I stare at the sleek bar top.“I don’t know if I should.”
“Should?Thought you said youhadto fix something?”
“It’s not as simple.”Do I involve myself in Maya’s life, even though she’s told me to stay out of it?
“You’re fighting with your conscience,” Enzo states.“What’s troubling you?Is it morals?Ethics?You’re a good guy, Zach.I always knew that about you.”
“Thanks, I think.”Still, I’m left feeling a little uneasy.How can this younger guy read me and know me so well?
Enzo doesn’t push.He just sits beside me.If this were Dex, he’d be patting my shoulder, cajoling me, whining until I talked.Jett would glare and say, “Well?Dammit, spit it out.What’s your problem?”
But with Enzo, I can just be.I didn’t realize until he sat here how much I needed this.
“There’s a company,” I say finally, “and it’s not doing too well.”
“What’s the problem?”
“There isn’t a problem.I mean, it’s not doing too great, but that can be dealt with.The real problem is the woman working there.”
“Ah,” he says.“Now it makes sense.Knew it’d be something personal.Something personal dressed up as business.”
“She deserves a fair shot and her boss won’t give her one, so she’s thinking about leaving.”
Enzo raises an eyebrow.“This about the woman you mentioned the other night, when you missed the dinner at Dex’s place?The housekeeper’s daughter?”
What.The.Hell.This guy remembers everything.
I wince.“Didn’t want you to go there.You’re perceptive.”
“Always have been.”
We sit in silence for a beat.
“What’s the point of having money if you can’t fix things?”Enzo asks.
He’s right.Man, he’s right.
I’ve been thinking about meeting Cecil, easing my way into the company, seeing what I could do from the inside.But the bigger, bolder move—the one that actually changes things—would be to buy a fifty-one percent stake in the company.Leave Cecil in place.Take a seat on the board.Gain the authority to implement real changes without blowing everything up.Quiet control.A chance to stabilize the business before it collapses.
A Knight move.
“I’m thinking about acquiring a majority stake in the company.”I look to Enzo for his reaction.
“You’re worried your friend might think you have ulterior motives.Do you?”
“No.Not exactly.”Though Maya might.
My intentions are pure.I really do want to turn things around for Stella, and if it helps Maya in the process, then it’s a win-win situation.It’s a genius idea.Damn genius.A big bold move.I briefly tell him about my plans.
“You’d be helping the company, for sure,” he says.
“That’s all I want.I’m not bidding for her.”
Enzo laughs, drinks his Martini, then stands and claps me on the shoulder.“We all want to fix the things that broke us once.”
I raise an eyebrow.“I guess we do.Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
