Lovers and Takers (29 page)

“That’s exactly right, son,” Jake agreed.
 
“In the minds of people like Druce and that assistant of his, if you don’t chase women then you must chase men.”

“But Druce knows I’m not gay, come on!
 
I hang out with Kara for crying out loud.
 
If I wanted a dude, why would I hang with Kay-Kay?”

“She’s your cover, let Druce tell it.”
 
Then Jake looked at his son.
 
“Especially after Kara told him that you and she have never had sex.”

Aubrey looked at his father with astonishment, his brown eyes wide with apprehension.
 
“She told Druce that?”

Jake nodded.
 
“Among other things, yes.”

“But how did you find out?
 
Druce told you?”

“Your sister told me.
 
She was there when Kara mentioned it.”

Aubrey shook his head in disappointment.
 
That was why he kept his distance from people.
 
Outside of his father and sister, he didn’t know if he could trust anybody else.

Jake stared at him.
 
“Why do you bother with a girl like Kara?” he asked him.
 
“I know it’s because you view her as a safe choice right now, but safe from what,
Snug
?”

“Love,” Aubrey said without hesitation.
 
“What else?
 
I saw what Ma did to you.
 
I’m not letting some woman do that to me.”

Jake’s heart pounded against his chest.
 
Because there it was.
 
His relationship problems spilling over to his children.
 
Now his son was dating a woman he knew he could never fall in love with.
 
And his daughter was dating a man she knew he could never fully accept.
 
And he was trying to fuck their mother when he knew he had a wonderful woman, the best
woman
 
he’d
ever had, ready to commit her life to him.
 
It was a vicious cycle.
 
And he knew he had to change it.

Jake exhaled.
 
“Have you heard from her?”

“Who?”
Aubrey asked.
 
“Kara?”

“Your mother.”

Aubrey shook his head, a sadness appearing in his eyes.
 
“She doesn’t call me.
 
She used to try, but she gave that up years ago.”

“She used to really love you, Aubrey.”

“Just not enough, right?”
 
Then Aubrey frowned.
 
“Forget her, for real,” he said.

“Kara is nothing like your mother,” Jake said.

Aubrey looked at him.
 
“I know that.”

“Then don’t hurt her because of your mother.”

Aubrey knew what he meant. But it wasn’t like that.
 
“I told her where I stood when we first met.
 
We hang together because she’s fun to be with and she knew, going in, that we would never be anything more than just friends.”

 
“But people aren’t static, Aubrey.
 
They change with the changing times.
 
When I see Kara with you, I see a woman in love.
 
I don’t see a woman hanging out with her buddy.”

“She may have feelings for me, I’ve seen that too.
 
And I tell it to her straight every time I see that.
 
She gets it, Dad.
 
She knows we’re just friends.”

“But she never sees you with any girlfriend, Aubrey.
 
She thinks she’s it.”

“Well, she’s not, and I told her she wasn’t.
 
Look, I could be like you and date all of these different, successful women who want sex instead of love.
 
Women like Roni Wingate and all those other females you screw around with.
 
But I’m not that kind of man, and I don’t want to be that kind of man.”

Jake was alarmed by his son’s pronouncement.
 
Because it was true.
 
Aubrey loved him, but he didn’t want to be like him.
 
That reality, that he had fundamentally failed his son, made Jake feel even worse.
 
What he did to Roni last night, and how he treated his female companions in the past, made him a bastard in the long run.
 
He was a bastard.
 
Even his son, who loved him, saw it.
  
And now, because of his womanizing ways, his future with Roni was hanging in the balance.

But Aubrey kept on.
 
He didn’t see Jake’s devastation.
 
“I know Kara might want more from me,” he said, “but she knows that’s not going to happen.
 
She knows it.
 
I have too much on my plate already.
 
I’m not thinking about falling in love with anybody right now.”

Jake rocked slowly in his executive chair, as he was unable to stop staring at his son.
 
Sometimes he wondered if it was fair for him to put him in charge of so much, especially at his young age, but something else he said was still troubling him.

“Don’t put her in that category,” he told Aubrey.

Aubrey didn’t get it.
 
“Don’t put who in what category?”

“Veronica Wingate.
 
Don’t you dare assume that she’s anything like any other woman I’ve ever
dated.
 
She’s not.
 
Understood?”

Aubrey was surprised by his father’s sincerity.
 
He usually didn’t give a damn about the women he dated.
 
This was definitely a change.
 
And it worried Aubrey.
  
Roni seemed genuine to him, but she was still a woman who could break his father’s heart.
 
“Are you telling me,” he asked, “that you’re in a committed, monogamous relationship with Roni now?”

Jake’s desk intercom buzzed.
 
Normally he would have joked that he was saved by the bell.
 
But he didn’t want to be saved this time.
 
He wanted to admit it.

“Excuse me, sir,” his secretary chimed in, “but Mr. Lincoln has arrived.”

“Send him in, Ann,” Jake said, and then he looked at Aubrey.
 
“Yes,” he said.

This confession floored Aubrey.
 
“You’re in a seriously committed, exclusive relationship with Roni?” he asked his father.

