Mathew was the one who answered, and he did so with the kind of light, unhurried smile that belonged to someone who had long since made peace with the fact that his convictions would not always be popular.
"If it were any other disciple, we would not be so certain," he said, his voice carrying the easy confidence of a man speaking from accumulated evidence rather than blind sentiment, "but we have complete belief in Max. He should cross the eightieth floor mark without much difficulty."
The words had barely settled before the other family heads began to nod, one after another, their agreement quiet but absolute. Even Garry, who didn't like Max one bit, dipped his head in affirmation.
They were not performing enthusiasm for one another's benefit. Each of them had arrived at this belief through their own observations, and those observations had built a picture of Max that no longer fit inside the ordinary frameworks they used to assess the disciples of their clan.
