59__Two steps ahead

59__Two steps ahead
Erin was seated at the table with Stephanie and her mom as they looked through samples of wallpaper for a mansion Steph was doing the interior decoration of.

They asked her opinion once or twice but her mind was totally occupied by her conversation with Braden earlier. Slowly, she poked the mango slices on her plate with a fork, lifting them to her mouth distractedly.

“So, you’re not dating him at all, is that it?” asked Steph suddenly, nudging Erin.

Blinking, Erin glanced at her. “Oh. No.” She gave her mom a look. “There’s literally nothing going on, his dad came here without his permission just because he thought I’d be a good match for Chris.”

“What an odd man,” commented her mother, re-adjusting her glasses as she peered at the sample of pretty, floral wallpaper.

“He’s obsessive,” added Steph. “Always has been, he practically hounded Dad into funding his projects. He should’ve done his research on Julius Stone first, however.” She snorted. “Now Dad has far more power over his company than he’s comfortable with.”

“I heard it was 40%,” Erin said.

“In shares, yes. Not counting all the projects he’s funding for their company.”

“Hello.”

The two ladies looked up and lit up with smiles.

“Braden,” said Steph, reaching up to clasp his hand as he gave her a quick hug.

“Good day?” said Alicia.

He smiled at her with a nod. “Great day. I learned… a lot.”

Turning his head, Braden looked at Erin as she stared up at him with a fork in her mouth.
His smile vanished and he turned away, marching off into the house.

Erin blinked. Had he… had he ignored her?! She spun around but he was long gone. With a silent scoff, she eased back into her seat. He was mad at her for defending Chris.

Oh, great. Stabbing a slice of mango, she stuffed it into her mouth. She had no intention of pretending to marry Ice Block! That was why she really hoped Braden wouldn’t attack their company, having their shares safe would spare her the guilt of refusing to help Chris fool his father.

Surely, Braden understood that? She sighed. If he stubbornly went ahead with his threats of bankruptcy, Chris would turn to her for the fake engagement and Erin would be in the most difficult position.

It was all so messy, Erin hated it. On the other hand, she still needed to sort out the issue with Jackson and Phoebe. It was confusing because she didn’t know what to tell them. She and Braden weren’t a couple. They weren’t in a relationship. How would she explain what they were when she hardly understood it herself?

Shaking her head, Erin looked sorrowfully into the gleaming mangoes.

Most urgent to her, right now, was Jackson and Phoebe and then the upcoming conference. She would try to sort them out in that order and simply hope that Braden’s temper would cool down and he’d let Chris Michaels be.

Things didn’t work out in that order.

Two days later, Erin still hadn’t gotten time to contact her friends, swamped with work from morning to evening. The longer she left it, the more she felt like they would feel ignored by her. When she sat down to talk with them, however, she wanted an entire evening or night so they could get everything cleared up. A quick lunch date just wouldn’t do, so she didn’t call them at all.

Above her stacks of folders, Erin muttered a curse. With this much work to do, she also hadn’t given herself time to go to Braden, hoping he’d let her know when he stopped being mad at her.
Apparently, he’d decided he wanted to talk.

Sighing, Erin looked at the phone in her hand, Braden’s text staring back at her.
She looked at the wall to her right with another sigh. The great Braden Stone had summoned her.

Going into his office was strangely shocking to her nerves, even though it wasn’t the first time she’d done so since that wild Saturday night.
The last time she’d come in here, she’d been too cross to think straight, but today she entered and was blatantly aware of the couch across his table. Her cheeks went red when she slowly walked up to said table and looked down at its surface.

A pen tapped the table twice and Erin’s gaze snapped up.

His own gaze intensified, completely focused on her as he twirled his pen between his fingers. “Get your mind out the gutter.”

Her expression exploded with alarm. “W-what? What gutter?!”

He sighed, dropping his pen to roll up his sleeves. “Take a seat.”

She blinked. He still sounded angry with her. “Where?”

Turning around, she looked at the couch like it would eat her.

“The couch or the table, take your pick.” He wasn’t bothered by her sudden onslaught of shyness.

She cringed. “Those are the only two options?”

Braden paused. Lifting his eyes to hers, he silently reclined in his seat, stretching his legs forward in a way that made Erin’s eyes drop to his muscular thighs.
He said nothing, but the look in his eyes was as loud as her own thoughts.

“Why… why did you want to see me?” she managed to force out, trying to violently kill the image of her sitting in his lap. For him to suggest that, especially while he was angry with her, was seriously causing chaos in her head.

“We’re going to have a visitor soon,” he said easily. “Take a seat, it won’t be long.”

She frowned curiously. “Who is it? And can you promise that it won’t be long? I have work to do.”

“He’ll be here before you can walk out that door.”

