Chapter 8
Sebastian denied nothing when we returned.
That surprised me.
He looked almost relieved.
“My sister-in-law always understood structure.”
“Mom understood you.”
“Yes.”
“Then why continue?”
“Because she was wrong about one thing.”
He nodded toward me.
“She thought you would destroy the chair.”
“I did.”
“You removed the furniture.”
Not the belief.
That landed.
He was right.
Old captains still talked as if the chair existed.
Still asked what my father would have done.
Still measured sons against grandfathers.
I had destroyed the symbol and left the social system intact.
Sebastian lived inside that gap.
“You want the chair?”
“No.”
That surprised me.
“I want someone above the boss.”
There.
That was his philosophy.
No single leader should be final.
Sounds reasonable.
Until you ask who appoints the people above him.
“Who chooses the Inner Chair?”
“Blood elders.”
“Who qualifies?”
“History.”
I almost laughed.
Meaning people like Sebastian.
Self-selecting restraint.
The oldest trick in power.
Ada asked:
“Why Rhea?”
Sebastian looked at her.
“Because Rhea believed you were weakening Ronan.”
My sister frowned.
“How?”
“You convinced him to close the Mercer route.”
Rhea’s family route.
There it was.
The personal grievance beneath ideological language.
Three years earlier Ada showed me evidence that Mercer collectors were humiliating small business owners.
I closed it.
Rhea lost income and standing.
She never complained openly.
Instead she waited.
Trusted adviser.
Smiling.
Patient.
Sebastian found her wound.
Then Gavin’s.
Gavin wanted a capo position I denied because he was reckless.
Two resentments.
One ideology.
Perfect recruits.
I looked at Sebastian.
“How many of the seven are like that?”
He smiled.
“All seven.”
Of course.
Grand philosophy built from personal disappointments.
That was usually how these things worked.
Then Rafe brought another message.
One of the seven captains wanted to meet.
Alone.
Not with Sebastian.
His name was Michael Trent.
My father’s oldest surviving capo.
May you like
And his first words were:
“Ronan, Sebastian lied to us too.”
