GARRISON

The accusation left a freezing stillness in the pressurized cabin, the words hanging between us like an executioner’s axe.

I didn't break eye contact. I slowly rose from the conference desk and stepped into his personal space, my shadow swallowing his seat.

My face remained a flawless mask of boardroom steel, but beneath my black vest, every muscle was wound like a coiled spring.

"You are stepping far outside your clearance, Julian," I said, my voice dropping into a quiet, dangerous rasp that barely carried over the steady drone of the jet engines. "I am the CEO of Vance International. I don't answer to a rogue tech asset regarding...