Part 3/7
Luckily for Leo, it is indeed Riario and he starts the car as soon as Leo is settled. He turns to Riario to say, "Look, I'm really sorry about that whole mess."
"It is no trouble. They will keep our reservation," Riario assures him as he pulls away from the curb. "Should I be jealous? You seem extraordinarily close with your co-workers and employer."
Leo laughs, feeling something that wasn't exactly embarrassment since he wouldn't recognize that emotion if it bit him in the ass and posted the pictures online. "Zo and I always mess around at work; the horseplay keeps us from snapping and throwing coffee at fussy customers. And I don't even know what the fuck that was," and then Leo catches exactly what Riario said. "So you know Lorenzo is the owner of the coffee shop?"
"Of course. Our families have known each other for many years," Riario says. "Unfortunately, he has made it clear that he does not support our business interests."
"Was it those interests that brought you to our humble shop?" Leo figures he might as well try and do a little investigating, just in case the evening goes as he hopes and he doesn't have time or inclination later to ask questions.
"Originally perhaps," Riario answers, "but it is not what made me return." Leo can't help but smile at that and Riario glances away from the road to return the smirk. "I thought we would have Italian, do you mind?"
"Oh, we're actually going to dinner?"
"I thought that is what we agreed."
"It's just that usually... no, you know what, this is perfect," Leo decides. He never lacks for companionship, and they usually fell into bed (or on a table or a convenient alleyway wall) right away, and that was fine—great, actually. But spending the evening verbally sparring and flirting might be nice for a change too, especially if Riario is the one paying.
"So, tell me about your business interests," Leo quotes Riario's phrase.
Riario shrugs. "I work for Pope Industries. I am in property acquisitions."
Leo waits for him to go on, since that was exactly what Lorenzo had said, and he wonders if Riario had somehow eavesdropped on the conversation.
"What does that entail, exactly?"
"I acquire properties," Riario replies, and Leo feels his eye twitch before he catches Riario's little smirk and realizes he is being toyed with.
"Fascinating stuff, wow," Leo returns and Riario's smirk grows.
"Don't you really want to ask me whether I have any plans to try and acquire Lorenzo Medici's property?"
"Well, yes, that was why I wanted to go out with you tonight," Leo admits and is pleased when Riario's posture stiffens. He waits a few beats before he says, "Maybe not the entire reason."
Leo gives Riario his best evil grin when he looks over at him, lets him know that he can play with the best of them, if Riario wants to keep trying to catch him off guard.
But, Riario bides his time until they pull up before a very nice, very expensive Italian restaurant Leo has only heard of by reputation. He spares a look down at his torn skinny jeans, thin stretched-out T and leather jacket, but Riario hands the keys to the valet and walks in like he owns the place. Since he is wearing a suit that probably costs as much as Leo's entire earnings last year from the shop, he has no trouble. Leo condescends to the maitre d's aghast look by taking off the beanie he is wearing. But no one says a word of complaint as they are led to a nicely private table and left with a wine list.
Of course Riario speaks what sounds like native Italian to Leo's ear, and he lets him show off ordering for them. Then Riario clasps his hands in front of himself and stares into Leo's eyes.
"How does a man of your talents find himself working in a coffee shop?"
Leo raises an eyebrow and can't help but be a little impressed that Riario seems to have researched him.
"What talents would those be, hmm? Exactly who have you been talking to about me?"
Riario spares him a tiny twist of his lips that could be a smile. "Artist, engineer, designer and yet you languish away, spending the days making up increasingly disturbing drinks for people who clearly have no taste in beverages."
"Have you been talking to Zo? That last part sounds exactly like him." Leo fumes for a minute while the sommelier brings the wine Riario had chosen and they go through the ritual of his tasting. When he has approved it with a curt nod, the sommelier pours a reverent glass for Leo, who purposely picks it up and knocks it back, chugging it like grape juice. The burn is worth it to see the look on Riario's face at the temerity of someone disrespecting a bottle of wine that is probably worth well more than Leo's monthly rent payment. The sommelier is standing, mouth gaping, when Leo puts down the goblet and slaps the table. "Fill me up, my good man."
Riario waves away the sommelier as soon as he refills Leo's glass, and Leo takes a small sip this time, raising an eyebrow at him, and Riario sighs.
"This is going to be an interminably long evening if we continue to play tit for tat," he says.
"I was simply following your cues," Leo deflects.
"I was attempting to ask you—in honest curiosity—why someone of your skills was working as a barista in a clearly third-rate coffee shop."
