Julian Cross's confirmation arrived the next morning.
Not a call. An email, formal and stripped of the personal register he had used at lunch, three short paragraphs that outlined what he was agreeing to and what he expected in return. No story about Aria Vale. No further contact with Damon Kade's network. A moratorium on all Drax-adjacent coverage until the agreed disclosure window opened. And in exchange: first access to the full Victor Drax exposé, with documentation, when the time was right, on terms to be finalised closer to the date.
He had signed it. Not literally, the email was not a legal document, but the language of it had the quality of a man who had made a decision and was committing to it in the only register he trusted, which was print.
I forwarded it to Cassian at seven
