Page 74 of Flirting with the CEO

"Dude, what?" Nick asked, clearly taken off guard. "You didn't mention that.”

"He wrote to me. It would be weird if anyone else talked to him. But I actually want to know more about why he needs the money. Does he plan to reinvest it? Is it to pay off debt? I don't know."

"What makes you think he'll be honest with you?" Gabe asked. He seemed worried; I'd never heard him sound like that.

"Maybe he won't be," Maddox replied with a frown. "But I don't think there's any harm in asking. I wouldn't agree on blindly handing him money."

"I wouldn't agree on giving him any money at all," I stated, though with less conviction than before. What if he went to our grandparents for help? I couldn't even believe that a grown-ass man was asking his sons for money. But he was.

"Look, the last thing we need is for him to cause any ruckus," Nick added, putting both hands on the table and lacing his fingers. "I've scoured the Australian media. He's not making waves there, thank fuck. But you know how things are here. If they get so much as a rumor about him, it could backfire on us.”

"You're right." I hadn't thought about that. We'd all worked hard to restore the Whitley reputation. I didn't want to see it trashed again, but I couldn't find it in myself to give him anything.

Spencer yawned. “I'd hoped we’d agree on something tonight.”

"Spencer, go home and sleep,” I said. “We won’t reach a conclusion tonight. If we do, I'll let you know."

He rose from his chair immediately. "I’m going to go with whatever the majority wants. Honestly, I'm not in the mood to process all this right now."

I didn't blame him. With a small child, he had limited energy, and our brother was very good at prioritizing.

Once he left the room, Jake rose from his chair and paced the room, looking out the window. "I say we do whatever it takes to just make sure he stays out of everyone's lives."

"I agree," I said grudgingly.

Maddox nodded. "All right. Still, we don't know much about this, and I'd like to do some checking first. I’ll also tell him that I've shared this with all of you so he doesn't get any ideas."

"Good," Gabe said.

“I’m going to try and call him right now,” Maddox said, immediately putting his phone to his ear.

With nothing to do but wait, I checked my phone. I had a new message from Zoey.

Zoey: I'd planned to surprise you with a sexy idea, but I totally misread the situation.

Holy fuck!I took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. Damn it, I couldn't believe I was here with these bozos while she was there, waiting for me.What sexy idea did she have in mind?

Colton: Are you still at the office?

She immediately replied.

Zoey: No, I'm already home. I'll probably fall asleep soon. It's been a long day. Come to my place tomorrow morning if you want :)

Disappointment rolled through me. I put the phone down, glancing up at the group. Cade was watching me with a suspicious expression and wiggled his eyebrows.

"So, we were right."

I pointed at him. "Don't start."

Maddox lowered his phone, shaking his head. "He didn’t pick up. I suggest we all go and let Colton get on with things. I’ll get back to you once I hear from him.”

"I agree with you," I said.

Jake and Cade exchanged glances. Gabe was grinning. Nick whistled.

"Good for you," Leo said after a while.

He and Nick were the first ones to get up, and then the rest followed suit.

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