Taming The CEO: An enemies-to-lovers romance (The Whitley Brothers)

Chapter One

Maddox

My brothers and I raised our glasses.

”To a new venture in the Whitley family!” Gabe exclaimed.

We were at my house, celebrating that the two of us were opening a hotel together. We’d hit a milestone today—the architect had finalized the plans for the building.

The rest of the property was another story altogether.

”I have got to say, I”m curious how this will go,” Jake said, ”and how much more it’ll add to your plate.”

I rolled my eyes. ”So now that you”re a recovered workaholic, you think you can lecture the rest of us?”

Jake laughed. ”I try.”

All of my brothers were gathered here this evening. Jake wasn”t wrong. We were all busy running our own companies within Whitley Industries. But I was excited for this—building something that wasn”t tainted by our father”s past.

Gabe owned a bar and distillery and had recently decided to expand his business. He was building another distillery close to Essex, a small town forty minutes from Boston. One thing led to another, and he”d decided to open a hotel there too. But the endeavor was, all jokes aside, too time-consuming for him alone, so I’d offered to go into business with him. I was thrilled at how things were progressing. We”d hit a little snag, but I was certain we were going to smooth it out soon.

”We just need to convince Samuel to sell us his property too,” Gabe said.

I nodded. ”I”m sure he will.”

Gabe shrugged. ”I”m not so sure.”

”Damn, you still haven’t made progress with him?” That came from Colton, the oldest of my Whitley half brothers.

There were eight of us. Nick and Leo were my biological brothers. Jake, Colton, Cade, Spencer, and Gabe were my half brothers, though Gabe and I were always so tight that I considered him to be a full-blooded brother. Spencer and Cade too. We”d had the least contact with Colton and Jake over the years, although lately that had changed. There was still unease between us from time to time, but you couldn”t erase our history. It was messy and complicated. Our father had led a double life. He had one family here in Boston, and he had us back in Maine. No one knew about the other until everything came to light.

”Do you guys need someone to throw around the charm?” Leo said. ”Because I can do that.”

I cocked a brow at him. ”I told you, that”s my job. I just haven’t met with him yet.”

”The father doesn’t need much convincing,” Gabe cut in. He”d been the only one who”d dealt with him until now.

Samuel owned the adventure park next to our property. I”d looked at it online to see what it all entailed. It offered tree climbing and zip-lining, things like that. And although it appeared to be a solid business, we were offering a lot of money. So much so that I couldn”t imagine anyone actually turning it down.

”But I’m not making progress with his daughter, Cami,” Gabe continued. ”She doesn’t want to sell.”

Bingo! That’s where I come in.I clapped a hand on his shoulder. “See, brother, now that you’ve officially failed at winning over Cami, it’s time for me to step in. I’ll win her over with my legendary charm.”

I’d jokingly suggested this once before, and Gabe insisted he had it covered. Clearly, he didn’t.

Everyone burst out laughing.

”See, that attitude isn’t going to help in these negotiations,” Gabe said.

I winked at him. ”I know how to negotiate, don’t you fret.” I looked straight at him. ”Are you seeing Samuel again soon?”

He nodded. ”Yeah. I”ve got it on my schedule for next week. Both him and Cami.”

”I”ll go in your stead,” I offered.

There was a chorus of whistles from the group.

Gabe burst out laughing. ”You know what? Better you than me.”

“They’ve been dragging their asses long enough,” I said. “I want to seal the deal and move on.”

“That sort of cutthroat attitude will not cut it with Cami. Pun intended,” Gabe stated.

I winked at him. ”You just wait. I”ll get it done.”

He snorted. Actually snorted. ”Actually, I don”t think you will.”

All jokes aside, I had a plan. I was going to send Samuel an email beforehand. I suspected Cami was playing hard to get because she wanted more money. It was a common tactic in negotiations. My brother wasn’t as cutthroat as I was when it came to business. I, on the other hand, was ruthless. Even when it came to Dad.

Case in point, we hadn’t heard from our father in years until he contacted me last year, asking for money. We’d all decided to buy him out of Whitley Industries—he’d still had a minority package, and we figured that would get him out of our lives for good.

We were wrong. I’d kept tabs on him, and a few months ago, we’d found out he wanted to come back to Boston and open a hotel... in Essex. Gabe and I snatched the property from under his nose. My brothers and Gabe were the only ones who knew about it. There was no reason to worry anyone else, especially our grandparents. I was very protective of them—of the whole family, in fact.

Which was why I was glad to meet with Samuel and Cami. If they truly didn’t want to sell, then it was time for us to change strategies. But they’d wasted enough of our time already. I wasn’t going to let anyone scam us.

Cami Hughes might be playing hard to get, but I was good at this game.

***

Cami

”Yum. This is turning out to be one of my best yet.”

I”d just taken a bite of the banana bread I”d baked, and it was delicious. Banana bread was Dad”s and my favorite afternoon treat. I’d made decaf coffee too. Even though it was low in caffeine, we both needed the snack and break. Running an adventure park required energy, but I loved Essex Adventures to bits—even on the long, busy days, sweating in the sun. Which was why, for the life of me, I couldn”t understand why Dad wanted to sell it. The Whitley brothers were offering a lot of money, that was true. But the park was our life’s work. It had been Mom”s too.

