50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

50SOD II: Chapter Seventy-Four

    Brian took Destiny by the hand and led her back to the booth.

    Carlos peered up at them with sad eyes.

    Destiny avoided making eye contact with him, looking everywhere else in the restaurant but at him. She felt Brian start to pull his hand away from hers, but she tightened her hand around his, refusing to let go. Instead of reclaiming her seat next to Carlos, she sat down next to Brian. With her eyes focused on the table, she told Carlos, "I need to know everything."

    "Harry wanted me to report anything back to him that could be used against Aubrey," Carlos explained. "He was desperate to get some dirt on Aubrey. I told him no. I refused. But...he had the names and addresses of my family in Venezuela. And he said that I shouldn't underestimate just how far his reach goes. He was threatening my family."

    Destiny continued staring down at the table in silence.

    "He said that I could either help him, and have my family flown up to America where he could give them citizenship, or I could refuse to help him and have to fly down to Venezuela to attend their funeral." His voice became choked up towards the end of the sentence.

    She wanted to stay angry with Carlos, but that statement caused her to lift her eyes. Once she saw the stricken expression on his face, it was hard not to feel for him. "He threatened your family?"

    Carlos nodded.

    "Palmer is a fucking monster," Brian muttered.

    "He paid for my ticket here," Carlos informed, pushing his hair out of his face. "One-way ticket so I could stay as long as it took to get the job done. He told me to just...do what I've always done. Stay close to you. Report anything important back to him."

    "That's why you came up here out of the blue without mentioning it to me," she said, shaking her head. "It wasn't because you were worried about me. It was because if you'd mentioned it, I could have told you not to come."

    He shook his head emphatically. "No, honey, I was definitely worried about you. Just...for different reasons than you thought."

    Her brows knitted together.

    He sighed. "I wound up accepting his offer. He was threatening my family, so I had to, right? But...I wasn't going to tell him anything that could be used against Aubrey. I couldn't do that to you or Aubrey. So in my mind, I was coming up - not to keep an eye on Aubrey - but to keep an eye on you. To make sure you were safe from Palmer."

    The expression on her face reflected the doubt she felt.

    "I know you don't have any reason to believe anything I'm telling you," Carlos said softly, lowering his eyes. "But believe me when I say that I never told him anything solid he could use against Aubrey. You talked about work, but I always kept the sensitive information between us. Even last night, when you were drunk...you kept trying to talk about it, and I kept trying to stop you. That was because I think he may have bugged my cell phone. I didn't want him to hear the really sensitive things because I know that he would use them to exploit Aubrey. Or you. Or both of you."

    Brian glanced at Destiny, then looked back at Carlos. "So...you didn't even tell him anything?"

    "No."

    "Then how did he know I was researching him?" Destiny queried.

    Carlos turned his head and stared out of the window. "If he does have my phone bugged, he could have heard us talking about it in your condo. There are other ways he could have known, too. I don't know for sure, but what I do know is, he has other people watching you and Aubrey. He also has someone in the company who reports to him. Possibly more than one person, I'm not sure."

    Brian frowned. "Who is it?" he demanded.

    Carlos shrugged. "I don't know."

    Brian narrowed his eyes.

    "I don't!" Carlos claimed. "If I did, I would tell you."

    Brian shook his head. "This is a fucking mess."

    This is too much to handle, Destiny thought. And this isn't something that I should keep from Aubrey, but...he would lose it. He would lose it if he knew anything about this. "Okay, so..." She paused, then groaned in frustration. "I don't know what we should do. If Palmer is going around making genuine threats to people's families, maybe we should actually leave him alone."

    "He shouldn't get away with any of this," Brian growled with anger flashing in his eyes.

    A thought occurred to Destiny. "Carlos...that day I came to hang out with you and you were on the balcony talking to some guy...was that Palmer?"

    His brows furrowed in confusion, but then something clicked and he seemed to remember the night she was referring to. "No. No, that was the jerk I was seeing back in D.C. before coming here. I guess I should say it was another jerk."

    Her right hand was still clasped firmly around Brian's. Probably a bit inappropriate, since he was her superior and since she was very taken by Aubrey, but she couldn't find the strength to pull her hand away. She felt like if she pulled her hand away from Brian's, she would completely fall apart. So she continued holding his hand and leaning onto him for support, trying not to think about the fact that Aubrey wouldn't appreciate the fact she was doing so.

    "I want you to understand that I would never do anything that would really put you or Aubrey in danger," Carlos told her earnestly. "I love you like a sister. But...my family...I didn't know what to do. So I just...did what I thought would help save my family while trying to make sure you were safe."

    "You should have told me," she hissed at him. "I could have helped you, too. Aubrey has money. A lot of it. We could have...we could have..."

    Carlos tilted his head to the side. "Could have what? Flown my family up here? So we could all live in the same house, trying to watch each other's backs so we don't end up like Palmer's wife?" His gaze dropped and he brought a hand up to his temple. "My God...his wife. I never thought...I didn't think he could be capable of..." He paused, got his composure together, and said, "I thought the accident was an accident. I never thought or knew he was capable of killing his wife. He was definitely a little crazy, but I didn't think he was that crazy. Knowing that he is capable of it, makes me feel like I made the right decision in accepting his offer. That could be my family, involved in a sudden car accident. And I can't lose them, Des. I love them too much."

    Destiny turned her head and looked up at Brian. "What do you think we should do?"

    Brian looked bewildered. "You want me to make the call?"

    "I wanted to keep looking into Palmer, before...before Carlos's confession," she said. "But now...now, I don't know if it's worth it."

    "Palmer should go down," Brian said, his voice filled with conviction. "He shouldn't be allowed to continue living or breathing, if he did kill his wife and if he's going around making threats to people. But I don't want you involved. I don't want you doing any digging. Just...lay low for awhile. Stay around Aubrey so he can protect you. I'll look into the accident."

    "Are you sure?" she asked in a tiny voice. "If he could find out I'm looking into him, he could just as easily figure out that you're looking into him."

    He offered a weak smile. "Aw. Are you worried about me?"

    She rolled her eyes and looked away from him.

    "I won't do anything reckless," he said in a serious tone. "But I want both you and Carlos to lay low. Can you do that for me?"

    "You don't have to tell me twice," Carlos answered quickly.

    Destiny's response took much longer, but finally she nodded her head. "Yeah. Yeah, I can do that."