50 Shades of Drake 5 and 6

Chapter Twelve

    Caught off-guard, Aubrey laughed. "You knew? That entire time?"

    "Not the entire time, no." Mr. Richards paused.

    "Carlos?"

    "He has a twisted sense of humor, that one."

    Aubrey shook his head. "I don't know what to say. I'm sorry. I was...quite obnoxious."

    "I understand the importance of taking one's time," Mr. Richards said, leaning against the railing and crossing his arms over his chest. "Am I surprised that you would be so bold in front of parents whose blessing you're asking for, though? Quite. Especially with how nervous you were to speak to me tonight."

    "That entire conversation was craziness, but what I will always remember most about it is her smile. The sound of her laugh." Aubrey turned and looked out over his property. "Destiny and I have endured a lot."

    "I want to hear about it."

    Aubrey glanced at Mr. Richards. "Destiny doesn't want to worry you or her mother-"

    "Her mother is already worried sick," Mr. Richards advised. "She's used to Destiny coming to us with whatever she needed. Advice, whatnot. We aren't used to our daughter being this closed off from us. It...has us both worried out of our minds."

    "Destiny said that she will talk to you both about it soon," Aubrey said. "She just needs more time."

    "She needs more time," Mr. Richards said emphatically. "You seem to have your wits about you."

    But it's not my place to speak on what Destiny has gone through, Aubrey thought. And at least half of what she's been through, I can't even tell you because a) I was the cause for her duress or b) a lot of the stress she's taking on is due to the loss of the other man in her life. It's not like I can tell her parents the details on that.

    "You're looking for my blessing. I'm looking to know that my daughter will be all right." Mr. Richards moved away from the railing. "I'm looking to have some sort of understanding of what my little girl went through."

    Aubrey shook his head. "Hell." It was as simple as that.

    "The case she testified in..."

    Aubrey blew out a puff of air and ran a hand over his head.

    "We're her parents."

    Aubrey pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "The interview that I gave Destiny a little over a year ago named a handful of politicians who stalled a non-profit." After all they'd been through, it all seemed so silly now. The fear, sending Destiny off to live with Brian - who she wound up falling in love with - and the loss of several lives, all due to Aubrey's need to be petty and namedrop politicians who would prefer lining their pockets with money to funding arts programs for children. Ever since all of the Palmer drama kicked off, Aubrey couldn't help but imagine how much better life would be if he'd withheld the names from that interview. "There was a politician who didn't appreciate being named in that article. He...sent threatening messages to Destiny. He thought he was sending the messages to me, but..." He shook his head and smiled. "Instead of putting the fear of God into her, Palmer's threats only made Destiny more curious. Probably appealed to the journalist sensibilities in her. So..." He shifted uncomfortably. "Things got bad."

    "What happened?"

    Aubrey tried not to blink. If he closed his eyes for too long, the memories came. "Palmer didn't know that Destiny was living with me, not at first. The IP address that he hunted down was for a computer that I bought her; it was registered to me. So...I sent her to live with someone I trusted. I was trying to protect her. And..." He stared downward, trying to look beyond the dark, painful memories. "Things just kept escalating. Before we knew it, people around us were dying. He attempted to kidnap Destiny. I was kidnapped."

    "Why didn't Palmer want you or Destiny to investigate him?" Mr. Richards demanded. "What would be worth killing people like that? Kidnapping people and running the risk of getting caught?"

    "There were crimes in his past that he wanted to keep hidden," Aubrey replied. "I should have known better. I made so many mistakes when all of it was happening. Mistakes that put her in the same danger I was trying to protect her from."

    Mr. Richards was quiet for a long time. Only the sounds of the water below and the distant sounds of traffic could be heard. "You blame yourself?"

    "I should have known better."

    "How could you have known that mentioning someone's name in an article would drive them to violence?"

    Aubrey remained quiet.

    "You made the choices you made with my daughter's safety in mind, and she is safe. She's alive today."

    "There are others who aren't," Aubrey said, his voice choking up with emotion.

    "You say that you love my daughter."

    "Yes. I do. Very much."

    "If you love her as much as you say you do, then you shouldn't blame yourself - for what could have happened to her, or for what did happen to the people around you. If you love her as much as you say you do, you should...just continue to love her. Watch out for her. Protect her. Keep her safe and happy."

    Aubrey's thick, dark eyelashes grew damp with tears. He just barely kept the tears from falling. "I want to spend the rest of my life with her more than I've ever wanted anything else in this entire world. But a part of me feels like I don't deserve for her to love me."

    Mr. Richards frowned.

    "Probably not the best thing to say when I'm looking to get your blessing," Aubrey said softly. "What I was going to say earlier was that...Destiny is the reason why I believe in love. Before she came into my life, I was...a shell of a man. Empty. Desperately trying to fill a void, but unable to. I didn't think I was capable of being a good husband or a good father. And then I saw her, and..." He welcomed the memory of the first time he saw her in the bakery in D.C. In truth, she had his heart even then; he just hadn't known it yet. "She changed my life. She changed me. For the better. She made me want... more."

    "I don't know that any man goes into a marriage thinking they'll be an amazing husband or father," Mr. Richards said wisely. "Stop putting so much pressure on yourself. Stop overthinking. You came to me with your heart on your sleeve and asked for my blessing. You have it. Now...do right by that. Do right by her. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

    Aubrey silently nodded.

    Mr. Richards returned to the railing. "Whenever people ask me why I chose to settle down with my Angela, I tell them that she and I fit together like two perfect puzzle pieces." He chuckled. "I still feel that way. She truly is my better half. Have I made mistakes? Of course. We both have. Since we're human, I'm sure we haven't even made our last mistakes. But at the end of the day, we know that we love each other. Nothing can shake that. She can get mad at me for leaving the ground beef on the counter, or forgetting an anniversary, but her love for me shines even through that anger. She's impossible for me to stay mad at."

    "Sounds familiar," Aubrey muttered.

    Mr. Richards laughed. "That doesn't change over time."

    They both grew quiet. Aubrey tilted his head back and looked up at the star-studded sky. "This conversation was...not what I expected," he admitted. "I didn't expect to divulge so much to you."

    "I'm glad you did, though," Mr. Richards told him. "I've only had a glimpse here and there into the man you really are. It was nice getting to know who you are, behind the Graham Enterprises CEO title and behind the rap career."

    "Likewise," Aubrey said, turning and leading the way back to the stairs running alongside the rock formations above his pool.

    Mr. Richards followed him down the stairs. "I also want to tell you how much I appreciate you asking me for my blessing. I don't hear many young men doing that these days."

    "You were right," Aubrey told him, clapping him on the back. "I've got to do right by her."