”I don”t know how you manage to bake better than any of the bakeries in town.”

Pride swelled inside me, though I played it cool and shrugged. ”I”m just following Mom”s book of recipes.”

His eyes glistened. The recipes were my most treasured possessions. Mom had absolutely loved to cook and had five volumes of handwritten recipes. She”d always used a pencil so if she made any changes, she could easily adjust it. Those volumes were worth their weight in gold. I often offered customers my baked goods, and they loved them. Their compliments always made me proud and somehow let Mom’s legacy live on.

I usually put something yummy in our registration office for guests to grab either before they went on an adventure or after. I loved whenever someone took a goodie before and after. I felt like I”d done my job right.

”Okay. I’m having a large group coming in now. Are you done for the day?” I asked him.

”Yes. I’m actually meeting Whitley today.”

I straightened up as a shiver went down my spine. Damn it! We were supposed to meet him together next week. I’d wanted to chat with Dad about this again before then. I”d planned to cook a delicious dinner for him sometime this week so we could relax and discuss everything in detail.

I did that when I wanted to have a heart-to-heart chat with him.

I blew out an exasperated breath. ”Why didn”t you tell me? When is it? Do I have time to get ready?”

”It”s not Gabe coming this time, it”s his brother, Maddox. He sent me an email. He’d like to meet you, too, but you don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I want to hear more details about their offer, though.”

My stomach constricted. Dad owns the business. It”s not my place to tell him what to do or not to do. But still... ”Dad, but you always said you never want to retire.”

Besides, Dad had mentioned the Whitleys intended to cut down some of the trees when they built their massive hotel. This area was beautiful, and I’d hate to see the scenery destroyed.

He smiled at me. ”I didn”t know anyone was going to offer us so much money. The only other offer we’ve ever had was from Bill’s family, and the amount was a joke.”

Bill’s family was in real estate, and his dad had even been mayor at one point. I shuddered, remembering that offer. They”d made it right after Mom passed away, thinking Dad would sell out of desperation.

I bit the inside of my left cheek. ”I’ll come with you to meet Maddox, Dad.”

”That”s an excellent idea. That way you”ll see that what they’re proposing is actually really good.”

His words were like a punch to my gut. I couldn’t imagine a future in which I didn’t come here every day. I grew up watching Mom and Dad run the place and would hurry back from school every day and help them with chores. I was often trailing Dad when he showed groups around. And I was practically glued to Mom whenever she baked in the kitchen.

This place was my whole life. My happy place.

“I haven”t met Maddox yet, but if he”s anything like Gabe, you”re going to like him,” Dad said.

”Where are we going?”

”To the Gris.” The Gris was a staple restaurant in Essex. The official name was the Griswold Inn. It had been around forever. I was happy that they were going somewhere I was familiar with.

”What time are you supposed to meet him?”

”Seven o”clock,” he answered.

”I”ll finish up with this group, then go home and change. I’ll join you there.”

Dad beamed from ear to ear. ”Excellent.”

”All right. I love you, Dad,” I said, smiling at him.

He returned my favorite smile where the corners of his mouth were halfway up his cheeks. My mom used to fondly say that he turned into a bit of a clown when he smiled. A cute clown. I missed her every day even though she”d passed away more than twelve years ago.

I”d just graduated from college, and Dad was so lost. It broke my heart. He didn’t leave the house for a month after she’d died, and I”d taken over the reins of the company. It was our bread and butter, and I couldn”t let it go under. We needed the money it brought in and couldn”t even contemplate closing it down, not even to grieve Mom.

But oddly enough, overseeing the business actually helped me through my pain. I”d channeled everything into something constructive, and it had been a tremendous help.

I’d studied English, French, and Italian in college and had planned to travel the world and teach, but I changed course after her death, which was fine. I was immensely happy doing what I was doing here, where I’d spent my entire childhood. It was an honest-to-goodness occupation surrounded by a beautiful forest spanning ten acres.

We offered zip-lining, rope climbing, and obstacle courses in summer. There was also a mini-golf area that both kids and adults enjoyed, and in the winter, we had enough open space to make an ice-skating rink. When the snow started to fall heavily, we turned the obstacle course into an area for snow tubing.

It was just at the border of Essex, near the property the Whitleys had acquired. They wanted to build a distillery and a hotel there. I had no idea why they wanted our property too.

After the group ended their zip-lining adventure, we headed back to the registration desk.

”That looks good,” one of the tourists said, pointing at the plate with banana bread. ”May I have a piece?”

”Sure. It”s for you.”

There were five people in the group, and they practically devoured the banana bread.

After depositing all their gear in the changing room, I bid them goodbye. When they left, I closed the park and drove to my cabin. It was only a five-minute drive, but sometimes I wasn’t in the mood to walk.

Dad lived near downtown, but I”d bought myself a cabin on the outskirts, wanting to be close to the park. Besides, the prices were much better here than around Main Street. If I needed something from town, it was a seven-minute car ride. Sometimes I rode my bike. Now in October, it was an especially lovely time to bike with the trees changing colors; it was exquisite.

But we were having dinner, and I wanted to dress to impress, so I put on a business suit and paired it with high heels.