50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

50SOD II: Chapter Five

    The question Aubrey had asked was so simple. Had Destiny seen these three boxes before? The boxes were crimson, black, and royal blue. Varying in size. She stared down at them, remembering what was in each box. The crimson box was the box that held the letters. The letters, written so beautifully. Even the letters written after he'd discovered that his fiance was cheating on him, although heartbreaking, were written in a such a poetic way. The words he chose made it easy for anyone reading to feel the same pain he felt. She could feel his pain, feel just how intense his heartache was. And even though his heart was broken, she could feel how much he longed for the woman who'd done him wrong.

    The black box held random items, or items that had seemed random at first. A Jane Austen novel, a ring, perfume, other odds and ends. Paired with the letters in the crimson box, however, those seemingly random items told a story. Those items in the black box were keepsakes, items that reminded him of the fiance who'd broken his heart. And the royal blue box...

    She closed her eyes, feeling tears coming on. The royal blue box was the box with the videotape in it. The question he had asked was so simple, and yet she was having the most difficult time coming up with an answer that gave justification to her actions.

    "Are you going to make me repeat myself?" he asked softly.

    She raised her eyes and looked at him. Tears shimmered in her eyes. She didn't want to disappoint him. It had taken so long to get him to trust her. But he already knows the answer to the question, she thought. He is asking only as a courtesy - in the off chance he's wrong. But he already knows that I've seen these boxes before. "Yes, I have seen these boxes before, Sir," she said, her voice shaking.

    A muscle in his jaw twitched, but otherwise he remained still. He looked down at the boxes. "And have you seen what is in each of these boxes?" he asked her.

    One tear slid down her cheek. She nodded her head.

    "I need a verbal response from you," he said, his voice still soft. Soft and deceptively calm.

    "Yes, I have seen what is in the boxes, Sir," she responded.

    He closed his eyes and turned his head to the side.

    She lowered her eyes and another tear fell. "I'm sorry," she said.

    "Don't speak," he told her, his words clipped. He drew the back of his hand across his mouth and stood up. He leaned down and grabbed the chain from where it sat on the couch cushion. He walked around the coffee table.

    She stared down at his dress shoes. More tears fell and she wiped at them with her hands.

    "I'm very disappointed in you," he said, kneeling down beside her. He hooked an index finger in the D-shaped ring at the front of her collar. He tugged on the ring, pulling her face closer to him. Then he lifted the chain and connected it to the D-shaped ring. He tugged on the chain to make sure it was secure.

    It's not just a chain, she realized. It's a leash. He has me on a leash right now, like I'm some kind of dog. She risked a look up at him.

    He was staring down at her with the handle of the leash in his hands. For the first time since she'd made the slip-up at his mother's house, he allowed emotion and intensity to show on his face. His eyebrows drew together, and sadness shone in his brown eyes. "I want to be able to trust you," he said slowly.

    "You can," she told him.

    He closed his eyes. "I said, 'Don't speak,'" he told her.

    "But you have to know how sorry I am," she said, the teardrops turning into steady streams of tears. "I wasn't trying to be nosey for the sake of being nosey. I just...wanted to understand you better. And now I feel like I do. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to be angry, when...when I'm glad that I saw what I saw. If I hadn't..."