A pause. The kind that invites me to defend my heir.
I don’t.
“He’s my son,” I say instead. “Not my successor.”
It’s the closest thing to honesty Rossi will ever get from me.
Rossi’s smile sharpens. “Ah.” He tastes it. The admission. The gap in the chain. No successor means uncertainty. Uncertainty means opportunity.
He leans forward slightly, voice lowering like we’re sharing a secret. “Men get old, Turo. Strong men, too. Even kings.”
I feel the line behind my right ear twitch. My fingers want to go there. The stupid tell. The habit that has survived every beating, every lesson, every rule I learned the hard way.
I keep my hand down. Rossi watches my stillness like it’s entertainment.
“You know what my father used to say?”
I don’t answer. I don’t need to. He’s going to tell me, anyway.
“A throne without an heir is just a chair,” Rossi says. “Anyone can sit in it.”
Behind me, one of my men shifts just slightly. A ripple in the quiet.
I don’t move.
I let silence stretch until Rossi’s smile falters a fraction. Then I speak.
“My chair isn’t available.”
Rossi chuckles like I’ve told a joke. “No?”
“No.”
I take one step closer. Not aggressively. Just enough to make his men tense up. Enough to remind him that even tired, even burdened, I am still the man who decides who breathes and who doesn’t.
“Now,” I say calmly, “you’ll tell me what you want.”
Rossi’s gaze flicks to my shoes, then back up. He recalculates. He always does. That’s why he’s lived this long.
“Half a point on the port cuts,” he says finally. “For six months.”
I don’t react. Half a point is a lot of money. It’s also less than a war.
“And,” he adds, “your son stays away from my territory.”
I almost laugh. Marco can’t even stay away from his own destruction.
“Agreed,” I say.
Rossi’s eyes narrow. He’s surprised. He wanted a fight. He wanted me to posture. To prove something.
I don’t need to prove anything.
I need to survive this era until I can carve out a new one.
“Done so easily?” Rossi asks.
I meet his stare. “You’re not worth the blood you’re trying to bait me into spilling.”