She pressed her lips together in scepticism. “What’s he? A genie—”

The door burst open, slamming against the wall. Erin jumped, instinctively rushing to the other side of Braden’s table.
Holding her heart, she looked at the door. “What the hell?!”

With harsh breaths of clear rage, Chris slowly dragged his feet into the room, his bloodshot eyes glaring at Braden.
Braden saw the exact moment he processed Erin’s presence. A tiny sliver of control returned into those crazed green eyes, holding back the worst of what he wanted to do so as to not show Erin what he really was.

She was beyond puzzled, gaping at Chris. “Is there a reason why you’d come in like that?!” He’d scared the breath out of her.

Sad, green eyes slowly turned to her and a bitter smile curved Chris’s mouth, lips twitching randomly. “I don’t… I don’t give a fuck.”

She blinked.

With a scoff of disbelief, Chris looked back at Braden. “I begged you.”

“Did you?” Braden calmly asked. “You must’ve thought you won over the past two days. It took a while to locate and contact your uncle, you see. Sorry for the delay. I assume your father's heard from him?”

Erin looked at him with a frown. “Braden, what’s going on?”

Chris looked completely defeated, his arms hanging lifelessly at his side.
“After all the years we’ve known each other,” he muttered quietly. “That you’d betray me this way…”

Even his voice shook with the most miserable sadness Braden had ever heard. Sadness was odd to hear when Braden knew Chris was really actually pissed, holding back the insanity he wanted to unleash. What a great actor. This was why he’d called Erin. He’d wanted to see it for himself, the way Chris lied in her presence.

“I told you I did nothing wrong!” Chris shouted painfully.

Such remarkable acting, Braden understood why Erin had gotten fooled. Chris was a master manipulator.

“Braden, what did you do?” she asked nervously at his side.

His jaw clenched.

“What did he do?” Chris asked loudly, laughing like a man plagued by madness. “I’ll tell you what he did. He ruined my fucking life, that’s what. He’s taken everything and given it away. And you told me you’d stop him, Erin…”

He looked at her with such accusation, Erin felt guilt weigh heavy in her chest.
“You told me you’d help me…”

“I did!” She was suddenly anxious to justify herself. “I told you not to do it, Braden, why?!”

Chris suddenly dropped to his knees, the alcohol in his gut snatching the strength of his joints.

“Oh! Oh, my God!” Erin hurried around the table to see to him. “Are you okay?!”

Braden calmly watched them, twirling his pen. His phone rang and he picked up.
“Braden, do something!” Erin shouted, trying to help a collapsing Chris.

“Braden Stone,” Braden said into the phone.

“Braden,” his grandfather’s voice rang through in a gentle tone he knew was close to anger. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Hello, grandpa.”

“I have Don Michaels in my office crying about 40% of his company. You have one chance. Only one, sonny, or so help me God. Explain. Your explanation of this will determine whether or not I support you.”

Braden raised his gaze to watch security walk in to seize a struggling Chris.
Erin looked stressed. “Don’t grab him, call an ambulance!”

“Don’t worry, Grandpa,” Braden said. “Just trust me. I won’t do anything that affects you.”

“And how does signing off shares not affect me? Just tell me whether or not to call the lawyers.”

“Don’t worry, grandpa,” Braden repeated, watching Chris fight security tooth and nail as he was carried out. “Trust me.”

“Stop them, Erin!” Chris pleaded. “For fuck’s sake!”

Unable to stop the security, Erin could only march back to Braden’s table in full fury. “Braden, how could you?!”

Quietly, Braden put the phone back in its holder, looking up at her. “How could I what? Make good on my word?”

“I asked you not to! It was a misunderstanding!”

He nodded, clenching his teeth. “Let’s be patient, shall we? Let’s see just how big a misunderstanding it was.”

Her glare darkened. “Stop speaking in riddles! Tell me why you felt the need to ruin an entire company over one thing! Chris apologized.”

Braden was slowly nodding, a repeated action to control his own temper. Like rocking back and forth.

Her eyes narrowed. “Answer me. Answer me or I’ll go to the Chairman.”

He paused, his head slowly tilting. His gaze grew icy. “Oh, wow. It’s been a while since I last saw the Erin who’s in cahoots with grandpa to control my life. Long time, no see.”

“I’m not trying to control you, I just want to know why you did this to your friend!”

“He isn’t my friend! And if you wanna know the reason so bad, it’s you! You’re the fucking reason! He shouldn’t have tried to use you, he fucked himself over!!”

She released a harsh exhale, her face contorted with both disbelief and confusion. “You did that? Over the fake engagement offer? I told you I wouldn’t do it!”

Braden clenched his jaw. He’d done it because he wanted her to see Chris’s true colours, but he was done explaining. No matter what he said to her right now, he’d still be the bad guy.

“Just wait,” he told her. “Wait and see what the poor victimized Chris Michaels does next.”