Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

submission
plene et simpliciter
and will so state to any who ask.” He bent and retrieved the discarded jeans. “Here.”
    “Thank you,” Tony said again. He stood on one leg to begin pulling his jeans back
     on.
    “What just happened?” Lily asked. “I know he submitted, but something about it surprised
     you.”
    “Laban submitted
plene et simplicite—
that means fully and completely, nothing held back. Such language is unusual. It’s
     sometimes used when one clan defeats another in battle, but even then there are often
     terms applied to the submission.”
    “Like how long it will last?”
    “Among others, yes. Tony, this is my Chosen, Lily Yu. Lily, this is Tony Romano.”
    He was back on both feet now and zipping his jeans. “Miss Yu.” He gave her a nod,
     but his attention returned to Rule immediately. “I submitted fully. It was the right
     thing to do. Laban lost honor through my father’s actions. I needed to acknowledge
     that wrong. He meant well, but he was wrong.” His brows drew down. “I told him so,
     but he doesn’t listen to me.”
    “He’ll have to now, won’t he?” Rule said.
    “It will take time for him to learn how to do that. Isen didn’t let my father change
     his heir back to my brother before passing the mantle. He must have wanted me to be
     Rho. Why me instead of James?”
    “He didn’t tell me. It may be that he trusts you more than he does James.”
    The young man thought that over, then nodded. “James thought Father’s scheme to sell
     information was clever. I thought it was wrong. Maybe Isen guessed that. Or maybe
     Fred is right. Fred thinks that Isen preferred me because I would be easy to manipulate
     because I’m not very smart.”
    “Tony!” the short man exclaimed. “I didn’t say—”
    “No.” For the first time he smiled, a singularly sweet expression turned briefly on
     his counselor. “You didn’t call me stupid. You never do. But I am slow in my thinking.
     I’m an odd choice for Rho. My father never meant me to be Rho. I was his way of telling
     James to shape up. But now I am Rho, and so I submitted
plene et simplicit.
Now Isen won’t feel he has to manipulate me because he has all the control, and we
     can be comfortable together.”
    A single sharp crack of laughter burst from Rule. “And so you prove that thinking
     slowly is not the same as beingstupid. You may have just gotten the best of my father, Tony, and there are very few
     who can say that.”
    Lily was confused. Her expression must have shown that, because Rule turned to her
     with a half smile. “This makes Isen more fully involved in Laban’s welfare, you see.
     Increasing his authority increases his responsibility to them.”
    “Isen is sneaky,” Tony said, “and very clever, so it would do me no good to try to
     outthink him. He is also very much a Rho. He will deal honorably with us.”
    Fred didn’t seem as sure of that as his new Rho. He sighed faintly. Lily thought Tony
     was right, though. Isen was both clever and sneaky, but he was also as dominant as
     they came…the lupi version of dominant, that is, which was as much about taking care
     of those in your charge as it was about taking charge.
    “Who did you name Lu Nuncio for Laban?” Rule asked.
    “My cousin Charlie.”
    Rule’s eyebrows rose. “I’d expected you to name your father.”
    Tony’s sigh was long and windy. “So did he. He’d be a safe choice, but he was Rho
     too long to make a good Lu Nuncio, and he doesn’t listen to me. Charlie is very dominant
     and thinks he’d make a better Rho than I will, but he listens. He’s not jumpy the
     way James is. He won’t try to kill me. Not right away, anyway. He’ll give me a chance.”
    “You have much to do within your clan,” Rule said. “I stand ready to help, if I can.”
    “Thank you. First, though, I must do as Isen said. He wants me to help you investigate
     the theft. How can I help?”
    “For now, by answering some questions,” Lily said.
    “Okay,” he said, but barely glanced at her before looking back at Rule with doubt
     writ large on his face.
    “Lily is in charge of the investigation,” Rule said. “She’s an FBI agent.”
    “I think I knew that, but I’d forgotten.” For the first time he really looked at her…and
     kept looking for a disconcertingly long time. Finally he nodded. “I’m not used towomen being in charge. I know they are sometimes, but not in the clans, and I don’t
     see many women