Page 4 of Taming the CEO

I hurried there, finding him lying on the couch with a bag of ice on his forehead. I smiled sympathetically. "A migraine hit you?"

He nodded. "Yes. Out of nowhere." He’d had those since I was small.

"I'm sorry. Want me to make you a chamomile tea?"

"We don't have time for that."

"Dad," I said firmly, "you can't go anywhere with a migraine. It'll just get worse."

He lowered the bag, pushing himself into a sitting position. Then he shook his head. "No, you're right. I'm in no shape for that dinner. Would you mind going for both of us?"

"Of course I’ll go. Don't worry about anything, okay?"

Dad pointed at the coffee table. "They actually sent me a sketch of what they hope to do if we sell them the land."

My eyes bulged. "That's ballsy of them."

He laughed. I had no filter around him. "You can say that again."

Almost unwittingly, I went closer to the laptop, lowering myself on my haunches. My nostrils flared. Dad had mentioned they’d cut down some trees, but as far as I could tell, they’d get rid of about 90 percent of them.

"Why even buy this land if you plan to level it all?" I asked in an exasperated tone.

"I know how much you love your trees, but not everyone values them as much."

I took in a deep breath, then actually read Maddox Whitley’s email.

Samuel,

I’m looking forward to meeting you and your daughter. But before we meet, let me lead with a fact that might seem obvious. We are offering you more than a fair price, and we will not increase our offer under any circumstances. If that’s what your daughter is after, please make this clear to her.

I’d like to close this deal when we meet. Thanks for your consideration in advance.

Best,

Maddox

I saw red. "Make this clear"? What an asshole.

“He thinks we want more money? He and his brother are the ones bugging us.”

“And they probably think we don’t want to sell because we can get more money from them.”

I set my jaw because I didn’t want to sell, and I wasn’t sure Dad really wanted to either.

"Promise me you'll be civil and keep an open mind," Dad said. "There's a lot you can do with the money from the sale. They're offering a good amount, not trying to lowball us like Bill did.” Dad and I intensely disliked Bill, but we had to play nice where he was concerned because he was the mayor’s right hand. If I was honest, we'd both disliked him since I went on a date with him in high school, and he hit on another woman right in front of me. "You'd have a nice nest egg."

I shook my head. "Dad, this is your business."

I'd inherited Mom's part after she passed, but I'd always considered it his.

"Nonsense. Half of the money from the sale would be yours."

"I don't care about any of that," I said. Essex Adventures was my home, plain and simple. I'd never really thought about what I’d do if we didn’t have it.

I sighed. "All right, I can't linger. I need to go. Want me to drop by after dinner and tell you how it went?"

"No, you can tell me tomorrow. I'll probably turn in really early."

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