Leo's ego feels a little better at the almost-compliment, so he shrugs and sets down the wine. "I would prefer to be a full-time artist, but in this economy, it's tough." He thinks for a second and adds, "And honestly, I get bored a lot of the time before I finish commissions so I'm lousy at meeting deadlines and actually finishing projects."
"What is your preference?"
"Painting, mostly. I do love design. I have an engineering degree at my father's insistence but that's not for me. I want to travel, invent, change the world."
"And you need cash to do that."
Leo shrugs again and enjoys the rest of his wine. "It does help to eat something other than broken muffins and cookies scavenged from the shop, although they are very delicious. I'd probably have diabetes or scurvy by now if I didn't make enough money to eat real food."
"So you're a dreamer," Riario says softly.
"Yeah, I guess so," Leo admits. "What's your story?"
Riario re-folds his napkin in the first nervous gesture Leo has seen all night and smiles faintly. "I took the path that you despise and entered the family business after university. It has proved most lucrative."
"But if you weren't wearing a high-end suit and snatching up properties, what would you be doing?"
Riario smiles again. "Touring the country, playing the mandolin as a traveling minstrel."
Leo stares at him then bursts out laughing. When Riario's smile tightens, Leo stops laughing. "Oh shit. Can you do that?"
"Tour the country? Or play the mandolin?"
"Both. Either. What the fuck," Leo scrubs his hands over his face and tries again. "Why do you get me so twisted up?"
"I think that you are just particularly easy to rile," Riario says, and Leos find himself agreeing. But he never gives in and he never does things the easy way if there's another possibility that could end in fire, explosion or damage.
So he leans forward and asks bluntly, "Are you really interested in Lorenzo's coffee shop?"
Riario inclines his head in a nod.
"So you want to buy it from him?"
"It seems like it might actually be boon to him, in the condition he is currently in," Riario suggests quietly.
"He could use the cash, yeah, definitely but for some godforsaken reason, that coffee shop is his dream too. I don't think he's ever going to agree to sell."
Riario ignores the waiter delivering their appetizers and leans closer to Leo. "Have you seen any of the bookkeeping for the shop? Do you know that last time that coffee shop was in the black? There is simply no profit in keeping a local coffee shop against all the national and large chain shops. There isn't enough profit margin to go around."
"The money doesn't matter to him," Leo insists.
"I see. So you will not be interested in helping me convince him to sell? I can make it worth your while." Riario leans back in his chair and appears to notice the food for the first time, letting Leo have a moment.
Leo shakes his head slowly, surprised at the depth of his disappointment that Riario only pursued him to use him to get to Lorenzo.
As if he read Leo's mind, Riario looks back at him and says, "That's not why I asked you to dinner. Not entirely. I was curious why an artist of your caliber was languishing behind the counter of Lorenzo's shop making overpriced drinks for caffeine addicts."
Leo cocks his head and smiles. "You've seen my work then?"
Riario nods. "I must say I vastly prefer your painting a Modern Madonna with Muffins to the unpalatable drinks you invent."
"Vanessa was a lovely model for that piece," Leo remembers wistfully, then he gives himself a little shake. "There's really nothing wrong about the coffee shop. It pays the bills—well, most of them—and there's something fun about working with your friends and the entire coffee shop culture. I think you're just being a snob."
"I hate to be the one to break this to you," Riario says in the tone people use when they are only too happy to say it, "but life does not operate like a sitcom, and coffee shops are small business nightmares."
"Snob," Leo sings out, and Riario definitely does not roll his eyes, but he does dish out some of the appetizer and shares it with Leo. The food is more delicious than Leo expects since he's found that high prices don't always equate with high quality food, but the entire meal is superb. And Riario is a surprisingly good dinner companion, particularly when he asks about another of Leo's paintings, Young Man with Groomed Dog.
It isn't until Leo is pleasantly full of food and wine, nibbling on half of the dessert Riario had insisted on ordering, that he broaches the looming specter of the coffee shop again.
"Why does your company want to buy Lorenzo's coffee shop in particular? There are tons of old buildings downtown that are up for sale and even more that look ready to be demolished. Surely you could find another place for your… For your what exactly? You never said what your boss plans to do with the property."
"My father," Riario corrects absently then meets Leo's eyes. "It is my father's company."
"Ah," is all Leo has to say because he can infer a lot about Riario just from that.
Riario clears his throat and has the grace to look mildly embarrassed. "My father is diversifying into the restaurant business. This is one of his first attempts." That explains to Leo why they let him in at all and treated Riario like royalty.
