Alessandro Giovanni was born and raised in Venice, but received his higher education at Harvard, where he adopted the Americanized version of his name and removed any trace of his former accent. He's always been devoted to his family, who provide him with money, women, power, and whatever else he needs so long as he stays true to the family agenda, a trade which he finds more than equitable. In fact, he has taken the opportunities given him to shine and is quickly becoming one of the more up and coming members of the family.
Succeeding where many Giovanni have failed, he has established a presence in Gulf shipping, a highly competitive arena where he is up against the interests of several kindred with centuries more experience and contacts. Regardless, he's managed to take advantage of new markets and use his family's extensive contacts to his advantage and, along with a relationship with the Serpents wherein he assists their smuggling operations in return for certain "considerations", these avenues have helped him become an important, if minor, player, much to the annoyance of other younger kindred like Robert Landau who are also trying to break into the game.
Of late, Alex has been trying to get his fingers further into the New Orleans pie by Embracing Claudia Annunzio, wife of a mob boss whose failing health has left her in charge of his operations. Hoping to use the woman's contacts and influence in organized crime in Louisiana to undermine the Lasombra control of certain markets, he's playing a very dangerous game. Particularly since his main rival, Landau, is perfectly willing to betray the independant to the Sabbat in order to get him out of his way.
While he is a competant necromancer, he hasn't the inclination to truly master the dark arts, seeing them more as a business tool than a devotion. This means that he knows enough to watch the obituaries for the death of business rivals but doesn't waste time on weird necromantic experimentation or extended study. Gulfport has been his base of operations for a few years now, but he's constantly on the move. He has havens in Miami, Baton Rogue, Galveston, Port-au-Prince, and Havana, but he's been using his private yacht as his haven more often than not, just to remain mobile should the wind turn against him.
Alex loves wealth and privilege. He will do anything necessary to remain in good standing with his family in order that the flow of money, drugs, and women does not halt. Because of this, he is willing to take a lot of risks that the older, more conservative Cainites, will not. This has helped him get ahead, so far, but the time will probably come when a gamble will not pay off and he'll be put in a very compromising position. Should this happen, he is liable to get very desperate and may end up taking others down with him.
In person, Alex is a very likeable man. He's active, athletic, and friendly, tending towards a casual manner even in his business dealings. It is mostly a front to put people at ease while he finds ways to get what he wants out of them, but he's good at concealing this. Otherwise, he is a very shallow individual who surrounds himself with the trappings of power and wealth to placate his vanity and ego.
The only vampire with whom he has particularly good relations is Claudia and his tendency to patronize her and use her without apology is souring that relationship quickly. While he has good business dealings with the Serpents, neither side is foolish enough to trust the other, so all contact is filled with the sort of tense pleasantries that such an arrangement attracts. He's on very good terms with the other members of the family in the States and South America and is perfectly willing to be cordial and curteous to the ones that get under his skin in order to avoid insulting the wrong people and spoiling his good standing.
The rivalry with Landau is a point of some amusement for Alex, who considers the Venture to be below consideration as a serious threat, and he enjoys specifically seeking out areas where Landau is seeking to expand and beat him to the punch. He is utterly unaware of how serious the older kindred's hatred of him is or the danger he is putting himself into by antagonizing him so blatantly. He is mostly unaware of Parker, only vaguely remembering the name as one of Landau's lackeys (he'd probably assume he was a ghoul).
Alex has had very little contact with most of the vampires of the area outside of those already mentioned. He has a working relationship with Garcia but has only met the man on a couple of occasions, but the two get along relatively well, though neither is quick to admit to their clan that the relationship exists. He's locked horns with Lafitte and Delacroix in the economic arena, but never met any of them in person, and tends to give other vampires a wide bearth, with the exception of other Giovanni. He is aware of the Samedi in New Orleans and Haiti and the threat they pose to Giovanni, but isn't well versed in the history involved.
Like Martin LaSalle, Alex sees politics as just another business tool and has acquired a great deal of political clout in those areas where his investments are. This doesn't translate to the same sort of broad power base that the New Orleans Lasombra enjoy, but a more specific, diffuse influence that is very handy when he needs to fall back to one of his permanent havens. He also is able to call on the aid of other members of his family in Miami, Havana, and other cities should the need arise (though their willingness to go out on a limb for him is somewhat overstated in his mind).