Chapter 11 - ARTHUR FINALLY STOPPED DENYING EVERYTHING
Arthur requested one conversation.
Dominic agreed.
Glass conference room.
Same walnut table.
The table where the council vote was supposed to remove Dominic from temporary authority.
Now only four people sat there.
Dominic.
Arthur.
Vincent.
Arthur’s attorney.
No weapons on the table.
No theatrics.
Dominic placed the brace between them.
“You arranged Sloane’s access.”
“Yes.”
“You knew the brace was altered.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Vincent shifted.
Dominic remained still.
“Why?”
“To slow your rehabilitation.”
“That’s an elegant way to say injure me.”
“I told Sloane not to cause permanent damage.”
Dominic almost laughed.
Arthur’s attorney looked uncomfortable.
Then Arthur continued.
“I needed the council to act.”
“For North Meridian.”
“Yes.”
“For ninety days.”
“Yes.”
“To close the sale.”
“Yes.”
Finally.
Then Dominic asked:
“Aaron Rowan.”
Arthur looked toward the rain.
“I wanted him silenced professionally.”
“Gerald?”
“I asked Gerald to scare him.”
“Did you know about the brake problem?”
“No.”
“After?”
“Yes.”
“And you buried it.”
Arthur nodded.
“I paid Clare’s rent.”
“That was guilt?”
“Yes.”
“Then you placed her in my house.”
“Control.”
Clare would later hear the recording.
Dominic refused to hide it.
Then:
“Celia drugged my coffee.”
“I told her to give you something mild.”
Arthur’s lawyer spoke.
“Arthur—”
He raised one hand.
“I’m done.”
Dominic stared.
“Did you order the van to hit us?”
“No.”
“Did Gerald?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Arthur looked confused.
“I ordered an obstruction. A delay.”
That distinction did not save him.
The subcontractor’s driver had been told to force Mateo into a controlled stop.
He misjudged speed.
The crash became catastrophic.
Arthur had built the conditions even if he did not intend the final impact.
Then Dominic asked the question underneath everything.
“Why didn’t you just challenge me?”
Arthur’s face changed.
“Because you would have won.”
There.
Arthur believed council members still respected Dominic too much.
A healthy Dominic defeated him.
An injured Dominic created doubt.
A declining Dominic created necessity.
“You called my reforms betrayal,” Dominic said.
“They were.”
“To my father?”
“To everything he built.”
“My father built a system that eventually killed people it never knew existed.”
Arthur looked at him.
“Your father made you powerful.”
Dominic’s voice remained quiet.
“My father made me inherit his debts.”
Then Arthur said:
“And what will you do now? Hand everything to prosecutors? Let every enemy smell weakness?”
Dominic looked through the glass at the estate beyond.
Clare was carrying laundry upstairs.
Ellie beside her, clicking the wooden toy.
“No.”
Arthur almost relaxed.
Then Dominic continued.
“I’m going to hand them records.”
Arthur’s face changed.
Not enemies.
Evidence.
Audits.
Corporate counsel.
Authorities where appropriate.
Arthur had expected mafia loyalty.
Dominic gave him governance.
Then Vincent entered with one final report.
Martin Sloane had been located.
He was alive.
Cooperating.
May you like
And Sloane said Arthur’s plan had one last stage no one had discovered.
Dominic’s brace was supposed to fail publicly during the council meeting.
