30. What Not To Do

"Ihear you messed up big time," Braylon heard the minute he answered his phone when he got home Friday night.

He should have figured his mother would have found out what was going on. Had to be from Laken or West.

"So it seems," he said.

"I thought you would have learned your lessons from your brother on what not to do."

He snorted. "So he was the one who told you what was going on?"

"I talked to him not that long ago," his mother said. "I wanted to see how things were now that the article was released. Seems everything is great except for what is happening with you. I gave your brother hell, by the way, for what Thomas did."

"I'm sure he told you that Thomas was terminated today," he said.

Braylon had come into work and been informed that Thomas's office was being cleaned out and Thomas would have no access or contact with anyone in the building going forward.

West wasn't someone to do that without contacting him first, but he'd been kept out of it.

"He did," his mother said. "It's about time. And don't be pissed he did it without telling you. He's still the boss and he's your brother. It's the right thing to do."

"I know," he said. "I was told that too this morning."

"Did West know you and Lily fought last night or did he find out this morning?"

"This morning," he said. "I told him after he said Thomas was terminated."

He was positive Thomas was getting one nice settlement to keep his mouth shut.

"Then he did it for you and Lily."

"Yeah," he said. Thinking back, he didn't expect any differently.

"He didn't promote you though, did he?" his mother asked. There was humor in her voice.

"It didn't appear to be the time to ask what was going on. I'm more concerned about figuring out what to do with Lily than my job."

"Good for you," his mother said. He could almost see her nodding her head in his mind.

"I guess," he said.

"Braylon, stop being so stubborn. Go back and apologize."

"I'm trying to figure out what I could have done differently," he said. "I didn't sleep last night. I wanted to know the truth. I wanted to hear it from her. I couldn't hear it from her if she didn't tell me or I didn't bring it up."

"Then you say that to her," his mother said.

"I'm not sure she's going to talk to me," he said.

"I'm sure she will," his mother said. "You told her it wasn't you that looked into her, correct?"

"I did," he said. But he realized he hadn't said who it was and didn't want her to think it was West either.

"You didn't do anything wrong other than jump to conclusions. Did you tell her that you didn't think she was using you?"

"Of course I did," he said. "I told her I wanted to know why she never told me."

"Maybe you should have said you were hurt she didn't trust you enough. That you'd be the last to judge. That you would have wanted to know to protect her. My guess is none of those words came out of your mouth."His mother was laughing.

"I didn't have a chance to. She told me to leave."

"I used to kick your father out of the room when we were fighting too."

This was news to him. "Why?"

"Sometimes you just need to have some time and peace to gather your thoughts. Then when I was calm enough we'd talk it through."

"It's not like we live together," he said. "For all I know she could never want to see me again."

"I doubt that," he said. "You might have to make the first move again. Just like you did in the coffee shop. You rescued her once, you can do it again. Rescue her from herself and her demons just like you've got your own."

"What demons do I have?" he asked.

"Never feeling like you're good enough or measure up," his mother said. "You've been like this your whole life. Big brother was always one step ahead of you. West doesn't think of you two that way."

"I know," he said. It'd taken him a long time to realize that.

"And he's not thrilled you didn't tell him what Thomas has been doing."

"He told me that too. But I pointed out that he knew anyway and didn't do anything about it."

His mother laughed softly. "Did West tell you why he didn't do anything about it?"

"No," he said.

"And you didn't ask because sometimes you feel as if you can't question him, right? Because he's the boss?"

"He is the boss. That was a work situation."

"No," his mother said. "That was a family situation. He didn't do anything because he knows you've got your pride too. If you told him you could handle it, then he wanted you to know he respected that and you. He didn't want to step on your toes."

He never thought of it that way before. "But he fired Thomas," he said.

"That was a business decision. What Thomas did was wrong. Sure, Thomas said he was protecting the business, but if he was, he would have gone to West with that information and your brother would have handled it. Instead he rubbed your face in it to make it seem as if you've just somehow brought bad publicity to your brother."

"He called West an idiot," he said.

"Did you tell West that?" his mother asked. She sounded appalled.

"No. Why? I knew West would take care of it the way he saw fit."

Again, he didn't want to come off as a wuss or tattling.

"And he did," his mother said. "Business or not, no one messes with our family. You need to remember that."

"I will now," he said.

"Then go fix things with Lily. If you don't, I'll have to get involved. We know I can get anything patched up."

