Chapter 94: What Comes Next

The bread disappeared next.

Rosalie had packed thick slices with butter and something slightly sweet spread between them.

Giovanni inspected his.

"Jam?"

"Probably."

"You don’t know?"

"I accepted the bag under duress."

"Your mother handed you food."

"Exactly."

Giovanni ate it anyway.

The horses had wandered farther down the bank, occasionally lifting their heads before returning to the grass.

Alexander glanced toward him.

"So."

Giovanni looked over.

"So?"

"What do you do next?"

"With the bread?"

"With your life."

Giovanni stopped chewing.

"That escalated."

"You solved your father’s case."

"The authorities solved it."

"You know what I mean."

Giovanni did.

For much of his adult life, part of him had always been moving toward something connected to Matteo.

Now he could think of his own life.

Alexander seemed to know it too.

"What do you want?" Alex asked.

Giovanni looked toward the opposite bank.

"That’s annoyingly broad."

"You asked me what business I wanted when I’m forty."

"Fair."

"Your turn."

Giovanni thought about it.

Mercer Group remained enough work for several lifetimes, and he had no desire to retire. But he also felt no particular urge to build another conglomerate simply because he could.

The food businesses were stable, while construction and logistics continued doing well.

Professionally, he didn’t need another target.

That itself felt strange.

"I might stop expanding for a while."

Alexander stared.

"You?"

"Yes."

"Are you ill?"

"Apparently."

"What happened to growth?"

"Growth isn’t automatically improvement."

Alex nodded.

"True."

"I want Mercer stronger, not necessarily bigger."

"Operational consolidation?"

"That’s disgustingly corporate."

"You started it."

Giovanni smiled.

"Maybe I’ll spend more time at the restaurants."

"Cooking?"

"Occasionally."

"Baking?"

"Possibly."

"You’ll frighten the staff."

"They’ve survived worse."

Alexander leaned back.

"What else?"

Giovanni knew the actual answer before he said it.

"Travel."

"For business?"

"No."

That surprised Alex.

"You travel constantly."

"For work."

"Different?"

"Very."

Giovanni had seen plenty of cities, but mostly through conference-room windows or on the way between hotels and airports. Even restaurants tended to get squeezed into whatever hours remained after negotiations were finished.

He’d rarely gone anywhere simply because he wanted to see it.

"I’d like to go somewhere without inspecting anything."

Alexander smiled.

"Revolutionary."

"I know."

"Where?"

"I don’t know yet."

"You’ve thought about this deeply."

"Clearly."

"Beach?"

"No."

"Mountains?"

"Maybe."

"Europe?"

"Possibly."

"Japan?"

Giovanni looked at him.

"That sounded specific."

"Good food."

"That’s your criterion?"

"It’s a strong one."

They laughed, and the conversation settled again.

The silence wasn’t empty. It had become one of the things they did well together.

After several minutes, Giovanni spoke again.

"I’d like more time."

Alexander looked over.

"For?"

Giovanni considered the question.

"Myself."

The answer was more honest than he’d expected.

"That’s surprisingly healthy."

"Don’t sound shocked."

"I am."

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome."

Giovanni tossed the apple core into the bag rather than the river.

"For a long time, almost everything I did needed a reason."

"Work?"

"Usually."

"Your family?"

"That too."

Alex understood the part Giovanni didn’t need to explain.

His father had been another reason.

Giovanni looked at him.

"Maybe I want a few things that don’t need one."

Something in that sentence caught Alexander.

Perhaps because their dinners had begun to feel exactly like that.

Thursday no longer needed a project or some corporate problem that required them to sit across from each other. No bridge remained to inspect, and no investigation demanded their attention.

They simply had dinner.

Alex looked down at the water.

"Dangerous."

"What?"

"Things without reasons."

Giovanni smiled faintly.

"Maybe."

They stayed beside the river a while longer until one of the horses wandered close enough to investigate the food bag.

Alexander immediately pulled it away.

"Absolutely not."

The horse nudged his shoulder.

"You’ve already eaten."

Giovanni watched them.

"You’re arguing with a horse."

"He started it."

"Of course."

The horse nudged Alex again.

Giovanni took an apple from the bag.

"Bribery," Alexander said.

"Negotiation."

"You’re rewarding bad behavior."

"I’m resolving conflict."

Alexander stared at him.

"You’ve become unbearable."

"Successful."

He fed the horse.

Alex shook his head.

On the ride back, they took the longer route.

Neither admitted that it was deliberate.

When the ancestral home eventually appeared beyond the trees, Giovanni slowed his horse.

"You really might do restoration?"

Alexander considered it.

"Maybe."

"With the trust assets?"

"Possibly."

"Small studio?"

"Yes."

"Near the farm?"

That idea hadn’t occurred to him.

Alex looked toward the property.

"Maybe."

There were certainly places for it. He could convert an old barn, or use one of the smaller structures farther from the main house.

He could already imagine spending his free time working on wood, old furniture, or the occasional sculpture instead of thinking about quarterly reports.

"I’ll think about it."

"Good."

"And you?"

"What?"

"Travel."

Giovanni nodded.

"I’ll think about that too."

"Look at us."

"Terrifying."

"Planning lives."

"Don’t tell anyone."

Their phones began finding a signal again as they approached the house.

Almost immediately, both started vibrating.

Alexander checked his.

"Seventeen messages."

Giovanni checked his own.

"Twenty-three."

"Winner."

"I don’t want to win."

"Growth."

"Shut up."

They laughed and ignored their phones for another minute.

Rosalie was waiting when they reached the barn.

"You ate?"

Alex held up the empty bag.

"Yes."

"All of it?"

"Mother."

"I’m asking."

Giovanni dismounted.

"We ate everything."

Rosalie looked pleased.

"Good."

Alexander stared at him.

"Traitor."

"Your mother likes me."

"I’ve noticed."

Alejandro appeared behind her.

"How was the river?"

"Still there," Alex said.

"Useful update."

"Free consultation."

Giovanni looked toward him.

"Apparently that’s hereditary."

They headed inside, where Rosalie almost immediately asked whether Giovanni had any thoughts about the kitchen layout after seeing more of the property.

Of course he did.

Alexander listened as the two started discussing it and found himself thinking about something unexpectedly simple.

Everyone around him seemed to be making plans again.

For months, so much of their lives had been spent reacting to things that had already happened. Alexander had dealt with the collapse of his engagement. At the same time, Giovanni searched for answers about Matteo, and his parents were still trying to understand what could be rebuilt after everything that had happened to their family.

Now their conversations were beginning to go in another direction.

Rosalie was planning her bakery. Alexander had his master’s degree to finish and, perhaps eventually, a restoration studio. Giovanni was thinking about traveling somewhere without turning it into another business trip.

None of it was urgent.

They were simply possibilities.

Alexander liked the sound of that.

His phone vibrated again.

This time, Giovanni’s did too.

They both looked down.

A calendar reminder.

Thursday Dinner.

Giovanni glanced toward him.

Alexander raised a brow.

"Still not business?"

Giovanni slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"No."

"Good."

There was that word again.

Giovanni looked away before Alexander could see the smile beginning.

Thursday suddenly felt farther away than it had any right to.