50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Torn: Chapter Sixty-Eight

     When Brian and Destiny emerged from the gardens, Aubrey and Bernice were still standing in line for a boat ride. Aubrey was looking in their direction. Destiny tilted her chin up and grabbed onto Brian's good arm, allowing him to lead the way to the stone patio.

    The gala was in full swing. The ballroom contained nearly double the guests that were in attendance when Destiny and Brian left it. She snatched a champagne glass from a passing cocktail waiter's tray and surveyed the crowd of dancers.

    "Do you want to dance a bit more?" Brian asked her.

    She shook her head. "Maybe in a little while. Can we just...walk? Find a place to sit?"

    "Sure, yeah." He led her away from the patio doors.

    "I'd like to hear more about your family," she told him.

    He smiled and leaned into her as he walked. "My family is quite big. My parents each had a lot of siblings. I, myself, have three brothers and four sisters. All older than me. Two of my brothers and one of my sisters are close to me in age, but the others were already off to college or moved out by the time I was seven. I mainly grew up with my two brothers and one sister. My other siblings would pop in and out sometimes, but those visits became fewer and farther between. The sister who I grew up with is the closest to me in age, and her name is Chelsea. She's two years older than I am. Then Robert, who is autistic. Thomas was the oldest of us in the household at the time. We called him Tommy then. He goes by Tom now." Brian paused. "Tommy and I were the troublemakers, the ones who ran around town like we owned the place. Harmless stuff. Sneaking onto farms and taking a couple of horses out for a ride. Whenever my parents had an event to go to, or a vacation to go on, we always had to have someone watch us. They didn't trust us to just look out for each other."

    "Back when you told me about...your babysitter, I did kind of wonder why one was even necessary with a family as big as yours," she confessed. Her gaze shifted over to the patio door.

    Aubrey and Bernice entered the ballroom and immediately, Aubrey started scanning the room.

    Destiny cleared her throat and returned her attention to Brian. "Did you need a babysitter because of Robert? That's the brother who's autistic, right?"

    Brian nodded. "That was a part of it," he said. "I feel like maybe if Chelsea were older, our parents would have trusted her to watch us. She was and still is very responsible. But she was young and had her own schooling to focus on. And Tommy...Tommy was the most reckless of us. I rarely got into any real trouble, but Tommy lived in detention and was pretty acquainted with the backseat of cop cars."

    "Has he grown out of that phase?" she asked him.

    He grinned. "For the most part. He's still known to get into a bar fight here or there. He runs pretty hot-tempered, but otherwise he's just a big teddy bear."

    "I'm excited to meet them," she said, her eyes sliding back over towards the patio. Her eyes locked with Aubrey's.

    Brian followed her gaze. "The games you two play with each other...they aren't healthy."

    "He started it," she said, still staring at Aubrey.

    "Real mature," Brian said, laughing.

    Aubrey turned his head and acknowledged Bernice, who stood beside him.

    "If you knew who she was..." Destiny tore her gaze away from Aubrey. "If you knew what he did..."

    "I trust that you have a good reason to feel how you feel," Brian told her. "Believe me. Okay? This is coming from the man who had a girlfriend stolen by Aubrey. So I understand the urge to fight fire with fire, or as you've said, 'petty with petty.' But running around hurting each other isn't going to make either of you feel better. I'd actually be willing to bet it will make both of you feel worse."