Page 67 of Fixate

It was always so strange to see him amused because his expressions typically appeared bored. He had what a lot of people would call the resting bitch face except I knew he was never resting.

More like he was highly uninterested in whatever you were saying. His mind would be elbow deep in equations and ways to make more money.

It wasn't that he didn't like people or other things. He was just really damn good with numbers and nothing else mattered to him.

It was his superpower and the main reason that he was the CFO of Lyon Enterprises.

“Since you're bringing this up so casually, I'm going to assume that you have already figured out who is behind this. If not, then we need to get searching. I want my money, and I want it now.”

Dario nodded quickly. “I do know exactly who it is. While I don't have him in custody yet, I'm keeping a close eye on him. It appears that he has some debt owed to another group of people.”

The way he slowly said “group of people” had my hackles up.

“Which group?” I asked, though I already suspected…

“Bratva. He's in deep with her people.”

Stasia and Dario never got along. She was always really good about making people feel welcome, but she could never quite understand exactly what Dario needed.

Everyone else would get her smile or perfectly made-up persona. Occasionally, she'd bring out the hardcore mafia princess energy to keep them in line.

But my cousin didn't respond to either of those. He barely responded to me, and I believed most of that was only because we were related.

I had grown up with him. Had seen all the different ways he had experimented with styles and speech patterns. For so long he had worked to fit into what society wanted him to be. Whether it was dressing up or slowing down his speech.

Because excited Dario was a runaway train. People rarely accepted him as he was.

It took a long time for him to realize it didn't matter. You could never be good enough for people who always wanted more.

And Stasia being who she was couldn't handle the fact that he wasn't immediately drawn to her.

So, the two of them butted heads.

No matter what I did to try and get them to get along, it was hopeless.

When she went against our family and tried to have me killed, Dario felt vindicated in his hatred for her. It was like every single interaction they had came with a new meaning. And her name was one he hated saying now.

“So let me get this straight. We've got someone in our clubs connected to the Bratva because he owes them money and he's skimming off our books to pay them back. Is that what I'm getting?”

“Yes. That's a succinct way of putting it.”

I sighed and picked up my phone. “You know his name?”

Dario nodded.

I dialed the one person who I knew would give me proper advice on what to do. Not because I couldn't make the decision alone but given my temper and how frustrating this whole process was, I knew I needed outside input.

Ricardo answered on the first ring. I wondered if it was because he’d had his phone in hand or simply because he was excited to hear from me.

My boy was eager that way.

No matter how much he tried to suppress those urges or how hard he worked to not let me see it, I knew. And I was just as gone over him.

I hid it better of course.

At least until we were alone together. Then all bets were off.

"Yes?" he asked.