Chapter 55: No Business After Hours

Thursday arrived faster than Alexander expected.

By seven that evening, Joe was pulling up outside Matteo’s while Alexander studied the warm lights spilling across the sidewalk.

He’d chosen the restaurant deliberately. After spending enough time complaining that Giovanni had somehow neglected to mention it, Alexander finally intended to try it himself.

More importantly, Giovanni owned it, which meant Alexander was determined to pay before the man found some creative way to declare dinner complimentary.

Matteo’s looked different at night. It was smaller and less formal than Ysabella’s Steak House, with a glass pastry display near the entrance and warm lighting throughout the dining area. Clear partitions separated several quieter tables without completely shutting them away from the rest of the restaurant.

Giovanni was already there.

Naturally.

He’d apparently finished a meeting nearby and arrived early enough to speak with the manager before Alexander walked in.

Joe remained several steps behind.

Giovanni noticed him immediately.

"Joe."

"Sir."

Giovanni nodded toward a small table near the wall.

"There’s a table over there. Order whatever you want."

Joe blinked.

"That’s not necessary, sir."

"I know."

Alexander looked at Giovanni.

"You’ve been spending too much time around my father."

"Apparently."

Joe glanced toward Alex.

"I can wait in the car."

"No," Alexander said immediately. "Eat."

There was clearly no point arguing with either of them.

"Thank you, sir."

"And don’t order coffee and call it dinner," Giovanni added.

Joe smiled. "Yes, sir."

At least he appreciated that.

Between Alexander’s meetings, site visits, and the travel required between them, Joe had grown accustomed to squeezing meals into whatever time remained. More than once, that meant eating inside the parked car while waiting for his employer to emerge from yet another meeting.

A proper dinner at a table was something he wasn’t going to argue against too strongly.

Alexander and Giovanni moved toward one of the glass-partitioned nooks.

This time, no food waited for them.

Alexander noticed immediately.

"You didn’t order."

Giovanni sat across from him.

"You complained last time."

"I observed."

"Repeatedly."

"That isn’t the same thing."

A waiter arrived with menus before the argument could develop.

Alexander picked his up.

"And before you try anything clever, I’m paying."

Giovanni opened his own menu.

"You chose my restaurant."

"Yes."

"Again."

"That doesn’t invalidate money."

"We’ll see."

Alexander lowered the menu.

"No. We won’t see."

Giovanni didn’t look particularly concerned.

That was worrying.

The irony didn’t escape him when Alexander eventually ordered steak.

"You criticized your father for ordering steak at a café."

"I questioned it."

"And now?"

"I’m conducting independent verification."

"Of course."

Alexander ordered grilled sirloin with roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes, followed by flan. Giovanni chose roasted chicken and vanilla ice cream.

Once the waiter left, Alexander reached for his water.

"I looked over the redevelopment proposal."

Giovanni gave him a look.

"What?"

"You invited me to dinner."

"You accepted."

"Correct."

"And?"

"And you’re already discussing logistics."

"It’s relevant."

"During office hours."

Alexander raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because if you turn dinner into a meeting, I’m sending you an invoice."

"For what?"

"Consultation."

Alexander almost smiled.

"Fine. What do you want to talk about instead?"

Giovanni didn’t have to think long.

"Your parents."

That surprised him.

"What about them?"

"The bakery."

Alexander relaxed.

"That’s still technically business."

"Not ours."

"Fair."

Giovanni took a sip of water.

"Have they found a location?"

"Not yet. They’re still arguing about how many kinds of bread constitute a reasonable opening menu."

"How many?"

"My mother wants twelve."

Giovanni looked mildly impressed.

"And your father?"

"Six."

"They’ll probably meet somewhere in between."

Alexander considered it.

"Disturbingly plausible."

"Are they still looking in the city?"

"We haven’t decided."

"What about the estate?"

Alexander paused.

Giovanni continued, "If they want something enjoyable rather than another corporation to manage, the ancestral property might suit them better."

"What are you thinking?"

"You’ve already got the space, and people might actually enjoy getting out of the city."

Alexander leaned back as the idea began taking shape.

"What if the bakery wasn’t the whole business?"

Giovanni waited.

"They could keep the family areas private and renovate a few guest rooms. The bakery could operate as a café during the day and serve breakfast to overnight guests."

"A bed-and-breakfast."

"Something like that, but small."

"Reservation-based?"

"Probably at first. I’d rather they find out whether they enjoy having guests before turning the place into something they can’t easily undo."

Giovanni nodded.

"If they want it."

That distinction made Alexander pause.

Not whether the idea could make money.

Whether Rosalie and Alejandro wanted the life that came with it.

"They don’t have to turn the entire estate into a business either," Giovanni added.

"They’d never agree to that."

"Neither would I."

Alexander glanced at him.

"You’re strangely opinionated about my ancestral home."

"I repaired the roof. I’m invested now."

Alexander laughed.

"You’ve become insufferable."

"Recently?"

Their food arrived before he could answer.

By the time dessert followed, neither man had mentioned the redevelopment proposal again.

