There was a murmur among the men, but none dared speak up first.
He straightened, his voice dropping in tone but doubling in intensity. "We should have already pushed Jerry to the point where he has no breath left to fight. He should have been so broken by now, so cut off, that even the thought of standing near this family would terrify him."
He looked at them again. "But what did you do? Delay. Second-guess. You let him breathe. And now he thinks he can still stand. Still act like a man of worth."
He slammed his hand down hard on the table, making some flinch.
"Why is he still standing?" he snapped. "Why is he still proving stubbornness, as if he owns time, as if he's some untouchable creature that doesn't know what's coming?"
There was silence.
Then, one of the younger men, trying to steady his nerves, spoke quietly, "We didn't want to escalate too quickly, sir. We thought we could… reason with him."
"Reason?" the father scoffed bitterly. "With a man like Jerry?"
