Lucas POV
The meeting was supposed to start at nine. By nine-fifteen, three of the seven representatives were already arguing about seating positions, which told me everything I needed to know about how the next two hours were going to go.
I let it run for exactly ninety seconds before cutting across it.
"Sit anywhere," I told the room. "Where you place yourself around a table does not determine your standing in this framework. What you say does. So sit down and let's begin."
They sat.
Matteo took the position to my left. Reyes came in last, unhurried, and chose the chair directly across from me at the far end, which was either a statement or just practicality. With Reyes, the two were sometimes the same thing.
