Chapter 970 - First meeting at the White Mansion

~ 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.

Marcus thinks that he is so smart and that they are not aware of what he is doing, but they are observing him. He is gathering rich families to support him against Jeff, and he met privately with Shawn more than once in last month.

The only thing they are not sure about is: what Marcus plans to do with all this?

Is it possible that Marcus thinks how he can just get their men to turn against them? Even if he pulls of a stunt like that, it will not be enough to topple White empire. They are so much more than just manpower.

Those safety deposit boxes provide Jeff with access to the information which can coerce a lot of powerful people in the country follow his orders, so even if White forces are not under his command, he can level them flat, together with Marcus.

Marcus must have a plan to get at least one more of their key men, Mason or Ryder. But… even with that, it is not certain that he will get his hands on the position of a Master. If he makes his move, it needs to be a sure kill. Anything else will be a suicide mission.

They agreed to pretend that they are not aware of Marcus' actions and that Shawn is leaning toward him, until they find out what exactly is Marcus planning. 

Jeff and JoAnna had a plan for Aiden and Sarah to take over Shawn's position and to manage all manpower, but now that plan is on the back burner. Aiden is not available, and Sarah is mostly stuck behind her computer. JoAnna saw some maps and timelines, but Sarah refused to explain. JoAnna hoped that since Evalina is in custody, Sarah will focus on recuperation and taking care of Aiden… and getting her old life back. But it seems that Sarah has something else on her mind. Even her kids are different. They are training most of the day, like posessed by some warrior spirits. JoAnna asked Sophia if she knows anything about recent happenings at the Cliffside Villa, but Sophia was not of much help in cracking that mystery.

Sophia only complained that Felix is spending much more time in the workshop lately and because of that she is getting less massages. JoAnna rolled her eyes at the thought of Sophia complaining how now she is getting ONLY two massages daily. Felix truly pampers her.

But JoAnna is confident that Sarah is up to something. And that Sarah wants to keep her sisters out of it... which means that it's something dangerous.

JoAnna could not wait for the meeting to end. It was set up only as an introduction, and for them to gauge who will be loyal to Jeff and who will not. JoAnna had a mental list of possible and certain traitors within few minutes, and after that she was trying to look interested in the current topic while her mind wondered toward her sisters and plans for Emma's clinic.

…

"How was that?", Jeff asked expectantly when they were in the privacy of their bedroom.

JoAnna praised him. "You did amazing. I am proud of you."

Jeff smiled dotingly. He saw that she was spacing out during the meeting, and probably didn't hear more than half of it, but he does not want to call her out. "Did you get your list?"

JoAnna nodded. "Yes. Shawn will betray us as soon as he can. Ryder is reserved. Mason is going to be loyal. Their men will follow. Out of ten Shawn's subordinates, only two looked at you like you are their boss. As for others… we need to get rid of them before they come to bite us. Eve recorded the meeting and we have personal files of all people. I will compare my impressions with logs from Eve and sort out the ones which we should remove from our proximity, and you can review it."

"Hmm…", Jeff approved. "What would I do without you?"

"You would be late for the next meeting.", JoAnna reminded him while slapping his buttocks playfully. "Go, meet with people. Elanor invited me to check out the property and discuss future plans while you are in a meeting with Oscar. Let's finish this today, so that we can head out back to Los Angeles tonight."

Jeff kissed JoAnna and put on his icy expression before they headed out.

JoAnna smiled bitterly at the thought why they are in a rush to go back. Tomorrow is Aiden's birthday. Sarah insisted that they need to celebrate. JoAnna admires Sarah's enthusiasm despite everything, but she can't imagine a celebratory atmosphere around a man who is in a coma. Well, there is no way that she can reject this request. Tomorrow she will see what Sarah planned.

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