Page 31 of Flirting with the CEO

"Yes, I fucking should. Before I close this door and kiss you against it."

I stood rooted in my spot, blushing even after he left.

Chapter Ten

Colton

I’d always been awareof my strengths and weaknesses. I dedicated myself to things that relied solely upon my strengths, and that was one of the reasons I was so successful at everything I did. While working with Zoey, I started to realize that my team had always been left to pick up the pieces when it came to my biggest weakness: organization. I already had a much clearer overview of my inbox.

Zoey insisted that the most efficient way to deal with the emails was to open and read a message and immediately decide what to do with it versus letting them pile up. That had been my modus operandi for years, and the truth was, I never circled back. Emails remained at the bottom of my inbox, and someone else picked up the slack. Today I managed my inbox in the morning.

The one area where I wasn’t making headway with delegating was with lab work. My team of scientists had been begging me for years to delegate more to them, but I just couldn’t.

After yet another meeting, I looked at Maddox’s email again. I hadn’t read Dad’s actual message.

Hey, guys, I'm forwarding this email I got from Dad. I haven't spoken to him in years, so I'm not sure why he’s contacting me at all. As is obvious from the text, he needs financial help. I haven't replied yet, and I think we should decide together how to react to this.

I minimized the message, intending to completely ignore the situation and just go about my work. My brothers would figure out what to do about it. The less I saw or heard, the better. I couldn't care less what they decided.

Ten minutes later, I could no longer ignore it. Damn it, I wanted to know what this was about. How the hell did he even dare to write to any of us, asking for help? And why didn’t Maddox simply delete his email?

I knew I was being unreasonable. Maddox had actually handled this well. It was a mark of loyalty to the family that he hadn't dealt with this behind our backs. Instead, he wanted us all to know about it and decide together.

So Maddox hadn't spoken to him in years. That was good to know. I'd always wondered if my half brothers were still in touch with him. I scrolled to see what he wanted.

Hi, Maddox.

This is Dad. I know I haven't reached out in a long time. I wasn't sure if any of you wanted to hear from me at all. You all knew more or less where I was. My business profile is online. I assume that since no one contacted me, you all didn't want anything to do with me.

How the fuck did he dare give Maddox shit to make him feel guilty for not keeping in contact? He’d ruined both our families.

Recently, I've attempted a business venture of my own. Unfortunately, it failed, and I've gone into quite a bit of debt. Now, I know all of you are doing well, and it pains me to ask for help. I've exhausted all other options, and this is my last resort. Here is my phone number in case you would like to hear more about this. I’ll be waiting for your call.

Father

I immediately deleted the email. Why the fuck hadn't I done that in the first place? Rage built inside me, thrumming through my chest and in my veins. My airways felt obstructed, making it difficult to take a deep breath.

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