Chapter 11
ZACH
I’m sitting in a quiet, upscale bar near the Knight offices, with a half-finished dry Martini, my tie loosened, trying to think things through. I haven’t slept much since that dinner with Maya a week ago.
I have a sense that she’s grappling with something, but I don’t know what.
I’m worried that she’s dealing with stuff alone and I don’t want her to be alone.
Now she says she’s thinking of leaving because she’s stuck at work.
Her boss is a nasty piece of work. She mentioned something about a promotion that’s been dangled before her for months, and she’s certain it will never come.
She talked about relocating because “being in the city” isn’t all that. I want to help her, because I can.
I keep replaying every moment, every reaction, every time she flinched, every time she dodged a question. She pushed me away in so many ways and my mind’s been in overdrive, trying to figure out what could have happened to her.
Something did happen, of that I’m convinced. I just don’t know what.
One thing is clear; she’s not interested in continuing our friendship. She doesn’t care that we reconnected, but at least I can do something right for her.
I don’t know how, other than to inveigle my way into the company. Tell Cecil I want to help him develop a strategy, tighten the numbers, fix the leaks. Look at supply chains, vendor contracts, inventory flow. Cut waste, refocus the brand, and give the business room to breathe again.
I can try to fix the company, but I have no access, no authority, no bridge into her world. She’s not interested in me, and I’m not expecting anything from her. Not a romance or a relationship.
But she’s the housekeeper’s daughter and I’m a billionaire’s son.
I’m a privileged man, with more money than I know what to do with.
I’ve never had to worry about rent or the cost of living.
I’ve never had to think twice before making a purchase.
Hell, I still feel bad for suggesting we had dinner at Dali.
I never thought she’d demand we split the bill.
Had I known that, I would never have suggested it.
“You look like you’re grappling with your demons.”
I turn to find Enzo standing beside me. He looks like a quiet storm bottled in a classic, tailored suit. With his chiselled jawline and dress sense, this dude always looks like a male model.
I sigh. “A Knight’s life is never easy.”
“The old man say something to you?” Enzo piles onto the stool next to me.
“No.”
“What are you drinking?” he asks, then, to the bartender, “I’ll have whatever he’s having, and he’ll have another one.”
I don’t need the company, and Enzo being here is just plain weird.
We haven’t had much to do with the Italian Knights, until recently, and up until a year ago we never spoke to them much, despite all of us being in the same office space.
Things are a bit better now that there’s been a spate of meals and get-togethers with them and us, but Enzo has always been the quiet one.
Him and Matteo, they’re hard to read, though I appreciate that Matteo helped me so quickly and without hesitation when I needed him.
“There’s just something I want to fix,” I say, vaguely.
“Then fix it.”
He raises his glass to mine and I touch it. “Not so easy to fix.”
Enzo lifts an eyebrow. “Money fixes most things.”
While that’s mostly true, I’m not so sure. This is a very delicate situation and I don’t want to mess things up. I have a sneaky suspicion that Maya doesn’t want to see me again, hence my dilemma.
Enzo and I sit in silence because I’m not in the mood for making conversation, and he mostly never is.
“I’ve never seen you like this before,” he says finally.
“That’s because you’ve only seen me at Knight family dinners mostly, and we’re all uptight, eager to get out of there,” I remark.
“I never thought you were eager to get out of there. You’re father’s favorite, that’s what Rio said.”
“Dad’s always been good to me.”
Enzo shrugs. We never really talk about how life was for them, but I always assumed he liked the dinners.
“I like being there in Dad’s penthouse. It’s the closest thing we have to a family home.”
“But it’s not a family home,” Enzo pushes back. “It’s a cold, metallic, windowed apartment.”
“Still … it’s the closest thing we’ve got to a family home especially now that we don’t have the Knight Estate anymore.”
“Sounds like a really fancy schmancy place.”
“It was.”
I get lost again in memories from my past. When Mom was there, then later when Maya and her mom were there. It was a different time in my life.
“Look at you,” Enzo says softly. “You look lost. I was standing outside watching you.”
My eyes fly wide open. This sounds creepy. “For how long?”
“Not long, Relax. I left work was heading home, when I saw you hunched over, so I thought I’d check in on you.”
I’m touched by his concern, but he needn’t have bothered. “I’m okay,” I tell him.
“You look like a troubled man. I thought maybe if I came in, I could listen. We’re all lonely, us Knights, in one way or another.”
“Lonely?” I ask. “You mean ever since Jett, Dex, and Rio hooked up with their partners?”
“I wouldn’t call it hooking up. They seem very happy.”
I shrug.
“Doesn’t matter how much money we have,” Enzo continues, “because every fool knows that money doesn’t make you happy.”
He sounds much older than his ... how old is he now? I’m the youngest of my set of brothers, and he’s the youngest of his, but I have a feeling he’s younger than me. Yet he talks with the wisdom of a fifty-year-old.
“We could be a lot worse,” I remark.
“Maybe. For the types of problems we have, there aren’t many people we can talk to about them.” He turns to me. “You’re a Knight. You’ve got resources and influence. If something’s bothering you, I don’t understand why you can’t just fix it.”
I stare at the sleek bar top. “I don’t know if I should.”
“Should? Thought you said you had to 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.”
“No. I mean it. Appreciate it.”
He nods. “This was nice. Maybe we can do it again sometime.”
“Yeah,” I say softly, watching him leave and acknowledging this new understanding between us.