Chapter Eighteen
“What’s that?”
He turned, embarrassed when she walked into the kitchen. Carl waved to him from the door then walked outside to make his rounds around the house.
“This is…a cake.”
“You like cake?”
He frowned. “I was told you do.”
Beatrice’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You got me a cake?”
“You’ve just graduated, and your grandmother isn’t here.” He cleared his throat. “I called Caspar. He suggested a cake. I’m sorry if it’s-”
“I love it.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. He was pleased she was happy with the gesture, even if she hadn’t tried the cake yet. “Your grandmother informed Caspar that your favorite flavor was lemon cake. I’ll confess, I ordered it. I can’t imagine you want me baking anything.”
Beatrice grinned and set her school bag down before she walked over to join him at the counter.
“It’d be kind of cool to see you try to cook something with your hands, though.”
He snorted and turned to take the small lemon cake out of the pink box.
“Have you ever done that? Cooked something with your fire?”
He shook his head and chuckled. “Not anything you’d want to eat, Beatrice.”
“What? Why-oh
He shrugged. “What did you think when Carwyn said I liked my enemies ‘extra crispy?’”
“I’ll admit. I chose not to think about that too closely.”
“Stick around for five hundred years or so, and you’re bound to make a few enemies.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She peeked over his shoulder and smiled.
Giovanni winked as he cut a piece of cake. He placed it on a small plate, and handed it to her. “Now, wait just a moment…”
He walked to the refrigerator and retrieved a bottle of champagne, which he twisted open before he grabbed two flutes from the butler’s pantry.
“Come now. Dining room. You can’t have your graduation cake standing in the kitchen.”
She followed him to the dining room table, and Giovanni quickly flicked small flames toward the white tapers Caspar kept out. He poured the wine for them both and sat down next to her.
Lifting a glass, he toasted. “To you, Beatrice De Novo. Congratulations on your college graduation.”
“Thanks!” She blushed with pleasure as she sipped the champagne and took a bite of cake. “It’s delicious.”
He nodded in satisfaction as he sipped the champagne. “Excellent.”
“Do you want a bite?”
“Probably not. Most things with refined sugar are far too sweet for my taste.”
“Really?” She cocked her head to the side in an adorable gesture.
“Yes, they didn’t have anything that sweet when I was human. Not that I remember. Well…honey maybe. That’s very sweet. Or fruit. I still eat that occasionally. I like some fruits.”
She smiled and leaned forward, propping her chin in her hand. “Really? Like what?”
Giovanni frowned as he tried to think of the last person who had asked him personal questions. For some reason, he liked the feeling of sharing his likes and dislikes with her. “I like figs, fresh ones. And…apricots.”
She smiled. “I like apricots, too.”
“What are your favorite foods?”
She took another sip of champagne, and he watched the glass rise to her lips. He wondered if they were sweet from eating the cake.
“I like spicy things. Anything with chiles, especially my grandmother’s food. And chocolate, but just dark chocolate.”
He smiled. “I never tasted chocolate as a human. The new world had just been discovered, though I wasn’t aware of it at the time.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Wow, I guess not. So no tomatoes for you, either.”
He shook his head. “No tomatoes or corn…or potatoes, for that matter.”
“It’s so funny because we think of tomatoes as an Italian food now.”
“Oh,” he chuckled a little. “The food I ate as a child is very different from what is common in Italy now.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Things were cooked more heavily. Lots of stews. I like modern food more. There are more ingredients and spices, and things to choose from.”
“Yeah,” she smiled sweetly. “I guess we’re pretty lucky.”
“Very lucky, Beatrice.”
She sipped her champagne. “This is really good, by the way. What kind of champagne is it?”
He twisted the bottle so she could see the label. “This is Dom Perignon.”
She snorted a little, catching the wine that wanted to escape her mouth before she carefully swallowed. “Isn’t that, like, super expensive?”
“This one was quite reasonable. I got it from the cellar. One of Caspar’s, a 1985 vintage. I think he acquired it for around four hundred or so.”
“A bottle?” she squeaked.
He shrugged. “Drink up. I have plenty of money. I might as well spend it on people and things I enjoy.”
She was still eyeing the bubbling glass with trepidation. He rolled his eyes.
“Beatrice, just drink the champagne. I’ll never be able to finish all of it myself, and it’s your graduation.”
Smiling a little, she took a tentative sip.
“Still good?”
She nodded and took another bite of her cake.
“Did you always have a lot?” she asked.
“Of money? Except for a brief period of my life, yes. I’ve had a very long time to acquire it, as you can imagine. I have extensive investments and property, as well as what money I make working for clients, which isn’t insignificant.”
“Investments? Cool. I know all about the stock market. My grandfather and I always used to play with it.”
He laughed. “Really? That’s a rather unusual past time. No fishing? Dollhouses?”
“No,” she laughed along with him. “I think he did it instead of gambling, to be honest. If it wasn’t the stock market, it would have been the race track. I got to be better at it than him, though.”
“Were you?”
“Oh yeah, I’m pretty good. Ask my grandma. I invest all her money for her.”
“And do you have money of your own invested?”
She nodded. “That’s why I don’t have any student loans. My grandpa and I invested all the money from my father’s estate. There wasn’t much, but it was years ago, and once online trading became more common, it was easy to play around with it. Online markets are great, and I pay a lot less in broker fees now.”
He smiled in delight. “I should probably let you take a look at my financial portfolio.”
“You should,” she muttered as she took another bite of cake. “I could probably shift some of your stuff around and have you making double what you are now. Unless you’ve got a really good broker. Are you diversified into foreign markets or currencies?”
“I…don’t know.” He honestly had very little idea where most of his money was, other than the cache of gold he kept with him.
