Chapter 536 - 249: The New Speaker
Philadelphia. The top floor of the Saint Claude Building.
The massive terrace floated over the city like an isolated island.
Below, Benjamin Franklin Avenue blazed with lights, the traffic converging into a flowing river of light that stretched toward the Art Museum in the distance.
Leo Wallace leaned against the marble railing.
Between his fingers was a freshly cut Cohiba cigar.
Grayish-blue smoke rose slowly into the night, then dissipated into the Philadelphia sky.
He took a deep drag, the spicy and mellow flavor filling his mouth.
The Leo of today was finally starting to get used to the taste of cigars.
Evelyn Saint Cloud stood beside him.
She wore a deep black evening gown, a silver fox fur shawl draped over her shoulders.
Both of their gazes were fixed on the tablet resting on the round terrace table.
The screen was playing footage from the Harrisburg State Capitol Building.
Gareth Kaufman, the Republican President Pro Tempore who had held the State Senate for a decade, was sitting in the back row.
On the other side of the frame, a man in a brand-new dark blue suit, his hair slicked back and a mixture of confusion and terror on his face, was being pushed toward the highest seat by a crowd of staff members.
William Saint Cloud.
He looked like a pug that had wandered into a wolf pack, clutching his speech notes tightly.
"Look at the state of him."
Evelyn took a sip of red wine and let out a soft laugh.
"That idiot just sent me a text."
Evelyn took out her phone and waved it in front of Leo.
"He asked me if he needed to change into a tailcoat for the swearing-in ceremony. He also asked if he could take the gavel home as a souvenir after using it once."
Leo blew a smoke ring.
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him to just look presentable. As for the gavel, he can do whatever he wants with it, as long as he doesn’t use it to bash someone’s head in."
Evelyn put her phone away, her eyes returning to the screen.
On screen, William was now standing before the president’s chair.
He fumbled a bit as he touched the heavy gavel, then gave it a tentative rap.
"THUD."
The sound was faint, even a bit comical.
But procedurally, it was enough.
"He’ll be a good president."
Leo looked at the man on the screen, whose face screamed, "Who am I? Where am I?"
"He’s the safest choice because he doesn’t know anything."
"He won’t have his own ideas, he won’t try to strike any political balance, and he certainly won’t backstab us at a critical moment."
"He will only do one thing: obey."
"For Pennsylvania right now, that’s enough."
Evelyn nodded.
"The family elders are very pleased with him. At least he looks like a big shot now, which is far more respectable than him fooling around with models in Milan."
Just then, the phone on the table began to vibrate.
Its urgent buzzing broke the tranquility of the terrace.
Leo glanced at the caller ID.
Aston Monroe.
Leo picked up the phone, answered the call, and casually switched on the speakerphone.
"Leo..."
Monroe’s voice came through the speaker.
"It’s over."
"It’s all over."
Monroe’s voice sounded distant, as if he were dreaming.
"Kaufman’s out. The old bastard didn’t even put up a final fight. He was just taken out by the procedure."
"William Saint Cloud..."
Monroe sucked in a sharp breath.
"My God, that playboy is actually sitting up there with the gavel. I’m here, I saw him take the seat with my own eyes."
Monroe paused, seemingly to compose himself.
"Leo, how on earth did you do it?"
Monroe’s question cut right to the heart of the matter.
"I can understand the votes from the Democratic Party, but the Republicans... That was seven votes. Especially Steve Miller—he was Kaufman’s protégé."
"I saw his hands shaking during the vote, but he still voted against keeping Kaufman."
"How did you turn them?"
"What dirt did you have on them? Or did you give them an offer they couldn’t refuse?"
Leo held his cigar, watching the glowing red tip.
"Turn them?"
Leo said nonchalantly.
"No, Aston. That’s not the right word."
"I didn’t turn them."
"I just explained a simple truth to them."
"I told them that if they didn’t cast this vote today..."
"...then during the party primaries or the state legislative elections..."
"...I would pay a visit to their districts."
"I’d bring my Industrial Revival Alliance and pay a visit to their opponents."
"Give their opponents some campaign funds, or set up a few free health clinics in their districts, and while I’m at it, help their opponents rally some votes."
It was a simple political threat.
