The Predator in the Library:
The rain continued to lash against the floor-to-ceiling windows of Liam's private study, but inside, the air was unnervingly still. Liam sat behind his desk, his silhouette cast in a long, sharp shadow by a single desk lamp. He wasn't looking at financial reports tonight. His eyes were fixed on the security monitor tucked behind a sliding wood panel—a feed he had never told Sandra existed.
On the screen, a grainier version of Sandra was visible from two nights ago. She was moving with a frantic, uncharacteristic stealth, her silk heels muffled by the thick Persian rug. She had spent nearly twenty minutes hovering over the safe behind the portrait of Liam's grandfather, her fingers dancing across the keypad as she tried combinations. She hadn't seen Liam standing in the darkened doorway of the adjoining terrace, watching her through the glass. He had stood there for ten minutes, his face a mask of cold stone, watching his "future bride" attempt to rob him blind.
Liam picked up his encrypted satellite phone and dialed a number that wasn't saved in any directory.
"It's Sterling," he said, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous register. "I need a full forensic audit on the Adenuga accounts—not the public ones, the offshore shells in the Caymans and Jersey. And I want a 24-hour tail on Chief Adenuga. I saw her in my study, Marcus. She's looking for the 'Project Horizon' original ledgers."
A gravelly voice responded on the other end. "The boy is finally waking up. I told you years ago that merger smelled like a corpse, Liam. What changed?"
"Nothing changed," Liam replied, his eyes narrowing as he watched the recorded Sandra finally give up and retreat from the safe. "I just realized that I'm not the only one in this house playing a double life. She isn't here for the marriage, Marcus. She's here for a scalp. I want to know who she's talking to when she thinks I'm at the office. There's a third player in this—someone who knows the Sterling protocols better than a guest should."
"I'll have the first set of intercepts by morning," Marcus promised. "But Liam... be careful. A cornered cat is one thing, but a cornered viper is another. If she realizes you're onto her, she'll strike at the weakest link."
Liam hung up, his thoughts momentarily drifting to his father's room upstairs. Weakest link. He looked at the folder of Eliana sitting on his desk. No. His father wasn't the only weakness anymore. He stood up and walked to the window, the lightning illuminating a face that looked more like a hunter's than a CEO's. Sandra thought she was the Trojan Horse, but she had forgotten that Liam Sterling owned the gates.
He grabbed his keys. He had a girl in a hospital bed to check on, and a truth to uncover that had nothing to do with money.