50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

50SOD II: Chapter Seventy-One

    Carlos twisted around and stared at Destiny. "Tell him he's wrong, Des."

    "He's not wrong," she told Carlos, with her eyes still locked on Brian.

    Carlos grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Are you crazy?"

    She turned her head and looked him. "What is wrong with you?"

    He allowed his hands to fall in his lap. "This is that moment, Destiny. This is that moment in the scary movie where the main character is considering doing something really stupid and her friend tries to keep her from doing it, but she does it anyway and gets herself killed."

    "It feels like the right thing to do," she said simply. "If Palmer is covering up something big enough to resort to threats, then he should be held accountable."

    "Okay but...didn't you tell me last night that Aubrey hired a private investigator? Why can't you just let that guy be the one who gets himself killed?"

    "I don't know his private investigator. For all we know, it could be someone on Palmer's payroll. And if Palmer or someone on his behalf is contacting me, that has to mean I'm close to something." A pleading look entered her eyes as she stared at Brian.

    Brian took a sip of his coffee, then set the cream-colored coffee mug on the table. "I hate to say it, but I'm with Carlos on this one. Do I agree that someone should continue looking into Palmer? Sure. But I don't think that person should be you."

    There was a stubborn look in her eyes that said she wasn't going to stop looking. "I'm a journalist," was all she said.

    Brian took a deep breath.

    Carlos stared hard at her. He closed his eyes and turned to look outside of the window again. "Look...if you insist on looking into Palmer, there's something that I have to tell you."

    "Okay," she said, pulling her coffee mug closer to her and peering down into it. It was the first time she'd even glanced at it.

    Carlos leaned back and slid his hand into the pocket of his dress pants. He pulled his cell phone out, set it down on the table, and flipped it over.

    Brian watched in confusion as Carlos slid the cover of the phone off and removed the battery. "What are you...?"

    "I don't even know if this even works," Carlos muttered. "I've just seen it on a crime show before. So just...indulge me, okay?"

    Destiny frowned at him.

    With the battery removed from the phone, Carlos rested his hands on top of the table and turned his head to look at Destiny. "I've met Palmer before. I've met him. I've had conversations with him."

    "Okay," she said, drawing out the word.

    Carlos wiped his mouth. "Shit, this is hard to tell you." He lowered his gaze, then twisted in his seat so that he was facing her. "Palmer hit on me. More than once."

    Her eyebrows rose. "He...hit on you?"

    Carlos winced and nodded. "Yeah."

    Brian scratched at his temple. "Palmer's gay?"

    "Very gay," Carlos said, gesturing wildly with his hands. "And I gave him my number and we started talking a little bit."

    Destiny's face screwed up into an expression of disgust. "Ew. He's..."

    "Old, yeah," Carlos said.

    "Why?"

    "He bought me shit, and promised me things, and...he could be charming when he wanted to be," Carlos replied. "But he started getting possessive. You and I have talked about possessiveness before. He wasn't possessive in the cute way. He was possessive in the psychotic way. Not to mention the fact that he was married. Over and over again, he told me he and his wife were going to be getting a divorce soon, but it never happened. So I called things off, told him to stop calling me. Stop messaging me. But he kept calling. Kept messaging me. He'd even show up to the diner I worked at before I started at Eli's Bakery."

    Destiny leaned forward and covered her mouth with her hands.

    Carlos's voice was soft, nearly inaudible, as he added, "That's not all."

    "What else could there possibly be?" she demanded.

    "Palmer and I didn't talk for months," Carlos told her. "But after you left for Toronto, he came into Eli's asking me to do a favor for him."

    Brian watched dread fill Destiny's eyes.

    "He wanted me to come to Toronto and keep an eye on Aubrey," Carlos said. "He wanted me to report anything that could be used against Aubrey."

    "Oh my God." She slid out of the booth and stumbled away.

    Carlos started to slide out too, but Brian held up a hand. "Stay here," Brian told the young man. "I'll go after her."

    Carlos nodded somberly, then bowed his head down.

    Brian slid out of the booth and chased after Destiny. He found her standing in the lobby, pacing near the door. "Hey."

    She was shaking. Visibly. He could actually see her body shaking. "He lied. He's the one spying on me. This entire time, and Aubrey knew. Aubrey knew I couldn't trust him. But...he's been a good friend to me, so..." She was on the verge of crying.

    He wrapped his arms around her, because he didn't know what else to do. So he wrapped her up in an embrace, half-expecting for her to push him away. She didn't. She leaned into him and started crying almost immediately. He glanced towards the hostess, who was giving them a wary look. "I'm sure he had his reasons," Brian told her.

    "What reasons could he possibly have to betray me like that?" she wailed. "And Aubrey? What do I tell him? I don't know what to do."

    "Okay, look..." He pulled back a bit so he could look down at her. His arms stayed around her. "I say that we go back to the table and listen to what he has to say."

    She shook her head. "I don't want to see him, Brian. I don't want to be anywhere near him. He was using me. He was never my friend at all. He lied to me, all this time. How can I trust anything he has to say now?"

    "He knows information. Okay? Information that could possibly help Aubrey and Graham Enterprises. If you leave, I doubt he's going to open up to me. So...we need to go back to that table."

    She continued shaking her head, staring up at him helplessly.

    He smoothed her hair back. "Come back to the table with me. Please."

    She looked towards the table, shook her head again, and buried her face in his chest.

    He stood there holding her, cordially nodding and smiling at the patrons who came and left. "We don't have to go back to the table now. If you want, we can just...stand here for a minute. We can go back when you're ready. Okay?" He felt her nod against his chest and threw an apologetic look towards the hostess who was beginning to look increasingly annoyed.