“Just in case things don’t work out, we’ve got to be prepared for the Luccesses. So, I’ve been working on creating a new division of Lockwood Enterprises.”
“Okaaaay,” Brian said hesitantly. “What does that mean exactly?”
“What if we spun off that division of Lockwood to form a whole other company unrelated to Lockwood Enterprises and transfer all of your shares to it? We’ll make you the CEO. Then if things go left, you can give Anthony those shares. He’ll own a shell of a company without any ties to Lockwood Enterprises.”
Listening to Liam’s plan was a hard pill to swallow. Brian would have lost almost his entire fortune, except for Lockwood Racing. But if he were honest, it was a good plan because shit was looking bleak. “Honestly, I think it’s a great plan.” Brian smashed his fist down on his desk. “I can’t believe I messed up like this.”
Liam didn’t want Brian to beat himself up too badly. “We’ve all made mistakes. It’s only money.”
“Said the billionaire.”
“Yes. I am. I’m not ashamed of it, but if you think it didn’t come with its own fair share of problems, you would be kidding yourself,” Liam said.
“You would have never made the kinds of mistakes I’ve made.”
“Maybe not the exact same kinds of mistakes because we’re different people, but I haven’t always made the best decisions, and neither did Dad,” Liam confirmed. “When he died, he left the company almost bankrupt.”
“You’re lying?” Brian had never heard that before.
“No. Far from it. Mom made Dad put money in a trust for us before he started doing stupid shit. It was one that he couldn’t touch. She was the executor. I didn’t gain full access to mine until I was twenty-seven. After she died, mom’s role as executor fell to me. You were supposed to gain full access to your trust on your twenty-seventh birthday too, but you were wildin’ out, so I made them change it to age thirty. At any rate, separate from the trust, Mom left each of us five million cash. That’s the money we received when they died. I almost lost all of mine dealing with a Bernie Madoff type. Dude made off with mostly all of it. Left me with five hundred thousand dollars, which is the money I used to rebuild Lockwood Enterprises. To this day, I’ve never touched the money Dad left in my trust. At the time, I couldn’t. Now, I don’t need to. So, while we might be different in our approaches to things, we’re both cut from the same cloth. No matter what happens with this situation, I have faith that you’ll be okay.”
Liam had never told Brian that story before. Brian was shocked but also felt a little better. He was learning on the fly about business, but Brian was glad that Liam was on his side to guide him through it. Knowing that his mistakes wouldn’t be the downfall of Lockwood Enterprises lifted a heavy burden off of Brian’s shoulders.
“Thanks for that, bro.”
“No thanks necessary.”
Brian sighed. “I really don’t want to lose to Anthony Luccesse. It’s more than just about money. He’s taken so much away from me.”
“Lila?”
Brian wouldn’t answer.
“Have you talked to her?”
“I’ve already told you; Lila is a done deal.”
Liam didn’t think so. Brian was still too shook up every time her name was mentioned. But his own love life was in shambles, so who was he to say one way or the other. He’d done his level best to stay away from Colby the last few days. It had been an almost impossible task. So far, he’d been successful in watching from a distance. No way was he giving up on her. Liam was just trying to think of her needs instead of his own. So, for now, he would steer clear. But after the Atlanta race, he was going to pursue her with dogged abandon. If keeping their relationship on the down-low had to be part of the solution, Liam was prepared for that too. In the meantime, the goal was to get prepared for the race. “Where do we stand on parts?”
Exasperated, Brian slid his hand down over his face. “I think I found a company willing to sell us some tires.” Brian’s phone rang. “I better get this.” He clicked the button on his cell. “Lockwood.”
Liam had to smile a little. He sounded so much like him.
Brian whipped his head around to Liam as he put his phone on speaker. “Yes, I’ll hold for the Commissioner of NASCAR.” Brian mouthed the words, what the fuck?
Seconds later, the Commissioner was on the line. “Mr. Lockwood? This is John.”
“Please, call me Brian.”
“Thanks, Brian. I wanted to reach out personally and officially welcome you to NASCAR.”
“Thank you, but I have to admit, you’re the first.”
“It’s sincere, so I hope that counts for something.”
“It does, and again, thank you.”
“It’s probably also been one helluva week for you and your team. The media has been all over the Colby James story.”
“It has,” Brian agreed.
“You’re doing a fine job of handling it. Look, the reason for my call is to let you know that NASCAR has been working very hard to change our image along with some long-standing issues that have plagued our sport. I wanted to give you a heads up that this week we are announcing the banning of all confederate flags from any of our sanctioned races. They will not be allowed inside any of our tracks. It’s a small gesture, but a big damn deal . . . considering.”
Brian’s mouth almost hit the floor. He spoke with a calm he didn’t really feel. “That’s a good start and a long time coming.”
“I couldn’t agree more. As you’re also probably aware, we only have one African American driver in our Cup series. I hope that we have at least two for our Atlanta race. We can’t change the hearts and minds of our teams overnight, and given the James’ family history, I wanted to
