Chapter 118: The Numbers Add Up

The Executive Summary was far less exciting than the work that went into producing it.

Alexander supposed that was a good thing.

If several weeks of negotiations could eventually be reduced to a few pages of numbers that made sense, then everyone involved had probably done their jobs properly.

The proposed logistics partnership was relatively straightforward.

Vance Holdings moved an enormous amount of materials between suppliers, construction sites, manufacturing facilities, and completed developments. Mercer Group already had much of the logistics infrastructure needed to move those materials efficiently, including distribution facilities and established transportation networks.

Vance had little point in spending more money maintaining overlapping arrangements when Mercer already did the same work better in several regions.

For Vance, the partnership meant lower logistics costs and more reliable material movement.

For Mercer, it meant a substantial amount of steady business moving through infrastructure the company already maintained.

Nobody needed to rescue anybody.

Nobody needed to accept a bad deal for the sake of family connections, friendships, or impending marriage.

The numbers simply worked.

Alexander finished reading the Executive Summary and reached for his phone.

Giovanni answered on the third ring.

"Tell me you’re not calling to cancel dinner again."

"Do the numbers add up on your side?"

A pause.

"What numbers?"

"The logistics proposal."

"Ah. Work. Somehow worse."

Alexander leaned back in his chair.

"I’ve finished reviewing the Executive Summary."

"And?"

"They add up on our side."

"They add up on ours too."

"Even with the revised volume commitments?"

"Yes."

"And the distribution costs?"

"Alex."

"What?"

"I have people who check these things."

"So do I. I checked anyway."

"I know. So did I."

Alexander smiled.

Of course he had.

"So we’re good?"

"We’re good."

That was remarkably anticlimactic considering the number of meetings it had taken to reach those two words.

Alexander closed the file.

"Excellent."

"Now can we discuss something important?"

"What?"

"Dinner."

Alexander glanced at the time.

"I’ll be at the workshop tonight."

"That’s what you said yesterday."

"I was at the workshop yesterday."

"And the day before."

"I own a restoration business."

"I own restaurants. Somehow I still manage to leave them."

"That might be because other people cook the food."

"And other people restore the doors."

Alexander frowned.

"That isn’t the same thing."

"Of course not."

"You’re patronizing me."

"I’m trying to feed you."

Alexander looked at his calendar.

Running Vance Holdings already consumed most of his waking hours. Apparently, starting another business in what remained of them hadn’t been his most sensible decision.

Giovanni wasn’t much better.

The restaurants were hardly the largest part of Mercer Group, but they were the part he remained personally attached to. He still visited the kitchens, argued over menus, and occasionally spent far too much time discussing food for a man with an entire corporate group waiting for his attention.

Perhaps that was the point.

They already had companies large enough to consume as much of their lives as they allowed.

The smaller things were theirs because they wanted them.

Alexander restored old things.

Giovanni fed people.

Neither needed to become an empire.

"I can do dinner at seven."

"Six-thirty."

"Seven."

"Six forty-five."

Alexander sighed.

"Fine."

"See you then."

The call ended.

Apparently, negotiating with Giovanni Mercer was much harder when food was involved.

Dinner plans changed before either of them could follow through.

The news didn’t come through the media.

That was probably why Alexander believed it.

Conrad Sebastian had been hospitalized in serious condition.

Alexander hadn’t seen the man properly in years. Still, there had been a time when the Sebastian family lived close enough to the Vances and Mercers that Conrad had simply been another familiar adult from their childhood.

Giovanni remembered him too.

Whatever had happened between their families since then didn’t erase that.

So they arranged to visit.

They didn’t arrive with reporters or an unreasonable mountain of flowers. They simply asked whether Conrad was receiving visitors and, after receiving permission, went upstairs.

Conrad looked ill.

There was no polite way around that.

Still, he was awake and alert enough to recognize both men when they entered.

"Well," Conrad murmured. "This is unexpected."

Alexander smiled.

"We heard you were here."

"So you came to verify?"

"Mostly to see whether there was anything you needed."

Giovanni nodded.

"Anything we can reasonably help with."

Conrad looked between them.

"Reasonably?"

"I’ve learned to establish limits before offering favors."

"Smart."

Alexander pulled a chair closer.

For a little while, they talked.

Nothing particularly important.

The old neighborhood came up. So did the Vance estate and how much the area around their former homes had changed over the years.

Alexander deliberately avoided asking for details about Conrad’s condition beyond what the older man volunteered.

Giovanni did the same.

