“No,” Victor agrees. “But maybe we can work on that.”
There's something else. Something I've been carrying since before the warehouse.
“If you're serious about making amends,” I say slowly, “I need something from you.”
Victor's eyes sharpen, the businessman surfacing beneath the wounded father. “Name it.”
“Emma's mother. Lila Sinclair.”
Victor’s brow furrows. “I don't know her.”
“She found something she wasn't supposed to find. Flagged irregularities connected to a pal of yours, Voss.” I keep my voice steady, even though my chest is tight. “A few months later, there was a leak in her family's home. Carbon monoxide. Mother, father, a son. Dead. Emma survived because she was away at college.”
Victor's face goes pale.
“The case was closed before the bodies were cold,” I continue. “Made to look like an accident. Maddox has been digging, and the trail leads back to Voss. Maybe to people in your orbit.”
“Alexander.” Victor's voice is rough. “I didn't—I would never?—“
“I need to know the truth.” I cut him off. “Did you know? Were you involved?”
Victor shakes his head, and for the first time since I've known him, he looks his age. Old. Tired. Haunted.
“I ruin people, Alexander. I admit that freely. I've destroyed careers, bankrupted competitors, crushed anyone who got in my way.” He meets my eyes. “I am not a killer. If someone was silencing whistleblowers, it wasn't on my orders. I would have paid the woman off. Buried her findings in legal tape. Found some way to make the problem disappear without...” He trails off, jaw tight. “Those are not my methods.”
“Then whose methods are they?”
Victor is silent for a long moment. When he speaks again, his voice is heavy.
“Voss has had his fingers in a lot of operations over the years. Silent partnerships. Consulting agreements. I never looked too closely at his methods.” He exhales. “Maybe I should have.”
“Maybe you should have.” I let the words hang. “I need the files, Victor. Everything on Voss. Everything that might tell us what really happened to Emma's family.”
Victor nods slowly. “You'll have it. All of it.” He pauses. “Does Emma know? About your investigation?”
“She knows we're looking into it. She doesn't know how deep it goes yet.” I run a hand through my hair. “I'm waiting until we have something concrete. She's been through enough.”
“She seems strong.”
“She is. Stronger than anyone I've ever met.” I look at him. “Which is why I'm not going to let whoever did this to her family get away with it. No matter where the trail leads.”
Victor holds my gaze. Something passes between us. Understanding, maybe. Or the beginning of it.
“I'll get you those files,” he says quietly. “And Alexander? Be careful with Voss. He's not like me. He doesn't just want to win. He wants to destroy.”
“Good.” I turn toward the door. “So do I.”
Emma is waitingin the hallway when I emerge. She takes one look at my face and opens her arms.
I fall into her, letting her hold me up.
“How did it go?” she asks quietly.
“We're trying,” I manage. “That's all I can promise right now.”
“That's enough.” She pulls back, hands framing my face. “That's more than enough.”
I kiss her, letting her warmth chase away the cold that's been sitting in my chest since that warehouse.
