10. Have To Start Somewhere

The next morning, Braylon was answering all the emails and texts he'd gotten throughout the day when he was with Lilian

No way he was letting work or anything interrupt his day with her if he could prevent it.

"Where were you yesterday?" West asked him when he called his brother. A text would have been too long to reply to what his brother needed.

Now he just had to figure out how to answer this.

"I was running errands and had things to do," he said. "Why? I didn't think it was an emergency. You said no rush."

"True," West said. "But you still normally reply on the same day."

"Well, I didn't," he said. "And you were with Abby and should be with her and not working."

His older brother laughed. "She gives me a few hours to get work done."

"Like a schedule?" he asked. He wasn't sure his brother ever followed a schedule. More like he made his own. "Does she put a time clock on it too so you stick to it?"

"Not quite that disciplined," West said, chuckling. "She wanted to run and check out a few shops. I offered to go with her and she said no way, to use that time to work."

"She didn't want you buying her anything," he said, grinning.

"I'm sure. It's frustrating. I wanted to hand over my credit card to her."

His jaw dropped. "You're joking, right?"

"Unfortunately no, but I didn't. It wasn't worth the fight. I know she was looking for something for Liz with the wedding coming up."

"Why don't you just find her a job and have her move there?" he said. He knew Abby wasn't fond of Manhattan.

"Are you kidding me?" West said. "We just made up a few weeks ago. Telling her what to do and not listening to her wants and needs is what got me into our mess. If you knew anything about women you'd know that."

"What I know is that you're older than me so single longer and you needed Mom to tell you how to fix the mess you were in."

"And I listen to Mom," West said. "Maybe you should too."

Braylon didn't reply. He wondered if his mother told West she was on his case to find a woman now. He wasn't ready to let anyone know about Lilian.

Not that he was embarrassed or anything like that. It had more to do with the fact he had no clue where things were going.

He knew where he wanted them to go but had to let Lilian set the pace. Though she was younger, there was part of him that didn't think she was as naive as many said, but she definitely had no clue how his world worked.

Hell, he and West had to fake it for years. There were a lot of times West was told no when he was looking for investors. They didn't like the young guy who came from nothing and worked his way up. They'd thought his brother didn't understand how things worked.

But West proved them all wrong. That was why Braylon had been right by his side. And though he never bragged, he'd helped West out a lot in those meetings.

They went in together with their approaches.

He'd never told any woman he'd been with before, but he and Laken didn't just have jobs with West. They had shares in almost all of the acquisitions since they started working for West. Nothing more than five percent, sometimes only one percent. If West didn't own a lot, then they'd get royalties.

He and Laken had money coming from a lot of directions but didn't say a word about it.

His guess was Foster had the same thing. Since the three of them had their hands in all the yummy pies, it could be West believed they deserved it when the rest of his siblings had businesses all to themselves.

Nelson would find out soon enough when he got to where West felt their youngest brother was ready.

"And back to work," he said. "Nelson. Are things any better in Utah now?"

"They are getting there," West said. "He wants to wear the big boy panties, so I sent him in to find out what the hell is going on there with packaging."

"And he ruffled feathers," he said.

"I knew he would. I think it was needed."

Braylon snorted. "You did it on purpose?"

"Yes and no. I don't always like Nelson's approach, but he's not me and he's not you. If I went in and overrode what he'd said or was doing, I would be diminishing his power."

"No showing weakness," he said. "I get it.

"That's right. I've had words with Nelson a few times. I've been guiding him the best I can."

"Which he needs," he said. "Tell him to reach out to me if you want."

"That is why I texted you. He needs to sit down with you one on one. I think having one of the corporate attorneys show up will rattle the employees too."

His shoulders dropped. "When am I leaving for Utah?"

"Tuesday," he said. "Just for two days. That should do it."

That wouldn't be the end of the world, he thought. He'd try to get to the coffee shop tomorrow when Lilian was placing her orders. Let the two of them be seen again. Then he could tell her he was leaving for a few days.

Maybe when he got back they could try for lunch. Dinner was probably easier with his schedule.

"I'll get everything I need ready. Does Thomas know?"

"I sent him an email last night. How are things there?"

"Fine," he said. "Why?"

"You never say otherwise, but I know they aren't always. Thomas is a bit of a hard ass."

"I can handle it," he said. "I've lived with you."

"True enough," West said. "I want to know if Thomas is pushing the boundaries. He's good at what he does and I've needed it. I wanted you to learn under him."

"I know," he said. "I'm not as cocky as Nelson to think I could walk out of college and start to call the shots. No reason to make mistakes and jeopardize things."

"We all make mistakes," West said. "You know better than anyone else I was like Nelson. I lost a few deals because of it."

He laughed. "You did. We did together. But I'd say it's working out in the end."

"It is," West said. "Which is why I'm letting Nelson start from the bottom and work his way up. He has to make mistakes and know his big brothers aren't going to save him."

"Within a limit," he said. "I know. You wouldn't do anything to hurt a business, but you wouldn't let it be known you don't trust Nelson just yet either."

"Thomas has some strong opinions on Nelson and what he said in Utah. It's better you go and clean up some of it."

"What don't I know?" he asked. He thought he knew everything. Or he should at least.

"I'll fill you in tomorrow when you're in the office. Thomas should have kept you up to date."

"I thought he did," he said. "But I'm trying to figure out what Nelson did other than going in like a boss when he's not."

"Not much more than that," West said. "But Thomas doesn't like dealing with that generation. You know him."

He rolled his eyes. All the more reason to not let too many know he was dating someone the same age as Nelson. "We all have to start somewhere. I would have figured Thomas would know that. Just because Nelson could be his grandson."

"I think that is part of it. There is a gap of understanding I'm starting to see. I've got to keep an eye on those things."

He wouldn't say anything else at this point. No reason to. West would make the final decisions on people's jobs and he never wanted it said that he pushed another person out.

He knew his time would come and had to wait for it.

Just like he'd have to wait for Lilian too.