Chapter 8
Captain Hale came back voluntarily.
Good.
I preferred fear that learned courage before guards arrived.
He admitted Arthur had been gathering older men for months.
No formal vote.
No document.
Just dinners.
Whiskey.
Stories about my grandfather.
Stories about “stronger times.”
Always dangerous.
Nostalgia rarely remembers who suffered under the old order.
“What did Dad want?”
Hale sighed.
“A family council above the boss.”
I almost laughed.
“Above me.”
“Yes.”
“Led by?”
Silence.
“Arthur?”
Hale nodded.
There it was.
Gavin was not the final goal.
Of course not.
My father did not want my brother ruling.
He wanted Gavin dependent enough to let Arthur rule through him.
I looked at Gavin.
He had insisted on attending.
His face had gone pale.
“You knew?”
“No.”
Arthur did not look at him.
That was answer enough.
Gavin stood.
“You told me I’d lead.”
“You would.”
“With you above me?”
Arthur’s jaw tightened.
“I would advise.”
I almost smiled.
The same word.
Advice.
A crown people pretend is not one.
Gavin laughed bitterly.
“So Lucas was right.”
Arthur stared.
“About what?”
“That you don’t think I’m better.”
Silence.
“You think I’m easier.”
That hurt my father.
Good.
Because it was true.
Gavin removed the expensive family watch Arthur had given him at twenty-one.
He placed it on the table.
Arthur’s face changed.
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Good answer.
For the first time in his life, Gavin did not immediately replace Arthur’s instruction with another plan.
He sat back down.
Hale continued.
The council would use my birthday reaction as evidence I was “domestically compromised.”
The phrase irritated me enough to make me laugh.
I had heard versions before.
Boss loves daughter.
Boss becomes emotional.
Boss protects child.
Therefore boss cannot lead violent men.
Interesting logic.
I looked at Hale.
“Do you believe it?”
He hesitated.
“Sometimes.”
Honest.
Good.
I nodded.
“Then say it.”
Arthur looked shocked.
I continued.
“You are allowed to think I’m weaker because I love my daughter.”
Pause.
“You are not allowed to use her humiliation to manufacture proof.”
May you like
Silence.
That distinction was the line my father had forgotten existed.
