Demands loyalty
Before every hard meeting it's 'are you with me on this?', and a colleague having lunch with a rival counts as betrayal.
Rule out first
Real politics where alliances decide outcomes. A recent betrayal by someone close. A culture where loyalty is the core virtue.
What could explain it
Mistrust/abuse schema: Loyalty is protection against an expected knife. Reassurance helps for a while, then the doubt returns.
Paranoid personality: Neutral acts get read as disloyal, and the circle of trusted people keeps shrinking over the years.
Narcissistic supply: Loyalty means agreement and admiration. Disagreeing in private, however respectfully, counts as betrayal.
High-control groups and thought reform: Loyalty to the group or its leader outranks friendship, family and your own judgement, and leaving is treated as treason.
Enneagram Type 8: Challenger: The code runs both ways: they're fiercely loyal back, say so openly, and respect you more for a direct challenge.
A next move
Disagree with them once, privately and respectfully, on something minor. Loyalty that survives disagreement is a code; loyalty that doesn't is supply or suspicion.
If it’s you
What would I lose if this person disagreed with me in public?