Affari Esteri

[Reeves]

Again, he nodded in understanding of the point she was making, not having any disagreements with the logic used, but he did have something to say in return. His overall facial expression having remained pleasant and void of aggression or any other significant indicators, there were however brief glimpses of what seemed like satisfaction and enjoyment. There was every likelihood that he appreciated the fact he was making progress. Whatever the reasons for that response might be, it was open to interpretation given the context of the situation.

When he did finally speak after letting her finish, the smoothness of his tone featured occasional enunciation the highlight the importance of certain pieces of information. There was also the fact that he lingered ever so slightly when directly addressing her in a formal manner, a deliberate pause as if to show he was giving her all due consideration and perhaps more. "Counterproposal on that point. We will not attack your ships making the run to their end of line somewhere in the Badlands. This is where your involvement in Liberty ends after all and the Rogues pay you upon receipt of the Cardamine shipments. We will continue to hijack said cargo from them in the Jersey field, as the only people incurring a loss at that juncture of the business would be the Junkers and the Rogues but not you or your people, signora. We'd ultimately be making sure those shipments of Cardamine reach the intended destination of Manhattan. One way or another. Does this assuage your concerns regarding the optics of our competitive stance against the other groups?"

Knowing fully well the ultimate goal was profit and that the Junkers, Rogues and even his people were considered expendable by Malta, he saw no logical reason why she would take an issue with what he just proposed as a compromise. The flow would remain unaffected, but it gave him the means to compete with the application of force and interdiction rather than just sheer market volumes. Effectively allowing him to even the playing field and rig the game in his favor. All he needed was for her to pronounce affirmation to this small revision, the same way she'd so gracefully laid out everything else.