Page 115 of Savage Empire

“And you don’t have a problem giving? Only receiving?”

My cock jumps at the idea of putting my mouth on her. “Giving is not a problem. Not at all.”

Her throat bobs and I have the most carnal desire to bite it.

“Moving on?”

“Yeah,” she agrees, flipping open her papers. “Moving on.”

The next points of negotiation move much more quickly. Smaller issues and larger, each getting a fair bit of attention.

Beginning with: “I get to name my heir.”

“Only if I have a reasonable amount of veto power,” she reasons in return.

“Agreed.”

We note the agreement, and continue.

“My heir will know Italian,” I say, moving on to the next point. “It’s imperative to his future as Capo. English and Italianmust be his main focus, if you intend to teach him Bulgarian as well, we can discuss how best to do that.”

“Fair,” she mutters. “Leon could probably help in that area. He has experience helping Leo, and he knows Bulgarian.”

“Leon may be a good choice for godfather then, shall we note that?”

“Can Sienna be the godmother?”

“She can be, but it’s unlikely my family would give my child to her, in the case of our deaths. She’d need to be with them to be in their life.”

“Makes sense,” she murmurs, writing something down. “That’s fine, then. In the event that we have a boy?—”

“We will.”

“—he must be allowed some sense of normalcy. I will not raise a child to only think of the mafia. He’ll have fun, and laugh, and love, and you won’t push him while he’s still young.”

“Do you assume I was raised without fun, laughter, and love?”

She looks uncomfortable, almost wincing. “I have no idea how you were raised. But when a man marries to produce an heir to run his empire, one must be cautious about his motivations.”

I nod, noting my understanding. “Tradition dictates I have a son, it does not dictate that he be rigid and ready to run anempirebefore he can walk. He will know love and laughter, just as I and all of my siblings did.”

“Okay.” She nods. “But what if he has no desire to be Capo? What then? Will you shame him? Regret him? Shun him?”

The way she can knock me down a peg without even trying, even when I don’t deserve it. I can’t tell if I love it or hate it.

“I find your implication insulting.”

Rayna blinks. “The implication that your son could ever want anything other than what he’s destined for? Or the implication that you would punish him for such a thing?”

“Becoming Capo will be expected of him, just as it was expected of me, my father, and his father before him. I won’t deny that he’ll be trained to perform the role, nor that he won’t be influenced to accept his birthright.”

She scoffs, and my eye twitches.

“Like it or not, any child that I sire will be born with a target on his back. He’ll be honed into a strong man, a man with honor and principles that he will come to fight for. That doesn’t mean that I will put The Outfit over my son. My dedication to our family and our family’s history will not overshadow my role as a father. There will be balance.”

“So, if he doesn’t want the role?”

“He’ll be offered another, and either my second son, or Leon’s eldest will take his place. But do not be mistaken, he will not escape this life, Rayna. He can have the illusion of normalcy if he deserves to be like his uncle Emilio and act as an ambassador. But Moretti blood is mafia blood. It always will be. As long as he’s alive, and my DNA is running through his veins, he will not be safe anywhere else. This Empire is sacred, and it is nearly impenetrable.”