Hold My Love

Chapter 19: Scotch and Cuban Cigars

My eyebrows shoot up, "Impressive, what was the hardest to learn?"

He rubs his chin, "Mandarin, I passed the class with the lowest grade compared to all the rest".

I sip my water, "What was the grade?"

He looks away, "A 90%".

I drop my fork on my plate, "I beg your pardon Sir?"

"I know I was devastated".

I laugh, "Giovanni, I learned Spanish for 4 years and ended the course with an 86% and you bet I was proud of myself. And Spanish was the easiest language offered. And here you are upset over a 90% in Mandarin that you only learned for one year? Oof baby I wish".

He chuckles, "An 86%?"

I laugh as well, "Hey It's better then failing. So your smart huh?".

He shrugs his shoulders, "Sure I was gifted".

"You graduated early?"

He nods, "Three years early. I skipped third, fourth and fifth grade".

My mouth drops, "So you were like 16 when you graduated!"

He nods eating one of my Arancini.

I shake my head still in disbelief, "Well here I am dating Albert Einstein himself. Did you go to college after that?"

He chuckles, "Yeah I went for business".

"Let me guess Stanford University?"

He smiles, "Try again".

"Yale University?"

He shakes his head, "Harvard".

I smile, "I should have known. It must have been scary though, being a kid around adults"

He studies me for a second, "Remember Sophia, my father was a horrible man. I lost my virginity at 13, killed a man at 16 and saw things no child should ever have to see. College had drugs, sex and fights but they were just a soft version to what my father made me see and do. I was way mature then all the kids there, I didn't even look like an 18 year old at 16".

The mood had completely changed, he was silent and I was sad. Sad about what his father did to him, sad because I can see the pain in his eyes when he talked, sad because he didn't deserve it.

I take his hands and hold them tighter when he tries to pull away, "Gio what happened to you was not your fault and you didn't deserve any of it".

The waiter comes and we order our meals. Giovanni Penne with Vodka Sauce and I order Chicken Parmigiana.

Giovanni doesn't eat thought, his eyes look heavy and he continues to glance at the door as if someone was going to walk in and kill him. He looks stressed and overwhelmed, I can't help thinking maybe I pushed him too far.

I call over a waiter, "Can you bring some scotch please?"

He looks over at Giovanni who still has his eyes on the door, "And a cigar?"

"Does it help him relax?"

He nods and I tell him to bring it as well.

Giovanni stands up abruptly, giving me a look at a gun strapped to the right side of his hip.

"I'm going to the bathroom", he says without looking at me.

I nod, "OK".

The waiter returns with a Cuban Cigar and a bottle of Scotch Whiskey.

I smile thankfully at him and he pats my arm, "Don't worry, It'll calm him down".

Giovanni comes back 5 minutes later and looks down at the bottle and Cigar then looks up at me.

I smile and fill his glass half way with the Scotch, "Sit and drink, I'll get you a lighter".

He studies me some more then takes a sip of the alcohol drink, "You don't-"

I shake my head, "It doesn't matter you need it".

The waiter comes over with a lighter and I light the Cigar for Giovanni.

10 minutes later after 2 cigars and 3 glasses of scotch Giovanni calms down. I was worried he would be drunk but he actually looks pretty sober. But still, I refuse to let him drive us home. He wraps his arm around me as we walk to the parking lot and I take the opportunity to slid my hand in his pant pocket and grab the car keys.

He grabs hold of my tiny wrist, "What are you doing Sophia?"

"I'm taking the keys, I'll drive us home tonight".

He chuckles, "I'm not drunk sweetness".

I shake my head, "I don't feel safe with you driving us home Giovanni I lost a friend from a drunk driver so I'm not taking any chances".

We walk to the drivers side of the car where he corners me and stares me down but I hold my ground.

Finally he hands me the keys to his Lamborghini and opens the drivers door so I can climb in. Once I'm in I bend over and remove my heels so I can have more control of the pedals then I pull the seat forward because I most definitely don't have Giovanni's long legs.

Gio sits straight up in his seat, "Alright carefully slide the keys in and turn it to the right".

I smile, "Don't worry I can drive. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride".

I start the car and jump back in the seat as it roars alive, "Haha, OK, so I wasn't ready for that!".

He frowns, "Sophia this car was the first big purchase I made and I was only 17, Please be careful".

I lean over him and kiss his cheek, "I'll have you know I won safest driver twice in high school".

He pulls out his Cuban Cigar.

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