What Leo held now wasn’t just the votes of the citizens in the Industrial Revival Alliance, but also a complete, efficient, and proven system for mobilizing resources.
He had money, an organization, and public support.
For those local senators, this was an attack on a completely different level.
Elections at their level were often decided by just a few thousand votes, and a couple of million US dollars was enough to wage a well-funded campaign.
But even a trickle of the resources at Leo’s disposal would be enough to create a tsunami in their districts.
They were afraid Leo would actually enter the fray and back their opponents.
That would be tantamount to destroying their careers.
"You threatened them," Monroe said.
"It’s a reasonable political play,"
Leo corrected him.
"They need to be reelected, and I need a president."
"We each get what we need."
"But, Leo," Monroe’s voice was full of confusion, "this doesn’t add up."
"I can understand a few of them defecting. Their districts are on the Lake Erie Shoreline, within the sphere of influence of your Industrial Revival Alliance. It’s logical for them to fear your threats."
"But there were other votes."
Monroe’s speech quickened.
"Those Republican senators from the agricultural counties in central Pennsylvania, why did they vote yes too? Your Industrial Alliance can’t influence them, and your workers can’t go to their farmlands to canvass for votes."
"What channels do you have? What price did you pay to make those conservative Republicans proactively take out their own president?"
Monroe found Leo terrifying.
The kind of cross-party control he demonstrated instilled a deep-seated fear in him.
Leo chuckled on the other end of the line.
"Aston, this is why we need to work together."
"Some things, you don’t need to know in such detail."
Leo flicked the ash from his cigar.
"Congratulations, Mr. Vice Governor."
"Now, the doors of the State Assembly are open to us."
"The old guard dog has been chased away and replaced with one of our own."
"The State Senate is now ready to receive your proposals."
Monroe took a deep breath on the other end of the line.
"Alright."
Monroe suppressed the fear in his heart, forcing his voice to sound motivated.
"Since the path is paved, when do we begin the next step?"
"What about Campbell..."
"Soon,"
Leo said.
"Let William get used to the chair for a couple of days. Even a puppet has to learn how to swing the gavel."
"Once he’s settled in,"
"...it will be time for you, Mr. Vice Governor, to see our dear Governor off on his final journey."
"Understood,"
Monroe replied.
"I’ll be ready."
"I’m hanging up."
Leo ended the call.
He tossed the phone on the table with a CLACK.
The screen went dark.
The dust had settled.
Leo turned his head to look at Evelyn.
"Alright,"
Leo said.
"William is in position."
"Now, you can use him to push any legislation the Saint Claude Family wants through the State Senate. Whether it’s tax cuts or financial deregulation."
"As long as it doesn’t conflict with what I’m doing."
Leo’s gaze sharpened.
"You can have your piece of the pie, but you can’t smash the whole thing."
Evelyn watched Leo, not speaking immediately.
She just lifted her wine glass, swirling it gently, watching the red liquid leave streaks on the crystal.
Leo knew full well that putting William in that position was a double-edged sword.
He still needed the Saint Claude Family’s influence in Pennsylvania, so he had to give Evelyn a concession.
But at the same time, he had also installed an agent of capital into the core of Pennsylvania’s power structure.
That was why he had to draw boundaries and set the rules from the very beginning.
Evelyn Saint Cloud raised her glass toward Leo.
"To William."
"To that fool. The most valuable thing he’s ever done in his life was being born into the Saint Claude Family and learning how to obey."
Leo raised his cigar in turn.
"And to the idiots who thought they controlled everything, only to end up in the trash heap."
Their gazes met mid-air.
He turned back to face the brilliant city nightscape.
The lights of Philadelphia spread out beneath his feet like a vast net.
And to the west, less than a hundred miles away in Harrisburg,
another net had already been cast.
The two nets were slowly closing, enveloping the entire state of Pennsylvania.
The coup in Harrisburg was just the beginning.
Next was the Governor, the healthcare system, the entire old order.
Beneath the pitch-black canopy of the sky, he could almost see a new Empire rising.
An Empire forged by his own hands.
Leo pressed his cigar out on the railing.
Sparks flew, extinguished in an instant by the night wind.
"Let’s go,"
Leo said to himself.
"Now, all that’s left is to wait for the moment that will set everything in motion."