50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter Ninety-Six

    When Aubrey and Destiny returned to Sandi's house, Dennis had more stories to tell. All in all, it was a relaxing evening. Aubrey lit the fireplace, then joined Destiny on the couch and kept an arm around her for the rest of the night, while listening to Dennis's wacky tales. Sandi curled up in her usual armchair, with her short legs tucked beneath her while listening to her ex-husband.

    By the time Aubrey and Destiny left, it was fast approaching ten o' clock at night. The limo ride home was quiet, but she held his hand the entire way. When they arrived to his condo, he set her carry-on bag on the hall floor, leaned her suitcase against the wall and asked for her keys.

    "The cops weren't able to find mine," he explained.

    "Which means that someone out there, most likely Palmer, has your keys," she fretted, digging through her purse.

    "Palmer is unconscious."

    "And when he wakes up?" she asked, locating the keys and handing them over to him.

    He accepted the keys and raised a hand to smooth back her hair. "I'll have the locks changed in the morning."

    She didn't want to sleep in his condo, knowing that a set of his keys had gone missing. Both of them had been through too much to take any further risks. She grabbed onto his hand and stared up at him.

    "I'm not going to let him chase me out of my own home," he told her firmly. "I'm tired of sleeping in hotels, and sleeping in places that aren't mine. But...if you want to stay somewhere else, I can make arrangements."

    She shook her head. "I want to stay with you."

    "I'll protect you," he promised. "Don't worry. Okay?"

    She nodded and took a deep breath as he inserted the door key into the lock and turned it.

    He opened the door and stood staring inside of it for several moments.

    She squeezed his hand. "Are you okay?"

    His eyes reflected a fear that was as intense as her own, but he cleared his throat. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. It just...it feels different."

    "Like someone could be hiding out in any corner," she muttered.

    "I still have to call the surveillance equipment installers," he said.

    "That is something we can take care of later," she assured him, noting the fact that he still hadn't set one foot inside of the condo unit.

    He smiled weakly, then returned to staring straight ahead. Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside and flipped on the light switch.

    She released his hand, grabbed her luggage, and trailed behind him. Feeling increasingly uneasy, she left her luggage near the door before closing the door and engaging the locks. Then, she clasped her hands together and followed him further into the condo. Saying that the place felt different was an understatement. It was hard to believe that this was the same place where she and Aubrey had teased each other mercilessly in the red room, hard to believe that they'd joked and taunted each other in that kitchen during the evenings when he cooked for them. She searched every dark corner, inspected nearly every shadow. Her senses were all on alert, just waiting for someone to lunge out and attack them.

    Aubrey's steps were slow. He looked around the place as carefully as she did. "I'm realizing that we should have stopped here before going to my mom's," he said.

    She wrapped her arms around herself. "It might have helped if our first time back here took place during the day," she admitted.

    He turned and looked at her. "I'm going to check out the bedroom, make sure it's all right. Then I want you to stay there while I check out the rest of the place."