Page 29 of Falling for the CEO

"You’re fast," Maddox said, exchanging a glance with Cade.

"I invoke twin privilege," I told Cade. He shook his head, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, I can't deny that one."

"You’d really just leave me out of your team?" I double-checked.

"No, I take twin privilege very seriously."

Since there were five of us, one always waited until the next game. We alternated teams. I was staying out for the first round. Maddox and Nick were playing against Leo and Cade. I had to give it to my twin—a tennis match was a smart way to hang out with our half brothers. It gave us a chance to catch up but didn't leave too much time for conversation—less chance of delving into unpleasant topics. As a general rule, we didn't speak much about family. And when we did, the conversation centered around our grandparents.

"Who’s watching Ben?”

“Grandmother."

All heads turned to me.

"She's ninety," Nick said.

"Really? I had no idea," I answered sarcastically. "You know how Grandmother is. When she wants something, she gets it. And she does seem to have the hang of it." I was 100 percent sure that once Ben started to move around, this would no longer be the case, but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.

"By the way, Gabe mentioned that you're having personnel issues," Leo said.

"I'm on top of it," I said curtly. He frowned but didn't ask anything else. I avoided talking about the publishing house with them. I didn’t want to bring up the biography section because it had been so important to Mom. I cared about my half brothers, but some topics were better left untouched.

"We heard another rumor," Nick said.

"Hey, so is anyone playing, or what?" I asked.

"You're the one watching. So, we can talk, and you can listen," Maddox added.

"Yeah, we heard things about your neighbor." That came from Leo.

I bit back a laugh. "From whom? Oh right, Grandmother."

Of course she’d spilled the beans. But I wasn’t mad at her. If this brought her joy, why the hell not leave her to it?

"We’re pretty sure she’s got her matchmaking eye on you," Maddox went on.

They hadnoidea. “I can handle Grandmother," I said. What I couldn't handle was my insane attraction to Penny.

"Famous last words," Maddox said. "I believe Cade and Jake claimed something similar."

"I like how much fun they’re having at our expenses," I told Cade, crossing my arms over my chest. "Like their time won't come soon."

Maddox's smile fell. "She's still got plenty of you all to go through."

"Yeah, but she never mentioned that she planned to first finish with us before turning to you," Cade pointed out. Yeah! That was my twin right there—give it to ‘em.

"Don't worry," Leo said right after swinging his racket. "We are on it. Every time we see her, we subtly try to steer her in your direction."

"And you think that works? Hate to break it to you, Leo, but Grandmother does what she wants. The rest of us just live in her world."

I was ruthless at work when I had to be. In general, I accommodated no one. But my grandparents got special treatment. They meant the world to me, and I indulged them at every turn—even to my own cost.

"That's true for you guys. The three of us have our own set of skills," Nick added. He was right. There was a subtle difference between us and them.

"Keep telling yourselves that," I said. "We have eighteen years—give or take—more experience with Grandmother."

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