Chapter 5 - The Council at Blackwood Manor
The day of the formal Gallagher Confirmation Hearing arrived under a iron-gray sky at Blackwood Manor, the historic estate where the high council of New England syndicate leaders gathered to validate inherits. Ronan sat at the long mahogany council table, impeccably dressed in a tailored charcoal suit, his jaw set, holding my hand firmly beneath the table. Julian sat across from us, wearing a triumphant, predatory sneer, flanked by six senior council members. When the council chairman called for the final vote to ratify Ronan’s leadership, Julian stood up, raising his hand to object. He produced a thick black binder, declaring that Ronan’s marriage was a fraudulent sham designed to bypass Cormac’s will, and accused me of being an undercover federal agent planted to dismantle the family. The room erupted into chaos; guns were drawn, capos shouted, and Ronan stepped in front of me, drawing his own weapon to shield my body with his life. "If you touch my wife," Ronan roared, his voice echoing off the stone walls, "I will slaughter every man in this room." It was a breathtaking display of love and loyalty—and it was the exact moment I decided to end the game. Gently pushing Ronan’s gun down, I stepped out from behind him, my timid posture vanishing, replaced by the lethal, cold poise of the country’s most dangerous operative.
