Page 8 of Taming the CEO

I remembered the first time I saw it, a few years after the scandal broke. At first, I was resistant to getting to know Dad’s other family, as we called it even though we were the "other ones." But my grandparents had always been welcoming. I was proud to be Abe and Jeannie's grandson.

There was a flurry of activity when I stepped inside the house. It smelled fantastic.

"Oh, great. You're here!" Cade appeared in the doorway.

"Am I the last one?" I asked.

"Nah. Nick's not here yet. Gran is already throwing a fit that we ordered too much food."

I grinned. This was an ongoing series of battles, but we were winning more and more often.

Our grandparents were ninety-two and weren’t as fit as they thought. They'd both had health scares over the years. Until recently, Gran had insisted on cooking a feast every time she had us over for dinner. After she ended up in the ER because of dehydration, we put our collective “foot” down. Sometimes we ordered in and sometimes we asked a restaurant to cater it. But when they asked us over on short notice, there wasn't time to plan more than takeout.

I entered the living room and couldn’t believe my eyes. Okay, she has a point. We did order too much food. Still, we were a huge group. All of my half brothers had a significant other. Jake was married to Natalie, who was working with me. Colton was engaged to Zoey. Cade and Meredith had known each other as kids and reconnected as adults. Spencer, who was holding his son, Ben, had been a very lucky bastard to meet Penny. She’d lived in the house next to him at the time. Life just worked out that way sometimes, although Gran would tell you it was her doing. Either way, I couldn't imagine a better woman for him.

I'd never in a million years expected that Gabe would get engaged, but here we were. I liked Diane very much, but some days, I still wondered how the only bachelors in my family were Nick, Leo, and me.

"I guess we won’t starve," I exclaimed.

"No, we won't," Spencer said, kissing Ben’s head. "I'm not even sure how we managed to buy so much food. We got double of everything."

"Who cares? At least that means they'll have leftovers for the rest of the week," Colton said, ever so practical.

"Yeah, they won't even have to eat the same thing twice," Leo said.

Gabe was looking at me curiously. I didn't give him all the details about my meeting with Cami, just informed him that I hadn’t made any progress. Though that was a fucking understatement.

As we all sat down at the table, Gran seemed to mellow out.

"Is that fried chicken? I haven't had that in a while,” she commented.

Cade was especially smug, and he had the right to be. It wasn't every day that one managed to surprise Jeannie Whitley.

I had an inkling that my brothers were expecting me to say something. They kept throwing glances my way, then looking at one another.

Finally, Granddad seemed to pick up on that vibe and asked, "What's going on with you boys? Everyone seems on edge." Abe Whitley hadn't run an empire for nothing. The man definitely knew how to read a room and choose his battles.

"We're all waiting for Maddox to give us an update," Gabe said with a shit-eating grin. "He went to meet the owners of the adventure park next to our property."

"Oh, the one you want to buy?" Gran said.

"Exactly, Grandmother," Gabe replied.

Even all these years later, it surprised me every time one of my half brothers said "Grandmother" or "Grandfather." It seemed very formal, but it was the way they were raised. Leo, Nick, and I just called them Gran and Granddad.

"But I didn't make any progress," I said.

"You already told me that, but I need more details of your failure."

"Why are you enjoying this so much?"

"Maybe because you bragged about being able to win anyone over with your... what was it?"

"Legendary Whitley charm," Spencer put in for him.

I deserved that. I did brag about a month ago, when Gabe first told us Cami was the one holding up the sale.

"I'm glad you all find this amusing."

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