“Yes,” Jake said again.
 
And meant it.
 
Although, after what he did with Dena last night, he didn’t show it.

And then the door opened and Druce was upon them.

Last night Troy had come to Druce’s condo livid, decrying how badly it went with Aubrey.
 
“He didn’t want me,” Troy had said.
 
“He was repulsed by me!”
 

But when Troy admitted that he had kissed Aubrey, and that Troy did not tell Aubrey anything about their little scheme to get him on camera, Druce felt the plan had worked like a charm.
 
Once Kara was able to get back into the condo and retrieve the video, and they prepared the relevant still photos, they would be good to go.
 

But last night Troy could not be comforted.
 
He was certain that Aubrey was going to have him fired for coming on to him that way.
 
But worrying about Troy’s employment was beside the point for Druce.
 
The point was in the here and the now, and why Jake Varnadore had suddenly summoned him to his office.

Druce was especially concerned when he closed the door and saw that Aubrey, his direct supervisor, was in the office too.
 
Troy had said he hadn’t told Aubrey anything.
 
He simply hurried from his apartment. Now Druce began to wonder if that spineless asshole was telling him the truth.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” he asked Jake as he walked toward his desk.

“Have a seat,” Jake said, staring at him as he came.

“What’s up, Aubrey?” Druce asked as he sat down.
 
But Aubrey ignored him.

Druce looked at Jake.
 
Jake leaned forward.

“I’ll keep this short and sweet,” he said.
 
“Why did you attempt to blackmail my son?”

Druce’s heart pounded against his chest.
 
“Excuse me, sir?”

But Jake wasn’t about to repeat himself.

“Who said, I didn’t attempt to blackmail anybody.
 
Who would say I was blackmailing somebody?”

“Was Brackston wired?
 
Was he supposed to record the encounter and report back to you?”

Druce smiled.
 
He was dying inside, but he smiled.
 
“Sir, I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.
 
What does Troy Brackston have to do with anything?
 
I sent him over to Aubrey’s place last night to get his signature, but he never told me that there were any problems.
 
I haven’t had a chance to see him or ask him, but he never said a word.”

Druce was lying through his teeth, but he felt as if he was suddenly fighting for his livelihood.
 
He turned his fire on Aubrey.
 
“Why would you do this to me?” he asked him.

Aubrey was floored.
 
“What am I doing to you?”

“You want me out and you know it,” he said, and then he looked at Jake.
 
“That’s what this is about, Mr. Varnadore.
 
I’ve tried to hold my tongue, but I can’t any longer.
 
Aubrey has been jealous of me for a long time now.
 
Every time I get that big contract, he hates it.
 
He just can’t seem to handle my success.”

“That is such a lie!” Aubrey said.

“It’s the truth and you know it!” Druce shot back.
 
“You always want to minimize me in front of your father.
 
I’m the best employee you have and you can’t deal with that.”

“I can’t deal with your success?”

“That’s right,” Druce made clear.
 
“You can’t deal with it.”

“Deal with this, Druce,” Jake interjected, finding it pointless to let this conversation go on any longer.
 
“You’re fired.”

Druce’s heart dropped.
 
“Fired?
 
Fired
?
 
I don’t understand, sir.”

“I’ll be clearer then,” Jake said.
 
“You’re fired, Druce.
 
I want you out of my building, and my daughter’s life, immediately.”

Druce couldn’t believe his ears.
 
“What are you talking about?
 
What did I do?
 
What are you talking about?”

“Aubrey will escort you to your desk, and then out of the building.
 
If we have to call Security, we’ll do that, too.”

Aubrey stood up.
 
“Let’s go, Druce,” he said.

Druce stood up, dumbstruck.
 
“But what did I do?” he asked.
 
What the fuck did Troy tell you I did
, he wanted to ask.

But Jake wasn’t answering any of his questions.
 
And Aubrey wasn’t waiting to hear any answers. He escorted him to his office to clear his desk.
 
And then, with Security closely monitoring, Aubrey escorted their once prized senior vice president out of the revolving doors of Varnadore Global.

Kara hurried to Roni’s bedroom window when the doorbell rang.
 
When she saw Jake’s Audi on her driveway, Kara looked at her cousin.
 
Roni was in no hurry at all.
 
She sat at the dressing table putting on her makeup, and taking her pretty time.

“Let him in, Kay-Kay,” she said.
 
“And tell him I’ll be ready in five minutes.”

Kara shook her head.
 
“You’ll be late for your own funeral, Roni.”

Roni smiled.
 
“You’d better hurry, girl.”

Kara looked at her cousin sideways.
 
“No, you ain’t telling me to hurry and you’re the one late.”

“I know,” Roni said, applying her makeup.
 
“It’s
all my
fault.
 
But hurry.”

Kara couldn’t help but smile and shake her head as she made her way out of the bedroom, down the small hallway, and into the small living room.
 
When she opened the door and saw Jake Varnadore standing on Roni’s porch, she smiled.
 
Damn, she thought to herself.
 
Because he sure looked fine.

“Hi, Mr. Varnadore,” she said to Jake, opening the door further.
 
“Come on in.”