If Conrad needed anything, they told him, he could ask. They left their calling cards on the desk.

Whether he actually would was another matter.

They were preparing to leave when the door opened.

Dominic walked in.

Then stopped.

His gaze went first to Alexander.

Then Giovanni.

Then his father.

Finally, back to Alexander.

"Of course."

Alexander raised an eyebrow.

"Hello to you too."

"I leave him alone for one afternoon."

Conrad looked offended.

"I’m hospitalized, not unsupervised."

"You refused two perfectly good kidneys. You require supervision."

Giovanni looked at Alexander.

Alexander wisely decided not to ask.

Dominic set down the bag he’d brought.

"What are you two doing here?"

"Visiting your father."

"I gathered that."

Conrad sighed.

"They came to see whether I needed anything."

Dominic looked between them.

"And?"

"I apparently don’t."

"Good. Don’t offer him a kidney. He’s become picky."

"Dominic."

"What? I’m warning them."

Alexander glanced at Conrad.

"I wasn’t planning to."

"Excellent. Saves time."

Despite himself, Conrad smiled.

The awkwardness never completely disappeared.

Perhaps it wasn’t supposed to.

There was simply enough history between the four of them that pretending otherwise would’ve been ridiculous.

But nobody fought.

Nobody brought up abandoned weddings, business withdrawals, interviews, or any of the other disasters that had once made being in the same room considerably more dangerous.

For the moment, that was enough.

Alexander and Giovanni eventually said their goodbyes, with Dominic following them into the corridor a few minutes later.

They were almost at the elevator when Alexander turned to him.

"I heard the gallery is opening for public exhibitions soon. Congratulations."

Dominic regarded him suspiciously, and Alexander raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"I was waiting for the rest."

"There is no rest."

That seemed to surprise him more than an insult would’ve.

"Then thank you." Dominic paused, then apparently decided the courtesy deserved a return. "I heard about your restoration business too. Congratulations."

Now Alexander understood the suspicion.

"Thank you."

Giovanni pressed the elevator button. "I’m very proud of both of you."

They immediately turned toward him.

He regretted speaking.

Dominic tilted his head. "And what have you built lately?"

"Nothing."

That caught Dominic off guard, although Alexander already understood.

Giovanni had told him beside the river at the Vance estate that he didn’t want to keep making things bigger simply because he could. Mercer Group was already enormous, his restaurants were doing well, and he’d reached a point where another expansion or accomplishment wasn’t necessarily what he wanted.

Big didn’t always mean strong.

Sometimes, Giovanni just wanted more time to enjoy the life he’d already built.

"Nothing?" Dominic repeated.

"Intentionally."

"That sounds suspiciously peaceful."

"I’m experimenting with having a life."

"Is he serious?" Dominic asked Alexander.

"Unfortunately."

Giovanni ignored him. "I want to travel more."

Then, apparently remembering something, he looked at Dominic.

"How was Italy?"

Dominic’s expression immediately changed. "How do you know I went to Italy?"

"I heard."

"From whom?"

Alexander made the mistake of looking away.

Dominic caught it immediately.

"You told him?"

"I may have mentioned it."

"Why are the two of you discussing my vacations?"

"We weren’t. It came up."

"That isn’t reassuring."

Giovanni laughed. "I was only asking if you enjoyed it."

Dominic’s suspicion eased. "I did."

"Tuscany?"

"Mostly."

"And was it worth going?"

Dominic thought about the villa and the quiet afternoons he’d spent painting without anyone expecting him to be particularly impressive.

"Yes. Definitely."

"I might go."

"You?"

Giovanni frowned. "Why does everyone react like that?"

"Because you work."

"So do you."

"I was unemployed."

"You own a gallery."

"It wasn’t open yet."

The elevator finally arrived, saving them before that argument could go anywhere.

Alexander stepped inside. "Are you two finished?"

"No," Dominic said, just as Giovanni answered, "Yes."

Before the doors could close, Dominic looked at Giovanni again.

"If you go to Tuscany, don’t turn it into a business trip."

"I wasn’t planning to."

"And don’t buy anything."

"Why?"

"Because you’re exactly the kind of person who goes on vacation and comes home owning a vineyard."

Alexander laughed as Giovanni stepped into the elevator.

"I don’t even like wine that much."

"That has never stopped a rich man from making a terrible investment."

The doors started closing.

Alexander looked at Dominic through the narrowing gap.

"Good luck with the gallery."

Dominic smiled faintly. "You too. With the workshop."

For once, they left it there.