Chapter 970 - First meeting at the White Mansion (1/2)
~ Austin, White Mansion ~
November 16
Jeff is at the head of the massive table, on his right is JoAnna and on his left is Oscar with Elanor.
Present are three lieutenants: Mason who is in charge of intelligence, Shawn who is in charge of people and Ryder who is responsible for the money and resources.
These three men wield different assets behind the White foundation which is the name for White family's underground forces. Master of the White family depends on the loyalty of those three people in order to maintain his power.
More than fifty other people are present, and most of them are reporting to Mason, Shawn or Ryder directly.
The purpose of this meeting is for Oscar to introduce Jeff as the next Master of the family and to ask them all to provide their help and guidance in this crucial period when Jeff needs to establish himself.
”If anyone has any objections, speak now.”, Jeff sternly addressed everyone present. ”We will either find a solution that works for everyone or we will part ways amicably.”
JoAnna smiled internally. Her man practiced hard to maintain his cold-icy expression in her presence. And he is doing great.
JoAnna observed everyone seated at the table while Jeff spoke about the existing rules he wants to keep and new rules which he wants to introduce.
Oscar and Elanor are giving their silent support by attending this meeting.
JoAnna can see uneasiness from some of the people present, but no one dares to say anything openly. They didn't complain about three drones which are silently hovering above their heads, even though almost everyone glanced upward apprehensively at least once. JoAnna and Jeff want to have everything recorded, so that they can analyze it later, but people present are not aware of the purpose of the drones. Eve is recording and analyzing everyone's responses real-time and logging data for JoAnna and Jeff to review later. There are dozen other drones through the mansion and the property, and if anyone tries anything that will jeopardize safety of Jeff or JoAnna, Eve will disable them. Jeff is happy that Sarah approved Eve's use for this meeting.
JoAnna saw that Shawn avoided to look at Jeff or Oscar during the whole meeting, and that is definitely a bad sign.
Elanor explained previously that loyalty goes one level above, and JoAnna is aware that if Shawn is not willing to follow Jeff, there is a high chance that his direct subordinates will make the same choice.
People on the lowest level don't have much loyalty. They follow orders for money. Most of them are ruthless fighters hired through underground fighting clubs like Black & White. Other than money, they respect strength and power.
JoAnna sighed. This is one of the reasons why they wanted to have Aiden and Sarah with them. With two of them present, people (and especially fighters) would be more likely to obey Jeff and resist Shawn's temptation to follow Marcus. They respect strength, and Aiden and Sarah can whip some respect into non-believers. But now, Aiden is in a coma, and Sarah had her surgery only ten days ago. Even without surgery, it's not likely that Sarah will leave Aiden's side.
Good thing is that Sarah is recuperating better than expected. Emma's therapy can do wonders, and JoAnna told her that she can open her own clinic for rehabilitation. Emma looked at JoAnna reluctantly, and JoAnna encouraged Emma to think about it.
”If you need a starting capital, I can help with money for a percentage of ownership.”, JoAnna offered to Emma. ”You can cater to the wealthy class and charge a hefty sum. Your treatments are worthy of it.”
Back to the meeting…
JoAnna looked at Shawn and his people and thought how it will be good if next time when they meet with them, Sarah joins at least for a day trip. She mentioned this to Sarah and Sarah pretended not to hear it. Ah, JoAnna remembers how Sarah was excitedly planning to come to the White Mansion with Aiden while talking about that delicious wedding cake... Of course, all that was before this mess happened.
Oscar and Elanor warned Jeff and JoAnna about Shawn. They have information that he might be shifting his loyalty to Marcus.