Page 26 of Masters of the Game: Colton

On Monday, Kelly spent most of the day closing out her Masters Unlimited files and briefing her team. She’d told everyone what a great job they’d done; especially their research on the vacant lots in Harlem. All of them would be getting a bonus in their next paycheck.

She had purposely kept herself busy so as not to think about Colton, but she did so anyway. He had consumed her every thought since she’d returned to Atlanta. She figured he was in Savannah now, and she was probably the last person on his mind.

Hansen and Pratt didn’t make things easy on her this weekend.

Hansen had come to town as he’d said he would and had stayed at her place the entire time.

The brother who claimed her apartment gave him claustrophobia had sacrificed comfort to harass her.

Well, he hadn’t really harassed her, but had made her see how wrong she was for not giving Colton a chance to defend himself against her accusations.

Then yesterday, after they’d finished their meeting about Mr. Perkins, all three of her siblings had given her more food for thought.

Thanks to her mother, she had grown up to be a pretty well-adjusted kid, but that didn’t mean her father’s behavior hadn’t affected her.

He’d left scars on all four of his kids in some kind of way, and for her to pretend he hadn’t…

Well, she was being delusional and dishonest with herself.

All through the night, she had dwelled on all the ‘food for thought’ that Hansen, Pratt and Monica had given her, and concluded they had been right.

She did have trust issues where men were concerned and more than anything, she wanted to talk to Colton about it.

She had tried calling him several times last night but hadn’t been able to reach him.

And she’d tried calling him a number of times this morning.

She shouldn’t be surprised that he was not taking her calls.

She was about to pick up her cell phone to try reaching out to Colton again when the buzzer on her desk sounded. “Yes, Tanya?”

“There is someone here to see you, Ms. Perkins. A Sherelle Telfair.”

Kelly lifted a brow. Sherelle was here? While in the fitness center that day, she had told the woman to look her up if she ever came to Atlanta. She wondered what had brought her to town.

She stood when Tanya escorted the woman into her office. She came from around her desk. “Sherelle, this is a pleasant surprise. Are you in town on business?”

Sherelle shook her head. “No. I came to Atlanta specifically to see you, Kelly. I owe you an apology.”

**

“Mr. Venters, Attorney Attworth is on the line.”

“Please put him through, Dorian.”

When the phone clicked over, Eric leaned back in his chair and asked, “Sam, what has you calling on a beautiful Monday?”

“Trying to keep you from losing your company. Have you lost your damn mind, Eric? What’s this nonsense about you trying to cause trouble for Masters Unlimited?”

Eric quickly sat up in his chair. “What are you talking about?”

“You tell me. Cortez Masters, a known hot-shot attorney in LA who represents his family’s company, Masters Unlimited, copied me on a cease-and-desist letter that will be delivered to you sometime today.”

“Why?” Eric’s head began spinning. Nobody knew what he had done to Masters Unlimited but Sherelle. And she wouldn’t dare say anything and risk losing her job.

“The letter states that you hired an organization, known for spreading lies and instigating scandals, to do that at Masters Unlimited. I’m not sure how they discovered what you were doing, or the group you hired to do it, but evidently Cortez Masters has ways of digging deep and finding out anything he wants to know. ”

“Damn!” Eric said, slamming his fist on the table and ignoring the pain. “Nobody was supposed to know I was behind it.”

“Evidently, somebody talked. And because of what you did, Masters plans to take you down.”

Eric knew who had talked--Sherelle.

“Masters has the means to destroy your company,” his attorney said.

Eric pushed from his mind the fact that Sherelle had said the same thing. “That’s not fair. It was their COO and the woman who owns that consulting agency they hired who acted inappropriately.”

“In what way?” Sam asked.

Eric told him what was in the PI report.

“For Pete’s sake, Eric, had you checked, you would have known Masters Unlimited doesn’t have a non-fraternization policy.

Although family-owned corporations are held to the same standards as a normal corporation, Lake Masters is both the CEO and chairman of the board.

That means, you don’t have a leg to stand on if it can be proven that Lake Masters--not Colton Masters--decided to hire KP Consulting Agency.

You better hope they don’t to take this to court. ”

“Court!” That’s the last thing Eric wanted. “Do something, Sam.”

“I’m not sure I can do anything. Looks like you got your hands dirty on this one. I don’t want to go up against Cortez Masters. If they sue, you might want to settle out of court.”

“Sue?”

“Yes, sue. You defamed Colton Masters by deliberately putting out a lie about him.”

“What can I do?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe we’ll be able to settle. But I did a little research before I called you. Cortez Masters is Colton Masters’ brother, so I have a feeling he’ll be going for blood.”

After ending the call with Sam, Eric rubbed a nervous hand down his face. He knew he should not have gotten mixed up with Sherelle. Now, because of her, his life and business would be ruined. He picked up his phone to call her, only to discover she had blocked his number. Damn.

**

“So, there you have it, Monica. The reason for Sherelle Telfair’s visit. Now what am I going to do?”

“The same thing you were trying to do before her visit. Get in touch with Colton.”

“I’ve been trying to reach him since yesterday. Although I don’t think he’s blocked my number, he is not taking my calls,” Kelly said.

“Then come up with a plan. You know what I did after Landon blocked my number, don’t you? I went to where he was. Vegas. You know where Colton is, Kelly. Go to him.”

“What if he doesn’t want to hear anything I’ve got to say?”

“I can’t believe my sister, known to be the daring one, asked that. Make him listen, Kelly. And don’t let him intimidate you. He might try.”

“Did Landon try to intimidate you?”

“Of course, but I refused to let him. I think it’s a man’s thing. They use intimidation as a shield to protect their heart.”

“But you knew Landon loved you. Colton has never said he loved me.”

“Then give him a chance to tell you, Kelly. You’re the one who first refused to listen. There’s no telling what you missed hearing.”

Kelly nibbled on her bottom lip. She had gotten herself into this mess, and she was the only person who could get herself out of it. That decided, she set about getting ready to leave tomorrow for Savannah.