Page 70 of Fixate
When I could see him I asked, "So, these are all just hypothetical? This top row here is the investment I'm guessing, and from there you show how we can build out."
It always amazed me how his brain could function like that because to me, it just looked like someone was having a good time with a spreadsheet and some numbers. To him, he saw an entire foundation of wealth.
He gave me another half-smile. "Yes these are all hypotheticals. I'm not the idea guy. I'm the numbers guy. Figure out the idea, and I'll make the numbers work for you."
"That's good," I told him.
"This is good work. I appreciate it. I would definitely like to boost the legitimate money we have. The other side is a headache. The less I depend on it, the better.”
He moved back around to his chair and sat again. “Can I make a suggestion?”
I waved my hands for him to continue.
“Maybe it's time to find someone to step into a leadership role over there.”
When I opened my mouth to speak, he shook his head.
“I'm not saying that you have to give up control of everything, but maybe you should look into finding other ways to delegate or something. You've never liked that side of things. Yes, you enjoy beating the shit out of other men.”
I laughed because hearing him curse is always hilarious. He wasn’t a prude, but he found the words useless when there were plenty of others available.
“And it does give you an outlet for when you're angry. Overall, it's not your primary focus. Lyon Enterprises is. You keep stretching yourself so thin, one day you're going to snap.”
His words were ominous. Not as a threat. More of a premonition.
We both knew that I was burning the midnight oil trying to keep everything in line. Even with Ricardo's help and Henri and Pip working non-stop, it still felt like the entire burden of the family was on me.
I nodded, then stacked the papers back into one pile and handed them over.
“I appreciate the suggestion. I have no clue who that person would be.”
He took the pages and laid them in his lap. “Might I suggest the person you trust most? The one that you call mon chou. Maybe he wouldn't mind filling in that role for you.”
Before I had a chance to reply, he stood, dipped his head, and strolled away from the desk.
My jaw hung open.
Dario was rarely ever that direct with personal matters. For him to call me out about Ricardo so clearly meant that I was doing a shit job of hiding my feelings.
It was strange to find out he knew enough about what was going on to say something. I had never forbidden him to learn about the other side of my business. I just hadn't brought him in to handle things as much as I had with Lyon Enterprises.
I never wanted that guilt or something happening to him.
I sat there for a long time in the silence of my office when I should have been working. Thoughts of business ideas and Ricardo taking leadership for the family ran through my head.
I even thought about Dario and his aversion to touch. About how I wanted to wrap him in my arms and hug him so he would know he was safe. He would know that no one would ever touch him again because he was family.
Part of me worried that Ricardo wouldn't be pleased with the act.
However, I knew my boy.
The minute I told him that Dario was family and what he had likely been through, Ricardo would be right there with me on his other side telling him that we had his back.
I knew it as well as I knew anything.
My faith in him was immense. And more than anything, I was scared by what that meant.
I wanted to believe that everything would work out, but I also knew I couldn't trust life to go perfectly.
