50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

50SOD II: Chapter Ninety

    Aubrey stood up from his desk and walked over to the far end of the room, where he opened a mini fridge and withdrew a bottle of amber-colored liquid. He opened the cabinet above the counter and plucked a short glass from within.

    Brian watched, growing more and more impatient. "Are you going to answer me?"

    "What happens between me and Destiny is not your concern," Aubrey told him as he poured himself a drink.

    "Bullshit."

    Aubrey glanced over his shoulder at Brian, a glint sparkling in his eyes. He shook his head. "It's good to see that you're taking this protector role seriously."

    How can he act so casual about that fact that he practically broke her heart just now? "So...you're unbothered by the fact that whatever you said in here completely crushed her?" Brian demanded. "She came all the way here to make sure you were okay and you turn her away? Why would you do that?"

    "It's complicated." Aubrey turned around to face him, glass of liquor in hand.

    "Only because you're making it complicated," Brian insisted. All he could think was that the man standing across the room from him had it all. Sure, Aubrey's company was going through a hardship right now, but he still owned it. He had a woman that would do just about anything for him, a woman who supported him to the fullest. He didn't seem like the type of man who was stupid enough to take a woman like Destiny for granted. Brian recalled the words he'd told Destiny: everything Aubrey did had a purpose. Right? So what was the purpose in pushing her away as roughly as he had? "I don't get you, man. You got all possessive when you found out that I had a thing for her, and now..."

    "Now?" Aubrey questioned, swirling the liquor in his glass.

    "Now, it's as if you've given up. As if...you want me to take her away from you. I mean...don't you still love her?"

    "Of course I do," Aubrey snapped quickly, as if insulted by the question.

    "I just had to convince her that you pushing her away was for her protection, that you do everything for a reason," Brian explained, walking towards him. "If the woman you love comes to you to check on you and make sure everything is okay...I can't, for the life of me, understand why you would be dismissive enough to drive her to the point of crying."

    "Like I said before, this situation is complicated."

    "You don't want people knowing it's her on the tape that was released to the press, and you don't want Palmer to get to her. I get it. I understand. It's not that complicated."

    Aubrey took another sip from his glass and stared thoughtfully at Brian for a few moments. "What would you have me do, then?"

    "What do you mean?" Brian asked.

    "If you were me, and you were with Destiny, what would you do in this same situation?"

    Brian crossed his arms over his chest. "I'd do the opposite of what you did," he answered finally, after taking a minute to think about it. "Instead of pushing her away, I would draw her closer to me. Especially once the tape came out. Because even if everyone doesn't know that she's the girl on the tape, the fact that it's out and available for public consumption is something that she's dealing with too. And she's probably scared that her identity will become known. I mean, think about it. She loves you, and she can't text you. Or call you. Or see you. Ever. Those are all things she'd have to deal with, pretty much on her own. So what would I do? I'd look out for her. Make sure no one hurt her."

    Aubrey stared at him wordlessly. Hope flickered in his eyes, but it didn't take long for that hope to be replaced by some dark memory. He lowered his eyes and stared down into the glass he was holding. "I wish that was possible. I wish I could pull her closer to me instead of push her farther away, but...with Palmer out there, and with this latest incident, I would be worried to death about her. All the time." He stopped and hesitated before continuing. "You wanted to know why I was dismissive with her. There are a lot of reasons why I had to be as gruff with her as I was."

    "I can't come up with even one possible reason for you to be quite that mean about it," Brian said.

    Aubrey smiled at him. "Destiny can be persistent. I think it's the journalist in her. If I had been nice and sweet about it, she might have tried again tomorrow. Or the next day. I had to make sure she doesn't come back here to check on me again. Not here and not the condo." He took a sip of the drink in his glass and grimaced. "Also, when it comes to her, I can be weak. If I weren't being a complete ass to her, then I would just grab her and kiss her. That would be a problem, because then I wouldn't be able to let her go. I'd think of a hundred different ways as to how I can protect her. I'd want her to come back home to live with me, and that is something that just cannot happen right now."

    "I don't think I'll ever understand how you could let her walk away from you," Brian said softly. "Once I had her...I don't think I could ever let her go."

    One corner of Aubrey's mouth lifted. He turned and walked back to his desk. "I didn't bring you in here to talk about Destiny."

    "I figured that. What's up?"

    "Bridgette is staying with me for awhile."

    Brian held up both hands. "Wait - what?"

    "She came to my place, and she was in bad shape. She said that someone ransacked her place and nearly choked the life out of her. If she's telling the truth, then Palmer has to be behind it."

    Brian's brows furrowed. He ran a hand through his hair. "But...you know she's crazy, right?"

    "She can be...intense at times."

    "No. There is no sugarcoating it. She's crazy. Total bat-shit. As in, instead of working for you, she should be in a looney bin somewhere wearing one of those self-hug jackets." Brian wrapped his arms around himself for the sake of visual presentation.

    Aubrey laughed. "She's not that bad."

    Brian went to sit in the chair facing Aubrey's desk. "If she's not that bad, she's worse. You really need to be careful when it comes to her."

    Aubrey scratched at his temple. "It sounds like you know from experience."

    "Trust me when I say she's completely unstable. Not to mention she is into you."

    "There could be some truth to what you're saying," Aubrey said. "I'm not naive enough to believe everything Bridgette says. My investigator will be checking out her apartment. In the meantime, I will be keeping an eye on her."

    "If we have a mole in the company, it's probably her," Brian muttered.

    "It's a possibility. But if Palmer or someone Palmer hired is behind the attack on her, they could have left evidence in her apartment."

    Brian's phone vibrated in his pocket. He withdrew it and glanced at the text message he'd missed. Making sure to keep his poker face on, he returned the phone to his pocket and lifted his eyes back to Aubrey. "Is that all you brought me in here to tell me? I don't understand what my role would be in that."

    "No, that wasn't everything I needed to tell you." Aubrey paused and tilted his chair back, staring up at the ceiling. "I thought that I had time, and I thought that Palmer would play fair. But he has proven that his word can't be trusted. For all I know, even if I do everything he says, he could still cross me or hurt the people close to me. So instead of playing on the defense, I want to play on the offense."

    Brian's interest was piqued. "Now you're talking my language. I'm listening."

    "I want you to leak a story to the press," Aubrey said, bringing his hands together in front of his chest and making a steeple with his fingers. "I want you to leak a tip that Palmer was the one driving in the accident that killed his wife."