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Chapter 1
It wasn’t a particularly threatening sentence, but it still set Kaeden O’Shea on edge.
“Stick around for a minute, Kaeden.”
Kaeden O’Shea sank back into his chair at his boss’s words. He liked and respected Jack Sutton but at the moment, he didn’t want to talk to his boss.
His gut told him Jack was about to remind him his attendance at the upcoming Sutton retreat was mandatory. Two weeks in Colorado with his team, the executive team, and their families probably sounded like fun to a lot of people.
An all-expenses paid trip. Fun and free time in the mountains. Two weeks of vacation he didn’t have to use vacation time for. What’s not to love?
For him, the list was long. To start, he didn’t really do well sitting around with nothing to do. Relaxation just wasn’t his thing. He’d much rather keep working on the analysis he’d started for an upcoming acquisition Sutton was considering.
For another, he had zero interest in bonding with people and that’s what this trip was about. He liked his coworkers well enough and respected them all. He was on a team of people who all had backgrounds in tech who specialized in various aspects of engineering, science, and information technology. His team was all former military, including him.
He knew Sutton Capital had sought out veterans largely because of the fact their security head and one of the main shareholders in the company was a former Army Ranger, but also because of the knowledge base they could bring to their work.
Kaeden appreciated the fact they were all veterans who’d seen action and understood each other on a level civilians often didn’t, but he still preferred to cut that relationship off at the business end of things.
He didn’t want or need to be friends with them. Singing campfire songs and whatnot while they all talked about how much they were bonding and how much better they’d work together when they came home from the trip? Yeah, no thanks.
He didn’t need to meet his boss’s family or get to know the kids of his coworkers. Plenty of the people he worked with were married with kids and dogs and all the things you were supposed to want in life. That was great for them, but he saw no reason to be a part of that area of their lives.
So he’d pretty much planned on begging off at the last minute. He still wasn’t sure if he was going to say he’d had a family emergency or maybe he’d pretend to be sick then get well enough to come to the office and work while they all played in the woods. Either way, he was getting out of the trip. So today he just had to convince Jack he wanted to go so he’d buy it when Kaeden had to back out at the last minute.
The rest of the group filed out of the room, most of them talking about where to get lunch, while he closed down his computer and waited for Jack to start the lecture.
Jack leaned on the conference table next to Kaeden. “I want to bring a new team on board over the next quarter. Another tech team a lot like this one but with a heavier focus on AI. I know you’re interested in artificial intelligence…”
Kaeden sat up. He was more than interested in it. He was fascinated with recent developments in machine learning and AI in the medical field. People thought AI was all about computers and androids taking over jobs that people could do, but there was so much more to it than that. It could revolutionize brain treatment by stimulating brain cell regrowth or be used to create intelligent computers that could cut years off research into new drugs and cures for diseases.
Two of the members of his team, Jax Cutter and Dave Alexander, took on most of the projects that dealt with tech in medical fields, but Kaeden had shown Jack a few companies he thought had potential to make huge strides in medicine with the AI they were developing. If Jack was planning to expand their work in that area, he sure as hell wanted to be in on it. And leading a team focused on that was his dream job.
But Jack wasn’t finished and the conversation wasn’t headed the way Kaeden wanted it to go.
“I need to see more from you before I can tap you for this. I need to know you can lead a team. You’ve shown me so far that you’re smart enough to do it, but I have to see you working as a team and delegating. You like to keep control over everything that comes your way.”
Kaeden frowned. “That’s a bad thing?”
Jack shot him a look. “It can be when it’s taken to the extreme. This would be a management position and managers have to be willing to let their teams do the work. They have to lead the way and guide but turn over what can be done by others. I haven’t seen enough of that from you.”
Annoyance flushed through Kaeden. He’d heard that before in his reviews and it was the same bullshit now that it was then. Who didn’t want someone working for them who could handle the work load? He handled it and then some and he always,always, got the job done.
“I get my work done, Jack. You know that. I’m the first person here in the morning most days and often the last person to leave. If you need someone to do something, I’m there, getting it done.”
Jack nodded but his expression said he didn’t think Kaeden was getting the point. He was right. Kaeden wasn’t. He worked with the team every damned day.
“You’re right. You’re a crucial part of what we do here. But working next to people isn’t the same thing as working with them. I need to know you can trust the people under you to do the job right. I need to see you making decisions about who can take on what work and then trusting in them to do that work without you micromanaging them every step of the way.”
Kaeden crossed his arms and nodded. “Alright. I can do that.” He had no idea how he was supposed to show Jack he could do that, but he’d figure something out.
“Good,” Jack said, a grin crossing his face. “I’m going to give you a shot at proving that to me during the retreat.”
“Come again?”
“I’ve only got a dinner planned for the night we arrive at the lodge. After that, the whole event is up to you to plan.” Jack pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Kaeden. “There’s a hospitality program at a nearby university. I’ve asked them for two interns to work with you during the retreat. The lodge we’re staying at is kind of low key. They don’t have an event coordinator or anything like some of the bigger places, but they told me they’ll assign one of their employees to work with you. That’s your team. You need to lead them but make sure the interns get plenty of hands-on experience. You guys will be coordinating events and activities for the weeks we’re there. If it goes well, we’ll talk about you heading this new AI team.”
Kaeden looked down at the paper in Jack’s hand but didn’t move to take it. It was ridiculous. What did he know about planning events for a big group like this? Not to mention the fact that this blew his plans of skipping out on the retreat out of the water.
