Giulio looks at me. “Some things are less so than others.”
I pick up another strip of orange peel. “Yes.”
The room waits. This is the edge.
“Which is why the Irish matter,” I say.
Salvatore speaks then. “An alliance,” he says quietly.
Men lean in to hear him. They always do.
“Would stabilize that position,” Salvatore finishes.
Giulio turns toward him. “Would it?”
“Yes.”
“Or would it introduce new variables?”
Salvatore doesn’t react. “Everything introduces variables. The question is whether they can be managed.”
Giulio’s mouth curves slightly. “And can they?”
Salvatore doesn’t answer. The question has already been placed where it belongs.
With me.
“Yes,” I say.
Silence follows.
“How?” Giulio asks.
Direct. Good. Now we’re where we need to be.
“The Irish,” I say, “control Boston, significant movement through New York, and emerging routes into Chicago. Their structure is stable. Their leadership is disciplined.”
“Seane Brennan,” Giulio says.
“Yes.”
“A cautious man.”
“Yes.”
“Not prone to expansion without reason.”
“No.”
“Then why align with us?”
Because he sees what we are becoming. Because instability invites opportunity. Because a disciplined man prefers controlled risk over unpredictable collapse.
I don’t say any of that.
“He understands the value of structure,” I say instead.
Giulio studies me. “And you’re offering him that.”