Alexander glanced through the glass partition toward Joe’s table and found the older man taking a spoonful of crème br?lée with an expression of deep satisfaction.

"What?"

Giovanni followed his gaze.

"He picked crème br?lée."

"Good choice."

Alexander continued watching him.

"I didn’t know he liked it."

"There are probably a lot of things you don’t know about Joe."

The remark was harmless, but Giovanni noticed the change in Alexander’s expression.

"What?"

"He’s retiring."

Giovanni’s spoon stopped.

"When?"

"Soon."

"I heard him mention it during Westbridge. I wasn’t sure it was settled."

"We’ve started preparing for it."

"You don’t sound happy."

"I’m not."

Alexander didn’t bother pretending otherwise.

Joe had driven him for years, and Alejandro before him. For most of Alexander’s adult life, the man had simply been there, adjusting without complaint to whatever chaos the Vances managed to throw into his schedule.

More importantly, Joe drove because Alexander rarely did.

He could drive.

He simply preferred not to.

Even after all these years, spending too long behind the wheel could stir memories of Ben that Alexander preferred to leave alone. Joe had never asked why or treated the habit like something Alexander needed to overcome.

He’d simply taken the wheel.

Giovanni looked toward the older man.

"He deserves the time."

"I know."

That was precisely why Alexander couldn’t ask him to stay.

Joe had a wife who’d spent decades accommodating his irregular schedule and a family he wanted more time to enjoy. He’d already given the Vances enough of his life.

Knowing that didn’t make Alexander any happier about watching him leave.

"What does he want to do after retirement?" Giovanni asked.

"Spend more time with his family. Maybe open something small with his wife."

"What kind of business?"

"He mentioned an auto-supply shop once. His wife likes the idea of a neighborhood convenience store."

"You could help."

Alexander looked up.

"With the business?"

"If he wants help."

"That sounds like something Dad would do."

"And?"

"I’m trying not to become my father this early."

"Doesn’t seem to be working."

Alexander gave him a look.

"I’ll probably offer."

"Ask first."

"I know."

A comfortable silence settled between them.

Across the restaurant, Joe laughed at something the waiter said.

Alexander watched him for a moment.

"I hate replacing people."

Giovanni’s expression changed.

That sentence wasn’t really about recruitment, and he seemed to understand that without Alexander having to explain it.

"A replacement doesn’t erase the person who came before."

"No."

"And Joe isn’t disappearing."

"I know."

"Then don’t treat his retirement like you’re losing him."

Alexander looked back toward Joe.

"He likes crème br?lée."

"So it seems."

"I’ve known him for years, and I didn’t know."

Giovanni rested his spoon against the edge of his bowl.

"Then maybe you still have things to learn before he leaves."

Alexander looked at him.

Giovanni’s expression held no teasing now. He hadn’t tried to tell Alex he was being unreasonable or that retirement was inevitable.

He’d simply found a different way for him to look at it.

Alexander lowered his gaze to his flan.

"That’s annoyingly sensible."

"I have my moments."

"Rarely."

"Yet you keep inviting me to dinner."

Alexander looked up.

"I invited you once."

"Still counts."

Before Alexander could decide whether that deserved an answer, the bill arrived.

He reached for it immediately.

Giovanni did the same.

Their hands landed on the leather holder at the same time.

Alexander narrowed his eyes.

"Don’t."

"You chose a restaurant I own."

"And I invited you."

"You chose poorly."

"I’m paying."

Giovanni considered him, then, surprisingly, released the bill.

Alexander immediately became suspicious.

"That’s it?"

"You wanted to pay."

"Yes."

"So pay."

"This feels like a trap."

"It isn’t."

"Why don’t I believe you?"

"Experience."

Alexander signed the bill before Giovanni could change his mind.

Then he looked at the total.

His eyes narrowed.

"Where’s your meal?"

Giovanni took another spoonful of ice cream.

"Owner discount."

"You removed your meal and Joe’s."

"Technically, the restaurant did."

"Giovanni."

"You said you were paying for dinner."

"I am."

"Yours."

Alexander stared at him.

Across the room, Joe wisely looked away.

"You cheated."

"No."

"You absolutely did."

Giovanni stood.

"You’ll recover."

Alexander muttered something unflattering under his breath as he followed.

By the time they stepped outside, Joe was already waiting near the car.

Alexander stopped beside him.

"Joe."

"Sir?"

"When you retire, if you decide to start that business with your wife, tell me before you sign anything."

Joe’s eyebrows rose.

"I’m not promising money."

"Of course not, sir."

"I’m offering another set of eyes."

Joe smiled.

"I understand."

Alexander reached for the rear door, then paused.

"And Joe?"

"Sir?"

"We need to settle your last day."

Joe’s expression softened.

"Yes, sir."

Alexander nodded, then climbed into the car.

As Joe moved toward the driver’s seat, Alexander glanced back through the window.

Giovanni was still standing beneath the lights outside Matteo’s.

Their bridge project was finished.

Apparently, that hadn’t stopped them from finding another reason to have dinner.