50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter Ninety-Eight

    Aubrey couldn't stay on the thirty-fourth floor for long. He had to meet with the board and explain to them just why he'd been out of the office for weeks on end. The details weren't something he was allowed to tell them over the phone. Now that he had the chance to meet with them face-to-face, he wanted to make sure they knew he wouldn't take an abrupt vacation without notice - especially in light of the Steve McClintock tragedy.

    In that meeting, he was able to focus. But afterwards, when Zorica was explaining to him that there were several candidates he needed to interview to fill the position of his assistant, he found his mind drifting.

    It was strange to walk to his office without seeing Bridgette. She wasn't always the most pleasant person to be around, but she was great at her job. He still found it hard to believe she was gone. If he wasn't dwelling on the harsh reality of that, he found his mind wandering to Destiny. He thought about how distracted and preoccupied she was, when she thought he wasn't around, or how she'd interacted with Brian earlier. Both of them were either in denial of their feelings, or aware but trying not to show it. Either way, Aubrey loved her and he knew that she genuinely loved him...but he wanted to be sure that she was staying with him by choice and not because she felt some sense of obligation towards him. 

    While Zorica prattled on, he leaned back in his desk chair. Now that she knows about the heartbreak I went through with Robyn, she probably feels like if she walks away from me, I'd revert back to the same heartless creature I was before I met her. It's hard to say what I would become, or what I would do if she walked away from me...but the difference between the two situations is that Destiny never cheated on me. Robyn did. Robyn lied, over and over again to me over an extended period of time. Destiny developed feelings for someone that I thrust her upon. How utterly stupid and senseless that was. It made so much sense at the time. Palmer was after me, but led me to believe he didn't know about Destiny. It made so much sense to keep her away from me since I was the only person he was threatening. If I'd known that Palmer had already known how much I loved her, I would have kept her close to me. Whisked her away from here. I would have figured out something. No matter what, that's what I should have done in the first place. Instead, I chose to send her off to live with another man...a man who was very clear about the feelings he had for her. He ran a hand over his head, while trying to take note of every other sentence Zorica was saying. She was attempting to brief him on all she'd done in his absence, but he couldn't focus on anything she said. All he could focus on was the fact that he loved Destiny so much, that his heart broke a little at just the thought of losing her.

    So...don't lose her, his subconscious told him. You have a wild card. Right now, she's under the impression that you don't want to have children, because the last time the subject came up, you weren't interested in that. You didn't think you could have a family and live a life with the interests you have, but your mind was opened to the possibility that you can have the best of both worlds.

    There were a few reasons why he didn't want to use that card. First, he wanted to make sure that he truly wanted a family before mentioning it to her. Second, he wanted to make sure that he was her first choice. He knew that she had feelings for someone else, and using that card at this point would feel like he was using that information just to win her. Like she was some prize or trophy to be won. If there had been no involvement between Brian and Destiny, and Aubrey had returned home to a perfectly stable relationship, he most likely wouldn't have needed long to confirm that he truly wanted to have a family with her. With Brian being brought into the equation, though...things were different. All Aubrey wanted was for Destiny to be sure she wanted to stay with him. Good luck with that, when Brian was able to remember her birthday. Meanwhile, you still haven't even gotten her anything. Granted, you've only been out of FBI custody and able to walk around freely for a few days, of which one you spent nearly all of with your mother. So don't beat yourself up too much over it, kid, but just know that it's not a good look.

    His brows furrowed, and he straightened up in his chair.

    Zorica stopped in mid-sentence, tucking blonde hair behind her ear. "What? You didn't like the e-mail I sent out?"

    What e-mail? He rose from his chair. "Can we...finish this another time? Maybe in a few hours?"

    She nodded and gathered all of the papers she'd spread out on his desk. "Sure, of course. And welcome back again, Aubrey. The office definitely missed you."

    "Thank you so much, I appreciate that," he said, smoothing down his tie. "I missed you guys more."

    She left his office.

    He wasn't far behind, and passed by her as she settled into Bridgette's old desk. It was still so very strange to see anyone other than Bridgette sitting behind that desk. He continued walking down the aisle of the thirty-fifth floor. He didn't stop until he reached the elevators.

    When the elevator reached the ground floor, he stepped out and only briefly looked towards the lobby fountain. It was perfectly functional, sans a dead body floating around in it. You'd never guess someone died there, just by looking at the area. He turned and headed to the parking garage.

    His plan was to take an early lunch, but the last thing on his mind was food. Instead, he visited his local jeweler. There were several jewelers he purchased from, scattered across Canada and the United States. There was one jeweler he usually did business with when he was in Toronto, and whenever he visited, he rarely had to stay long. That jeweler owned a shop called Kilani Jewellery. There was either a piece that grabbed his attention right away, or he requested a custom piece. While he ordered several custom pieces, there was one diamond piece that stuck out to him. It was as if the piece was magnetized, because it drew him closer to it before he even fully realized what it was. Without taking his eyes off of the piece, he asked, "How much?"

    "Two hundred and eighty-nine thousand dollars," the jeweler said, without looking up from the gem he was studying. He held a loupe magnifier to one eye while twisting the gem this way and that.

    "I'll take it," Aubrey said.

    The jeweler removed the loupe from his eye and looked up. "What?"

    "I said, I'll take it," Aubrey repeated, turning to look at him. "Box it."