"Now, my father wants to build his own brand and start a chain of Roman dessert shops with coffee, pastries and gelato." The way he says the word igelato/i with a wrinkled nose makes Leo snort out a laugh.
"That's your big secret, the master plan? It's absolutely ridiculous," Leo says.
Riario shrugs. "I never said it was a igood/i plan. I think my father enjoys just spiting people at this point in his life. He could have his pick of location, you are right about that, but he is intentionally targeting the Medicis. Apparently their grandfather screwed him over back in the day, took a business deal away from him, and he's never forgiven the family."
"So he'll take over the shop and turn it into his own idea of an Italian bakery?"
"No, he'll tear it down," Riario says, looking the tiniest bit ashamed again. "It's going to be the parking lot."
"Oh my god, Lorenzo will hate you," Leo breathes out with a look of wonder at the mere thought of the incandescence of Lorenzo's potential rage. "He will lose his fucking mind. Even more than he's already done," he adds quickly.
Riario shrugs again and picks at a loose thread in his napkin.
"And you were to infiltrate the coffee shop and seduce away an employee? Get them on your side and play them against Lorenzo?"
"I was to look for a way in," Riario looks up now and into Leo's eyes, "but now I'll have you as well."
Something about the dominating tone makes Leo sit up and pay attention, and he carefully doesn't adjust his pants.
"So what are we going to do?" Leo asks.
"We? Why should iwe/i do anything? iI/i will offer Lorenzo an unfairly small amount of money for the coffee shop; he will refuse. I will approach Clarice with a better offer and she will force Lorenzo to accept, if he knows what is good for him."
"You have it all planned out."
"Lorenzo is heavily in debt; the divorce will finish him," Riario predicts.
"And I'll be out of a job," Leo points out. "Do you think your father will hire me to dish out gelato?"
"I don't think you fit our corporate ideal. Perhaps we could find you a more... personal role to play?"
Leo toys with his fork but drops it with a clatter. "I don't think I'm cut out to be a personal assistant," he says, purposely misunderstanding.
"Then if we are done here?" Riario pushes back from the table and stands, and Leo jumps to his feet. He follows Riario out to the parking lot where his luxury sports car is already waiting. Leo wastes no time getting in, wanting at least a free ride back home.
"Shall I take you home now?" Riario asks when he starts the engine.
"Oh. We're really done done?"
Riario gives him a perfect side-eye and a hint of smirk. "We are for tonight. This is, after all, a first date."
"You don't put out on the first date? That is fascinating. I haven't met anyone like you in a long time," and although Leo's tone is sarcastic, he's kind of being honest at the same time. He still doesn't know whether Riario wants him—carnally—or whether it was all some kind of ploy to get Leo to help against Lorenzo.
Riario doesn't say anything else as he drives unerringly to Leo's apartment building. "You even know where I live?" Leo accuses, feeling vaguely violated.
"I always research thoroughly when I am interested in making an acquisition." Riario parks and turns off engine, turning in his seat to face Leo.
"That kind of creepy domination isn't hot at all," Leo lies, and he doesn't push him away when Riario grabs his shoulder and pulls him near. Leo anticipates the kiss and meets him with an open mouth which Riario takes as an invitation to tongue right in. Leo fights back, sucking Riario's tongue, and running his hand into Riario's hair to hold him close.
The kiss is long and hot and Riario fights him for dominance every second, but Leo is harder than he's ever been from just a kiss, and he wants to climb over the gear shift and into Riario's lap and grind against him until they both come in their pants—teenagers be damned, they might be onto something. But then headlights illuminate the car's interior in a glare, and Riario starts to pull back. Leo growls lowly and grabs the other side of Riario's head, trying to kiss him again, but Riario bites his bottom lip, hard, in retaliation, and Leo lets go with a groan.
"You were saying?" Riario can't quite get it out without giving away that he is breathless too.
"Fuck me, I don't remember. No, really, fuck me," Leo leans over and runs his hand up Riario's thigh as he bites at his ear, but Riario stops the hand and twists his head away.
"Was this enough to make you interested in a second date?"
"Yeah, I'd say that's a vote in your favor." Leo licks his lips and Riario's eyes track the motion. Leo knows he is breathing heavily, but he'll play Riario's game and he won't try again and feed the bastard's ego. He takes a deep breath and grins. "Tomorrow night, same time? Let's do Mexican."
Riario smiles, and Leo gets out of the car and walks away, not looking back even once.