50 Shades of Drake 5 and 6

Chapter Eight

    "Carlos is...an interesting individual." The first words out of Mrs. Richards's mouth after she and Destiny seated themselves on the patio behind Aubrey's Calabasas estate. She reclined in a lounge chair, looking especially beautiful with the sun beaming down on her caramel complexion.

    When Aubrey had suggested a pool session, most of Destiny's clan excitedly rushed to their rooms to change. Mrs. Richards had opted to stay fully dressed in a plum purple blouse and cream-colored dress pants. Destiny, nearly a carbon copy of her mother, had also chosen to remain fully dressed. Her father sported a T-shirt and swimming trunks, as if he hadn't quite made his mind up on whether or not he would actually get in the water.

    Destiny glanced over towards where her father stood beside Aubrey, standing at the pool water's edge. To say she'd felt embarrassed earlier at the breakfast table would've been the understatement of the year. Once breakfast was over, though, she was able to take a step back and realize exactly what Carlos had accomplished: he'd managed to, for a short period of time, take her mind off of all of the craziness they'd withstood within the past several months. It was a feat that had only been accomplished by one other individual...

    Aubrey tilted his head back and roared with laughter at something her father said.

    He'd better not be talking to my father about cats, Destiny thought while watching the two men bond. She couldn't help but smile. Another moment in time when she felt like maybe everything would be okay after all. "He's been a great friend to me," she told her mother, turning to face her. "We've both been..." She briefly closed her eyes, then opened them and tried the sentence again. "We've all been through some pretty tough experiences. But he manages to keep me laughing. He manages to continue supporting me, looking out for me."

    Her mother nodded, looking towards where Carlos was frolicking with Sadie, Jasmine, and Candace in the pool. "And Aubrey?"

    "Has been nothing short of a miracle, Mom," Destiny replied. "He has been...very understanding. Very patient with me."

    Her mother tucked strands of straight, dark brown hair behind one ear and folded her arms across her chest. "I really wish you would talk to me about what you went through. I don't want to push you, but...I'm used to you coming to me about everything."

    Yeah, well that was before the ropes, chains, cages, spankings, and threesome fantasies, Mom. Destiny felt a touch of nostalgia over the closeness she'd shared with her mother in previous years. "Maybe one day we'll talk about it," she said sadly. "For right now, it's best for me to move past all of that. If I start recounting, I have to relive it and remember it and..." And I don't know if I'd survive that right now.

    Her mother studied her for a long moment, then sighed and returned her gaze to her husband, who was stripping his shirt off. "Oh, good Lord, what is he doing now?"

    "Who wants to see an old man do a cannonball?" Mr. Richards shouted, headed towards the rock formations positioned over the pool.

    Carlos, still in the pool, drew an arm across his eyes to wipe the water from them. "Not especially interested in seeing that, to be honest," he called from the pool. When everyone turned to look at him, he made an exaggerated shrug with his shoulders. "What? Was the question rhetorical?"

    "Go get your husband," Destiny told her mother.

    Her mother was already starting to stand from her seat. "I'm on it."

    Aubrey, dressed in a black tank top and black and blue swimming trunks, watched Mr. Richards with a wide grin on his face. The smile didn't leave his face as he turned and swung his gaze over to Destiny.

    She met his gaze and held it.

    He turned to face her, and his gaze transformed into a full-blown stare. Then with slow steps, he walked towards her.

    "It looked like you and my dad were having an engaging conversation over there," she said as he approached. "Never knew the topic of cat abuse could be drawn out so long."

     Aubrey laughed as he claimed the seat her mother had given up. "We left the cat conversation at the breakfast table," he said, pulling his tank down and squinting against the sunlight while surveying Destiny's friends and family goofing off in the water. He smiled again when he saw that Mrs. Richards was still trying to restrain Mr. Richards from doing a cannonball into the pool. "I was actually taking a stroll down memory lane. The past several times I stayed here, it felt so...empty here. My boys weren't here with me, so it was just me." He paused and added, "Well...me and..."

    "Whatever casual fling you decided to bring up here," Destiny finished for him.

    He tilted his head forward in a gesture of affirmation. "Correct. And even when they were here with me, I still felt alone. Those women never helped me to feel any less lonely. Not really." He bowed his head down. "It's crazy. Whenever I come out here, I don't remember all of the women I've... had here. Whenever I come out here, what I remember are those wild and crazy nights I had with my boys - the nights that we partied even after the sun came up. The nights when we woke up, out here, not even knowing where we were."

    "I saw pictures of you from those days," she said softly. "But knowing you now...it's hard to imagine you as that guy. You're so..."

    He raised his eyes to meet hers.

    "You seem so different than how you were then."

    "I'm not much different at all," he contradicted. "Back when I was an entertainer, everyone got to see my lighthearted, fun, outgoing side. When it came to my music, they got to see some of the man underneath all of that too, but... I only showed a fraction of that in my music. Just because they didn't see my other facets doesn't mean they weren't there. I've always been a deep thinker. I've always had a certain...darkness to me."

    "I feel honored to know that side of you," she told him.

    His stare grew more intense and a slow smile curved his full lips. "Oh...you think you know that side?"

    She shifted in her seat. "Of course. At least some of it. The contract, the cage, the spankings..."
He chuckled and stroked his jaw. "Oh, baby...trust and believe me when I say that what you've seen is just the tip of the iceberg."