50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

50SOD II: Chapter Eighty

    "Since you've terminated my contract anyway, there is something I have to tell you."

    Aubrey arched an eyebrow at Destiny as she packed her clothes into Louis Vuitton suitcases. "Go on."

    "I know the secret Palmer is hiding. One of them, anyway."

    "The fact that his car accident wasn't an accident. You told me already." He leaned against the doorjamb of the bedroom with his arms folded across his chest.

    "Not just that." She went into the closet, then came back out with dresses draped over one arm. "He's gay."

    Aubrey frowned. "What? How would you know something like that?"

    She looked up at him and bit her bottom lip.

    "Destiny. How would you know something like that?"

    "Carlos told me."

    Aubrey stared at her long and hard. "And how would Carlos know something like that?"

    "Because Palmer hit on Carlos, and they used to be...kind of a thing."

    His eyes widened. "When did you learn this?"

    "Saturday night," she said in a small voice.

    "What else did Carlos tell you?"

    "He told me that Palmer forced him to come to Toronto so he could spy on you."

    Aubrey pushed himself from against the doorjamb, turned on his heel, and strode down the hall.

    Destiny ran after him. "Aubrey, wait!"

    "You weren't going to tell me?" he demanded, already near the door to the condo. "You were going to let him continue staying in our building without even telling me? Why would you protect him?"

    "I wasn't going to at first. I was pissed off at him. But then he told me..."

    Aubrey's hand was on the door, but he waited before turning the knob. "Told you what?"

    "Palmer threatened the lives of his family in Venezuela," Destiny told him breathlessly. "Palmer hinted that he would kill Carlos's family if Carlos didn't help him. And Carlos didn't tell him anything important. He just told Palmer little things, to make it seem like he was doing what he was supposed to do."

    "The whole time Carlos has been here, he's been spying?" Aubrey asked her.

    "Yes."

    He turned the doorknob and yanked the door open.

    "Aubrey, please."

    "He has to leave Toronto."

    "And go where?" she asked him. "Palmer paid for his ticket. If he returns back, Palmer will know that he failed. And then Carlos's family..." She let the sentence trail off.

    I knew it. I knew she shouldn't trust him. I knew it was weird that he came here randomly at a time when my company was being ripped apart by the media. He closed the door and turned to face her. "You weren't going to tell me any of this?"

    "You were already overprotective of me after that message came in and I knew you were dealing with a lot already," she told him. "I didn't want to add this on top of the pile."

    He ran both of his hands over his head. "Being gay is something that a Republican politician would go to any lengths to hide."

    "Which makes Carlos a loose end," she added. "That means he's at risk as much as I am."

    He took a deep breath. If I could trust Carlos, I would send him to live with Destiny and Brian. Having a third person there would also help in terms of making sure that nothing happens between Destiny and Brian. But I can't trust Carlos - and even if I could, his phone could be tapped. Or a tracker could be on it. Or worse, Palmer could have someone tailing Carlos and keeping an eye on him. All of that would lead Palmer to Brian and Destiny, and I can't have that. She wants me to help protect him, but all of my instincts say that I should just send Carlos back to D.C. "Fuck."

    She clasped her hands together in front of her. "I'm sorry."

    "This just keeps getting worse. No matter what I do, it keeps getting worse. And I just want it to stop. All of it." He turned his head to the side, the wheels in his mind turning. "All right. Carlos continues to stay in the condo upstairs. You go to stay with Brian, as planned."

    "Are you going to hire security for Carlos?" she asked him.

    "No."

    She started to protest.

    "If Palmer has someone watching him, the fact that Carlos has security would look suspicious. Whatever we do, Palmer can't know that we're making moves against him."

    She nodded in understanding.

    "And in the spirit of being honest..."

    She narrowed her eyes at him.

    "Saturday night, Palmer came to visit me."

    Her eyes widened. "Here?"

    "Yes, here. He came here because the laptop I bought you led back to me, when he looked into who was researching him. So in his mind, he wasn't sending that message to you. He was sending it to me."

    Realization dawned in her. "That's why you're sending me away," she whispered. "You don't want him to know how close we are."

    "He kind of has an idea already," Aubrey said, raising a hand and scratching his head. "He has a video of you and me in Decadence."

    She gasped and covered her mouth with both hands.

    "He knows that you and I are...involved sexually...but he doesn't know how much I..." He reached out and touched her hair. "He doesn't know how important you are to me. I would prefer to keep it that way. Hence, you going to live with Brian."

    "You weren't going to tell me. You were just going to keep me in the dark."

    "I guess great minds think alike," he said, giving her a reprimanding look.

    She lowered her eyes.

    "I'm glad you told me what you know. I can get with my private investigator. It's a good lead for him. If he knows about Palmer being gay, instead of having to take the time to find that out, he can find the evidence he needs to back that up." Which means we're one step closer to you coming back to me, to this entire mess being resolved.

    "And thank you for telling me that he came here," she returned. "Now I understand why you terminated the contract."

    He opened his arms.

    She launched herself into them and rested her head on his chest.