50 Shades of Drake 5 and 6

Chapter Forty-Nine

    "Isn't this sweet?"

    Aubrey broke off the kiss and rested his forehead on Destiny's shoulder.

    "It's okay," Destiny said, rubbing the back of his head. "She's right. You should have this talk with her. It'll be good for you. For both of you. It will give you both some closure."

    "I can't say that I disagree," Rihanna said, standing near Carlos. "So are you going to talk to me, or continue hiding behind your girlfriend?"

    Visibly irritated, Aubrey straightened his posture and turned to face Rihanna. "You want to talk? All right...let's talk." He crossed the foyer, entered the living room and was greeted by the shocked gasps of Rihanna's crew. He didn't stop to speak to them, didn't so much as wave at them. He kept walking until he reached the patio door.

    Rihanna followed close at his heels.

    Carlos and Destiny walked into the living room and exchanged glances. "Well...while we give them some time to settle their shit, who wants drinks?" Carlos grinned at Rihanna's close friends and backup dancers. "Aubrey has this killer liquor collection. I say we tap into it, no pun intended."

~~~~~~

    "It has been so long since I've been here." Rihanna took off her shoes and cast them aside so she could dip a toe into the crystal blue pool water.

    Aubrey remained several feet away from her, with his hands in his pockets.

    She glanced back at him. "Will you lighten up?"

    "Help me understand why you're really here."

    "I told you why I'm really here," she insisted. "I heard you were in town and had to see it for myself."

    "Why?"

    She locked her arms together behind her back. "I still think about us, you know."

    He rolled his eyes and looked away from her.

    "I still wonder what we could have had sometimes."

    "There is no point in wondering that anymore."

    "We had good times though, didn't we?" she asked him. "All you focus on is the bad, but most of the times we had together were good. Pure."

    "That didn't keep you from going back to Chris."

    She stared down at her hands. "I deserve that."

    The sincere tone in her voice surprised him.

    "What I did, it wasn't fair to you," she said. "It wasn't fair to either of us. It was stupid, it was crazy, it was...fucked up. It was fucked up and I can admit that."

    Aubrey didn't want to hear this. She had attempted to justify her actions to him once before, and that conversation hadn't ended well in the past. Their fans thought that they had an epic chemistry though, so it was decided that they could continue having a business relationship. For that to work, he forbade her to speak about their personal lives, beyond surface conversation. For awhile, it worked...until it didn't. Until seeing her caused him too much pain and anguish, and he had to pull back from any professional dealings with her. That was shortly before he gave up his career as an entertainer and turned to business.

    She sighed as if she knew the thoughts that were going through her head. "What can I say? I thought that I was in love with him."

    "So fuck me and my feelings?" he demanded.

    "You were who I wanted to love," she said, sounding sad. "You were who looked good on paper. The quintessential good boy, even though you and I both know you were nowhere near as good as you came off in the press."

    He pursed his lips shut.

    She turned to face him and folded her arms over her chest. "You love to pretend that I'm the only one who fucked up, but I didn't."

    "I never cheated on you," he stated firmly, pointing at her.

    "It wasn't for a lack of a trying."

    He shook his head.

    "So you never once lied about where you were or who you were with?" she asked, squinting at him. "You never once talked shit about me to one of your hoes? Or on a track, for that matter?"

    "We aren't getting anywhere."

    "Okay, look...I'm sorry." She extended her arms out. "There is no excuse for what I did. What I did to you was wrong. Disregarding your feelings was wrong. No matter how I felt about him, I should have been honest to you."

    Hearing her apology was surreal.

    "You know I don't apologize for shit," she said, laughing. "So this moment is kind of huge."

    "It is a huge moment," he agreed reluctantly. "And if I ever did anything to hurt you, you know that wasn't my intention. Ever. I was just..."

    "You were hurting."

    A lump formed in his throat and he fought to swallow it.

    "I know you. You don't have to explain." She turned her head and stared across his pool. "So, the girl. Do you love her?"

    "Yes."

    "And she loves you back?"

    "We love each other very much. We're...engaged, actually."

    Rihanna lowered her gaze. "So...you're going to be someone's husband."

    "Crazy, isn't it?" Once upon a time, he'd thought that was the future he'd share with her. Marriage, children, once both of them were done carving their mark in the hip hop and pop industries. There was no one else he'd been able to picture himself settling down with. But that was once upon a time. Things changed. "What about you? Who are you seeing now?"

    "Who am I not seeing now?" she countered, laughing.

    He watched her laugh, but for the first time saw the smallest bit of longing in her face. Wild and crazy Rihanna was getting tired of living the fast life. She was reaching the point where she wanted to settle down, the point where she wanted true love of her own. His brows drew together as he watched her.

    "This new you, I must say that I like it," she remarked.

    "New me?" he asked, arching a brow. "I'm pretty much the same guy."

    "Who are you trying to sell that crock of shit?" Rihanna demanded. "You are most definitely not the same guy that I was seeing."

    "What is different about me?" he asked curiously.

    She looked him up and down, tapping an index finger to the corner of her mouth. "I don't know, can't put my finger on it. But there is definitely something. It's like..."

    He scratched his temple while awaiting her assessment.

    "It's like you have this confidence. This...I don't know...like...you're this big boss man now, right? I look at you and I can see it in you. I can see that you don't put up with any bullshit. You're not that sweet, innocent guy that I used to know. You're the big, bad wolf now."

    "Wow." Aubrey burst out laughing.

    "Keep on," Rihanna said, studying him. "Keep pretending like you don't know exactly what I'm talking about."

    He stroked his jaw. "In some ways, you're correct. I'm now the big, bad wolf. But...in some ways I am still that same sweet, innocent guy that you used to know."

    "You can't be both," she protested.

    His hand bumped into the vibrator controller in his pocket, and a wolfish grin curved his lips as he pressed the button. "Oh, trust me. I have ways."