REESE

chapter thirty one.

Reese POV:

Thomas Hobbes argued that our state of nature is a state of war.

The founder of modern political philosophy believed our prudential rationality leads us into conflict. He saw the law of nature as an aim to self-preservation, arguing that our natural state is to engage in violent and competitive wars against others as a means to survive. Since humans are always in competition, there is no possible way that trust, security, and freedom can be achieved without being weary of everyone surrounding us. Therefore concluding that a state of peace is inevitably impossible to obtain.

Hobbes was classified as a pessimist. Other philosophers labelled him as paranoid, extreme, and aggressive, but what they didn't take into account was the actual validity of his thesis. Natural human instinct calls for one to preserve their own safety. In matters of conflict, priority is given to oneself before others. If war and competition is how we must survive, then humans will engage by any means necessary. Human beings are selfish, give someone a large enough incentive to carry out an act that goes against their current allegiance, chances are they're going to do it, especially when we're talking about criminal organizations. Morality is malleable when the distinction between right and wrong is a subdivision between acts that are bad and acts that are worse.

Admittedly, presupposing the idea that every individual has a natural state that is inherently selfish is a bit excessive in nature, but as I stood in the control room of the English mafia headquarters; the plausibility of Hobbes' thesis crept up on me. I watched as the Capos and Consiglieres of the English empire interacted with their Don and Heir like some of them were not committing treason behind their backs.

Give a starving man a sliver of power, he'll starve his entire life looking for more.

"Miss Vanderbilt?"

I turned my attention away from the dozens of screens in front of me as an English security technician handed me a headset. The young girl, who was quick to introduce herself as Sam, was tasked to be my helping hand as I led the impending interrogation behind closed doors. The entire chief security team responsible for the Rutherford family's safety was in the control room with me. The Rutherfords had already screened their advanced security teams and were relieved to find out that there were no leaks coming from their personal soldiers, but that meant the leaks were all deriving from the empire's higher chain of command.

Seven individuals made up the English power structure. Stephen was the Don with Carver sitting at his second in command. Three Capos, including Morrison, were third in command, and two Consiglieres were advisors to the empire. The problem that the Rutherfords were currently facing was that there was no concrete evidence that implied that any one of the leaders were betraying the empire. But the possibility that Morrison acted alone was slim to none, there was simply no way that he could pull off an operation of that magnitude without additional inside help.

Morrison's authority in the empire was a large one, as he was the head Capo, but his position was not large enough to continuously bypass English security alone. He had to have had help, and the only individuals that had yet to be screened were the other leaders.

Despite being the Don and Heir, Stephen and Carver could not just simply approach the Capos and Consiglieres and start pointing fingers. The English empire was built on family franchise, the title of Don was passed down through generations of Rutherford men, and the current Capos and Consiglieres were the children and grandchildren of the previous leaders that held their titles. While it was the case that you had to earn and be offered a position in the chain of command instead of simply inheriting it, nepotism played a huge role. Disloyalty in the mafia was the highest form of treason, one that warranted a death note; so it was crucial that accusations regarding the term had to have some type of proof backing them up. Meritless accusations were not only disrespectful, they showed a lack of control, which would inadvertently push the narrative that the current leaders were not fit to sit on their thrones.