Page 42 of Taming the CEO

“If I had grandparents, I would do the same."

"Would you look at that," I said. "Something we can finally agree on."

After a beat, she asked, "How come you decided to open a hotel in Essex?"

I gritted my teeth, exhaling sharply. Why not share the truth? “It’s complicated. In short, because of my dad.”

“Oh, he’s involved in Whitley Industries too?”

Was it possible that she didn't know? Sometimes I thought the whole United States was aware of the Whitley scandal.

"My dad left the country a long time ago... after it was discovered that he had a double life. He was married to my half brothers' mother, and my mother was his mistress.”

I was sharing far more than she needed to know, but somehow, it felt like the right thing to do.

"Oh my God. I'm not sure how to react to that," Cami said.

“We had no idea that we weren't his only family."

She covered her mouth in shock.

“We lived in Maine, and my half brothers were in Boston. It was a mess.”

"I'm sorry. I didn't know. God, we don't have to talk about it. I just... I was trying to make conversation."

"That's fine," I said.

"So wait. Gabe and Leo are your two other brothers?"

"No, Gabe is a half brother, actually. Nick is my other brother."

“That means you’re on good terms with your half brothers?”

"Yes, but it wasn't always like that. Though we were always close to Gabe, and even Spencer and Cade. But things were tense with our oldest half brothers, Colton and Jake, for a long time."

She smiled. "I'm glad things are better now."

"They are. My mom is happy that we get along."

“She’s in Boston too?”

“No. She travels a lot. It’s her passion.”

"And your dad is still... away?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes. He ran Whitley Industries until he fled the country. Literally. He lives in Australia." I put down my plate. "What I'm about to tell you now needs to stay between us."

"Oh, okay," she said. "I mean, I wasn't going to share it with anyone."

"Not even your dad."

"Okay."

"My father was planning on returning to Boston and starting a business in this area. He wanted to buy the property we bought and build a hotel. We snapped it from right under his nose."

Her eyes widened, and her mouth hung open. "I'm sorry, I'm not following you. Was it a bad thing if he wanted to come back?"

I could see how this might not seem like a big deal from someone outside the family. “When he left, Whitley Industries was in shambles. Most of the companies were barely hanging on, let alone making a profit. But even more than that, the family name had a bad rep in the business world. We didn't want to give him the chance to screw things up again." I hesitated, then added, "And I don't think it would be good for my grandparents to have him so near and be a constant source of conflict."

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