50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter Seventy-Six

    "Daddy, come look at what Jaxon is doing!" Aaliyah grabbed Aubrey by the hand and tugged with all of her might.

    Aubrey stumbled after her. It took a moment for him to gain his footing. "All right, all right. What is Jaxon doing?"

    She led him out of the bedroom he shared with Destiny and down the hall, towards Jaxon's room.

    Aubrey could hear the sound of music, accompanied by a young boy's voice, long before Aaliyah pushed Jaxon's bedroom door open wider to reveal his son jumping on his bed, holding an invisible microphone to his mouth while he rapped out lyrics. It took a moment for Aubrey to realize that the song playing on the kid's colorful stereo was one of the last songs he had recorded as an entertainer.

    Jaxon looked so much like a miniature version of Aubrey, that Aubrey was immediately taken back into the past, to his own childhood. His mind took him back to the days when he videotaped himself rapping into one of his father's old microphones.

    Aaliyah tugged on the sleeve of his dress shirt. "He thinks he's a rapper, Daddy! He thinks he's you!"

    Destiny walked up behind them. "He's rapping again?" she asked with a shake of her head. "I think you have a little rapper on your hands, honey." She slid her arms around Aubrey's waist and hugged him from behind.

    He leaned into her while Jaxon jumped up and down on the bed, oblivious to his entire family standing just inside the doorway watching him. And this was the moment. The previous night spent with his wife in the play room was definitely a moment, but this moment here, watching his son rapping Drake lyrics with his daughter clutching onto his leg and his wife hugging him from behind, was when he knew that he would do whatever it took to make this his reality.

    His hopes and dreams of having a family had died with the old Aubrey. Those dreams had died around the same time he'd ended his rap career, the same time he'd started to live the BDSM lifestyle. While he'd heard stories of Dominants and submissives making family life work, he had shut his feelings off. He loved children, always had, but didn't see himself having them, since all of his relationships with women were strictly casual.

    Until Destiny. She changed all of that, without even trying. He covered her arms with his own, never wanting to wake up from this dream. But, of course...we don't always get what we want...

~~~~~~

    Bright lights. Chatter outside, in the hall. A television mounted to the wall displaying scenes from the hip hop reality show  on mute...which was the best way to watch hip hop reality shows.

    Aubrey woke up and found himself staring up at the ceiling. Now, whenever he woke from his dreams, he instantly realized where he was and what had happened. He was always hit with a feeling of sadness and longing for a family that was ultimately a figment of his imagination. Every time he woke up from one of those dreams, it felt like he had to go through a mourning period for the loss of them.

    He turned his head and realized that he wasn't alone in the room. A dark-skinned man was seated in a chair, studying him in silence. Aubrey's brows knitted together. "Royce?" he croaked.

    "My real name is Darius Garner Adwele," the dark-skinned man said, bringing a foot up to rest on the knee of the other leg. "I go by Garner. I am FBI. We are working alongside the MPD - the Metropolitan Police Department - here in D.C."

    A dull throb started at Aubrey's temple, and he raised a hand to his forehead.

    "You're still pretty weak," Darius explained. "You were rarely fed or given anything to drink, so your body started to shut down. I've been concerned about your health for a while. A few of the times I brought food down for you, it wasn't authorized - I just wanted to make sure that you didn't die of starvation or water deprivation. I would have given you more, if I didn't think it would raise suspicion."

    "So...this entire time, you've been working for the FBI?" Aubrey asked. His voice sounded scratchy, even to himself.

    "Palmer's behavior has been on our radar for quite a while," Darius said, resting an elbow on the arm of the chair near the window of the hospital room. "But alarms went off for us when a private investigator started looking into the car accident that killed his wife. Prior to that, we were already looking at him for accusations of extortion, bribery, and the disappearances of a number of people who publicly spoke out against him."

    Aubrey turned his head, checking the bedside table. "Have you called my family to tell them where I am? I remember a conversation...but I don't know if it was real, or if I hallucinated it. It was a conversation between you and someone else, saying that I can't make any phone calls."

    "The reason I'm sitting here right now, is because you aren't necessarily safe yet, Mr. Graham," Darius told him. "Palmer is still alive. He lost a lot of blood, but it seems like he's pulling through."

    Aubrey shot a fearful glance towards the hospital room door.

    "He's not receiving treatment in this hospital," Darius assured him. "Under the circumstances, we are trying to keep as much distance between you and him as possible. But once he gains consciousness, he could send someone to try to harm you. Or someone else he is associated with might still want to see you harmed. With what I've witnessed, I do know that Palmer isn't the only powerful man behind your kidnapping."

    Those words chilled Aubrey to the core. "I want to speak to my family," he said. "And Destiny. I have to talk to her. She thinks that I'm not coming back. She has to know that I'm coming back."

    "Palmer could be monitoring the phone calls of your family and anyone else close to you," Darius said. His voice was stoic, but traces of sympathy did show in his eyes. "Unfortunately, we cannot risk Palmer knowing where you are. Contacting your family could also be putting them in danger. My branch has contacted Toronto law enforcement to set up protection for your family." 

    "My family isn't all that needs protection," Drake insisted. "Destiny...she's very important to me."

    "I would need her full name and the address of where she's staying," Darius said, reaching into the pockets of his slacks and withdrawing his cell phone.

    "Destiny Richards," Aubrey said hurriedly. "And...you can't have anyone call her? Even if it's not me? Or... there's no sneaky way we can get a message to her?"

    Darius shook his head. "Can't risk it. Address?"

    Aubrey rattled off Brian's name and address, then let his head fall back on the pillow while Darius issued the protection order for Destiny and Brian. Brian...the man she was currently staying with. The man that Aubrey had put in charge of protecting her, the man who'd confessed to having feelings for her. She's staying with him, even after getting a text message saying that I was never coming back. I don't even know how long I've been away. I don't even know what day of the week it is. He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. I can't imagine how much it hurt for you to get that message, baby girl. And I can't imagine how much it hurt for you to see me walking around an airport with another woman, if you saw that or heard about it...but just hold on for me. Please. Just a little bit longer. I am coming home to you. So, please...please...keep me in your heart, and please just hold on...