Page 34 of Beautiful Desire (Blossom Beach #3)

Georgia

F rom: Georgia Astor

To: Alden St. James

Subject: Weekly Update

Alden,

I hope this email doesn’t find you well.

Fletcher is making good progress. And it probably wouldn’t kill you to tell him every once in a while that you’re proud of him. You know, like a father is supposed to do.

PS. If you could please send over the documents I asked you for yesterday , that’d be great.

Coldest regards,

Georgia

From: Alden St. James

To: Georgia Astor

Subject: RE: Weekly Update

Good morning Georgia,

I see you’re back at it, with the completely unsolicited parenting advice, but once again, I assure you, Fletcher doesn’t need to hear I’m proud of him.

Especially not when he hasn’t done anything to make me proud.

If I’m not mistaken, there is still plenty of time for him to screw this up and fail.

P.S. I think it would do you good to remember what’s on the line, Georgia.

Remember what you need from me. So I suggest you keep your snarky suggestions to yourself next time.

It would be a shame if something happened and your little precious store became something a whole lot more useful and profitable for me.

Best,

Alden

“Who the fuck does he think he is?” I bark to nobody but myself as I sit in my office with the door closed.

God, he’s such a fucking dick. Who the hell says something like that about their own kid?

And then he has the fucking audacity to threaten me?

I have half a mind to reply and tell him what a piece of shit he is, but I’m not going to.

I’ve done my forced, obligatory once-a-week email.

I refuse to communicate with that poor excuse of a parent and man any more than that.

Besides, as much as I loathe this fact, I do need something from Alden, and over my dead body will I lose that after I’ve put in all the work.

He can go to hell.

Fletcher deserves so much more than what he’s getting from his so-called father.