Victoria didn’t wait for William to come home. She couldn’t risk him seeing the file before she understood the full scope of the threat. She engaged the encrypted messaging app Dominic had installed on her phone.
*Meet me. Service stairwell. Ten minutes.*
Dominic Valerius was already there when she arrived, leaning against the concrete wall, looking more like a shadow than a billionaire.
“You found it,” Dominic said, eyeing the envelope in her hand.
“How much does Arthur have?” Victoria asked, her voice steady.
“Everything,” Dominic confirmed, his expression grim. “My father has the unredacted police reports, the bank transfer records, and the payoffs Beatrice made to the investigators. He’s been sitting on this since the nineties, waiting for the right moment to twist the knife.”
Dominic reached into his jacket and pulled out a flash drive. “But he doesn’t have this.”
Victoria took the drive. “What is it?”
“The missing piece,” Dominic said. “Arthur didn’t just find the evidence, Victoria. He helped facilitate the cover-up. He was on the Croft board back then. If he leaks the truth about Richard, he implicates himself as an accessory. He’s betting William won’t notice that detail in his panic.”
“He’s bluffing,” Victoria realized, gripping the drive.
“He’s gambling,” Dominic corrected. “And he thinks William is too emotional to call him on it.”