Liam hated surprises.
Tom chuckled. “Oh, hell no. She just fiddles around with the cars from time-to-time.”
Her head snapped over toward him. Colby’s mouth opened. She was about to shred Tom. Her father placed his large hands on her shoulders and squeezed before she could get a word out. It wasn’t painful, but there was enough pressure to silence her.
Cyrus defended Colby. “Actually, my daughter is one hell of a mechanic and driver. Any team would be lucky to have her.” He only released his hold when he thought Colby had calmed.
Cyrus patted her shoulders. “Good job out there. Why don’t you and Gonzo take the car inside and make sure it’s ready for Jordan?” He said it as a request, but Cyrus was not asking.
Colby’s eyes blazed. She felt betrayed. How could it be so easy to dismiss her after all of her hard work? Words were hard to form, but she found one. “Sure.” Colby was surprised at how calm it came out when she was anything but.
“Sure thing, Mr. James.” Gonzo nudged Colby. Her feet had been rooted to the ground, but she finally was able to move.
As they walked away from the group, Colby forced herself to remember that she had to pick her battles. As satisfying as it might feel, this wasn’t a fight worth fighting.
Liam watched Colby stalk away with her back ramrod straight, and her head held high. He could tell she was seething and doing her best to maintain control.
Cyrus had asked Colby to go inside because he was afraid she would ruin any chance of her working with the new team. He knew it had stung, and Cyrus would apologize later.
Liam didn’t speak until after Colby had gone into the building. “Colby is your daughter, right?”
Cyrus’ chest was puffed up like a peacock. “She sure is.”
“There aren’t many women in NASCAR,” Liam said.
“Drivers? No. There are more than folks think but definitely not enough. Especially African American women. We have a long way to go before minorities and women are given a fair shake.”
Tom didn’t like the direction of the conversation and welcomed the opportunity to change it. He was happy to see their number two driver coming around the corner. He clapped his hands together. “Jordan has arrived. I’ll introduce you while we give the mechanics a few minutes to get the car together.”
Tom could only hope that Jordan would put on a good showing so that he could sell this godforsaken team and get the hell out of racing.
Tom was yammering about something. Uncharacteristically, Liam had checked out of the conversation. He glanced over at the door Colby had walked through. Liam found himself more interested in learning the motivation behind all the passion in her eyes than the practice race.
*****
The negotiations were going about as planned. Brian stepped up in a big way. He asked all of the right questions, and Liam couldn’t have been prouder.
“When do we get to meet Asher?” Brian asked.
“Soon. Very soon,” Tom answered.
“We understand contractually he’s bound to Daughtry for one more race. Any deal we make is contingent upon our meeting with him.”
Tom didn’t like the sound of that. “Of course. We’ll make it happen. With your purchase and investment into the company, I’m confident Asher would like to stay on with the team.” That was a bald-faced lie, and Tom knew it. He honestly didn’t care one way or the other. Tom just wanted out of racing, and Asher was the key.
Cyrus had been invited to this meeting. He had only been included because of his shares in the company. He hadn’t said much. He sat up and folded his arms on top of the long conference table. “Why do you folks really want to buy Daughtry? Racing is too expensive to be a hobby.”
Cyrus commanded the attention of everyone in the room. He suspected most of them had forgotten he was even there. Brian hadn’t been prepared for that question and wasn’t about to tell him the real reason.
This had been Brian’s meeting up until this point. Liam had taken a back seat and had no intention of stepping in unless he was needed. One look over at Brian, and it was apparent now was the time.
“Why does it matter?” Liam asked.
Cyrus leaned back in his chair. “It matters because Daughtry’s a family, and I need to know my folks will be taken care of.” Those were words Tom should have said.
“Now, Cy.” Tom started to talk, but all Liam had to do was lift his hand to silence him.
“Can I have a word with Mr. James privately?” Liam asked.
“That’s not necessary,” Tom responded.
Liam cut his eyes over toward him. “If you want to sell this organization, it’s necessary.” The authority in which he spoke left zero room for argument.
Tom’s face reddened, but after a moment, he stood. It cued everyone else in the room to stand as well. They quickly cleared it—everyone except for Cyrus and Brian.
“I thought it might be easier to put all our cards on the table if we were alone.”
Cyrus nodded. “I think that’s the only way to handle anything.”
Liam agreed. “This organization is bankrupt. Ten percent of something is better than ten percent of nothing.”
Cyrus nodded his head slowly. “That’s true if the only offer on the table were yours.”
Liam raised a brow. The Luccesses. Damn. It had to be them. Who else would want to buy this team? It was only a matter of time before they found out. They were probably watching Brian’s every move and had been lucky to have gotten this far without their knowledge. Brian needed one hundred percent ownership of Daughtry. The Luccesses just made it necessary to move quickly on this deal. If they bought Daughtry and the Luccesses got Cyrus’ ten percent, it would be all they needed to launder their dirty money using the Lockwood name as a cover. Or even worse,
