Page 1 of Taming the CEO

Chapter One

Maddox

My brothers and I raised our glasses.

"To a new venture in the Whitley family!" Gabe exclaimed.

We were at my house, celebrating that the two of us were opening a hotel together. We’d hit a milestone today—the architect had finalized the plans for the building.

The rest of the property was another story altogether.

"I have got to say, I'm curious how this will go," Jake said, "and how much more it’ll add to your plate."

I rolled my eyes. "So now that you're a recovered workaholic, you think you can lecture the rest of us?"

Jake laughed. "I try."

All of my brothers were gathered here this evening. Jake wasn't wrong. We were all busy running our own companies within Whitley Industries. But I was excited for this—building something that wasn't tainted by our father's past.

Gabe owned a bar and distillery and had recently decided to expand his business. He was building another distillery close to Essex, a small town forty minutes from Boston. One thing led to another, and he'd decided to open a hotel there too. But the endeavor was, all jokes aside, too time-consuming for him alone, so I’d offered to go into business with him. I was thrilled at how things were progressing. We'd hit a little snag, but I was certain we were going to smooth it out soon.

"We just need to convince Samuel to sell us his property too,” Gabe said.

I nodded. "I'm sure he will."

Gabe shrugged. "I'm not so sure."

"Damn, you still haven’t made progress with him?" That came from Colton, the oldest of my Whitley half brothers.

There were eight of us. Nick and Leo were my biological brothers. Jake, Colton, Cade, Spencer, and Gabe were my half brothers, though Gabe and I were always so tight that I considered him to be a full-blooded brother. Spencer and Cade too. We'd had the least contact with Colton and Jake over the years, although lately that had changed. There was still unease between us from time to time, but you couldn't erase our history. It was messy and complicated. Our father had led a double life. He had one family here in Boston, and he had us back in Maine. No one knew about the other until everything came to light.

"Do you guys need someone to throw around the charm?" Leo said. "Because I can do that."

I cocked a brow at him. "I told you, that's my job. I just haven’t met with him yet."

"The father doesn’t need much convincing," Gabe cut in. He'd been the only one who'd dealt with him until now.

Samuel owned the adventure park next to our property. I'd looked at it online to see what it all entailed. It offered tree climbing and zip-lining, things like that. And although it appeared to be a solid business, we were offering a lot of money. So much so that I couldn't imagine anyone actually turning it down.

"But I’m not making progress with his daughter, Cami," Gabe continued. "She doesn’t want to sell.”

Bingo! That’s where I come in. I clapped a hand on his shoulder. “See, brother, now that you’ve officially failed at winning over Cami, it’s time for me to step in. I’ll win her over with my legendary charm.”

I’d jokingly suggested this once before, and Gabe insisted he had it covered. Clearly, he didn’t.

Everyone burst out laughing.

"See, that attitude isn’t going to help in these negotiations," Gabe said.

I winked at him. "I know how to negotiate, don’t you fret." I looked straight at him. "Are you seeing Samuel again soon?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I've got it on my schedule for next week. Both him and Cami."

"I'll go in your stead," I offered.

There was a chorus of whistles from the group.

Gabe burst out laughing. "You know what? Better you than me."

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