He grinned. "You can," he said. "I'll let you know how things turn out at some point."

"Don't wait too long," she said. "That's an order."

"Yes, ma'am."

He hung up with his mother and sent a text to Lily. He hadn't heard from her since she'd told him to leave.

He couldn't just give up. He wouldn't.

He wanted to know if they could talk again. He wanted to make it right and hoped that she'd give him a chance.

She didn't reply and an hour later, he was losing hope until there was a knock on his door.

It had to be someone in the building because otherwise the front desk would have messaged him.

He opened the door to see Lily standing there. "Hi," she said quietly. "Benjamin let me in. I hope that was okay."

"It was," he said. He'd have to thank the doorman for that.

"I want to apologize first for throwing you out last night," she said. Her eyes were red and swollen and he could tell she'd been crying.

"I get it," he said. "You were upset. I was upset. I was hurt. I didn't understand why you wouldn't tell me about your past. If I had known I could have been prepared."

"I told you why. I don't want to go back to that place. I moved here and became Lilian."

"But you aren't Lilian," he said. "You know it and I know it. You're Lily with a shield in front of you. I'd thought I was able to break through it, but now I wonder if that wasn't the case."

"You have been able to. That is why I told you to call me Lily. That is why I love you. I know I overreacted. But you didn't live my life." She held her hand up when he opened his mouth. "The last thing I wanted to do was bring shame on you or your family."

"You didn't," he said.

"But when West found out he must have been livid."

"He wasn't. He has been more annoyed at me," he said. "For the way I handled this. It was Thomas who looked into you, not West. When I got the information I went to West's office and he was meeting with Laken. Neither of them was upset or mad at what they read. They were mad at me though for getting upset over it."

"You had a right to be upset I didn't tell you. I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't hiding it from you. If you'd asked me straight out I would have started to tell you, but you never did."

"That's right," he said. "I never asked. I should have. I guess if I wanted to know I would have pushed more. But I didn't want to push you away. I wanted you to feel as if you had control of the pace between us. I knew that you were skittish. You were insecure. I saw what Abby went through with West and was determined not to make the same mistakes."

"Sometimes having someone give you an example isn't always a good thing," she said.

"So I'm learning. But it is who I am. I'm not someone to push all that much. Could be I just knew right away that you were the one and I didn't want to do anything to lose you."

She smiled softly. "I talked to Quinn last night. She told me that the reason she went to see our mother alone was because she didn't want Max to find out. She thought she could handle it. That she didn't want him to regret being with her and didn't want him to know. That love makes you do stupid things. Like being held hostage by our mother. I suppose in my way I did the same thing, just not as drastic."

"I think we both have to stop trying to think we know the answer of how something will turn out and talk to the other and work it out together."

"I think you're right," she said.

He hugged her. "Want to tell me what is going on with your job now? Because I know something happened this week and you weren't going to tell me. I can figure you out by texts too."

She laughed and told him about Stella. How her boss was saying that she was only getting attention for dating him. That Lily had no right to take credit for work even though she was the one who did it.

"When Ray told me about Stella having a form of protection in the company, I started to realize that I don't have much of a future there. I wanted to give a year, but I might not be able to. I was staying longer because you were so close by. Like you not wanting to run to West with things, I don't want to be the new person causing problems by going to Aaron. I guess I just assumed they knew what was going on."

"They probably do," he said. "I want to tell you that you don't need this headache and to quit."

"I need a job," she said. "Don't tell me you'll take care of me. I can take care of myself."

He sighed. "I know you can. So I'll just give you advice as your boyfriend. I can give you some legal advice if you need it too."

"Right now I just want to make sure I've still got a boyfriend."

"You do," he said, hugging her again. He kissed her on the forehead. "I can't tell you how happy I am we worked this out. Now I don't have to worry about my mother flying here to patch it up. She threatened that earlier."

She laughed. "You told your mom what was going on?"

"No. West ratted me out. What a jerk."

"Or he was giving you a hand to work things out?" she asked. "I'd rather look at it that way."

"I think you're right," he said. "As my mother said, family always sticks together. You're my family too."

She laid her head against his chest. "I didn't know what it was like to have a real family until I was eighteen. Now I'm getting an idea of another one at twenty-four. Better late than never."

"Yes, it is," he said kissing her forehead. "You're where you belong."