50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter Sixteen

    It wasn't long before Aubrey's arms were around Destiny again. She and Brian had a lot of questions about Bridgette, about what he'd found in the hotel room, and about why he decided to meet them here. He answered all of their questions and explained about the note he'd found in Bridgette's wallet, about the files he'd found on her computer.

    "The flash drive I gave you has those files on it, which is why you need to guard it with your life," Aubrey told Brian. "I don't want you to use the flash drive. I don't know how far Palmer's reach is, or whether or not he is keeping tabs on you or your laptop. Don't access the files. But keep the flash drive in a safe place. It's evidence. If something happens to me, I want to make sure someone out there has a copy of these files."

    Destiny's head rested on his chest, but she cringed at his second mention of harm possibly coming to himself.

    Brian nodded. "Yeah," he said, pocketing the small gadget. "I'll keep it safe and make sure someone knows about it." He shook his head. "Bridgette. Wow."

    "I haven't even fully processed it yet," Aubrey admitted. "I can't. It's too surreal. But it was her, in the tub. The cops identified her, then had me look to confirm."

    "How did it happen?" Brian questioned.

    Aubrey glanced down at Destiny. "I shouldn't..."

    "Just tell us," she mumbled against the fabric of his shirt.

    "Her throat was cut." He felt her trembling against him and hugged her tighter to him.

    "How can someone be so evil?" she whined. "Why is he still alive? Someone needs to..."

    "Kill him?" Aubrey supplied.

    She shook her head. "This is the second person he's killed. You could be next."

    "Any of us could be," Brian grumbled, running a hand through his hair. "I hate to admit it, but him meeting a tragic end would feel poetic."

    Aubrey stared down at Destiny. "Now do you understand why I had you go live with Brian?" he asked her softly. "Now do you understand why it's so important that we are not together right now?"

    Tears filled her eyes as she reluctantly nodded.

    "You told me to hire a few guards for you. Hide you somewhere. You said you'd be safe if I just got a security team to watch over you." He shook his head. "This time it was Bridgette. But if I'd listened to you, it could have easily been you. Easily. He is framing me for murder. There's nothing more incriminating than a victim having been in relationship with the suspect. So do you get it now?"

    She nodded. "Yes."

    A surge of emotion ran through him. "I love you so much. You know I do. But tonight, I've made a decision."

    "Please don't," she whispered.

    "I can't have Palmer knowing that you are as connected to me as you are," he said. "So I can't speak to you. At all. Not even at work. Literally not ever. If you have a message you need to get to me, have Brian deliver it. I'm taking my mother and some of our family out of town for a few days. I need to spend time with them. I need to be around them. I can't be by myself right now."

    Tears rolled down her cheeks as she listened to him.

    "I can't be by myself, and I can't be with you," he said sadly. "But I'll be fine as long as I know you're okay. Brian, I'll only be contacting you with disposable phones from here on out. I will work while I'm abroad. If anything come up, call my phone. I will let the call go to voicemail. Don't leave me a voicemail message. I'll call you back on a disposable."