Chapter 10
The allied-family seat proposal survived.
David did not.
That distinction mattered.
Three capos still believed outside families supporting DeLuca should have structured input.
I agreed to discuss it.
Margaret called that theft.
“You’re using David’s idea.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“I’m refusing to let David own a question he corrupted.”
We created no permanent Mercer seat.
Instead, allied families could send rotating delegates for specific operational meetings.
No hereditary place.
No marriage-based authority.
No automatic vote.
Useful input without creating a private throne.
Thomas approved.
Two other allied families did too.
The Mercers hated it because it solved the stated problem without rewarding David.
That exposed everything.
If representation had truly been the goal, they would have celebrated.
They wanted position.
Not principle.
David eventually admitted it.
“I wanted something that was mine.”
I looked at him.
“You had your own family.”
He flinched.
“You mean Sarah and Emma.”
“Yes.”
“That isn’t the same.”
“No.”
I leaned back.
“It was more.”
Silence.
He had traded the thing he actually possessed for a chair he imagined would make him whole.
That tragedy did not absolve him.
But it explained part of the hunger.
Men raised to measure worth through rank become dangerous when ordinary love fails to satisfy the scoreboard.
David’s mother taught him that.
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Then marriage gave him a richer scoreboard.
He kept climbing until his wife hit the floor.
