "What is that?! What did you do?!"

Montgomery lay pinned against the floor, laughing uncontrollably through bloody teeth. "A little parting gift from my friends in Eastern Europe... Ricin synthetic derivative. Five seconds of inhalation is all it takes, nephew. It was meant for Raymond... but look who breathed it in."

Thomas turned his head in absolute horror.

Phoebe was standing near the conference table, one hand pressed against her throat. Her emerald eyes were wide with shock, her chest heaving as she struggled for breath.