More Than Business

Chapter 99

AUBREY POV

After napping during the car ride home, Nic woke up sober.

"Hi." she groaned as I laid her on the bed.

"Hey." I replied.

"I'm sick of being mad at each other.. but Im even more sick of watching you and Lydia go at it." she supported herself on her forearms.

"Im not mad at you." I informed her, "And Im not mad at Lydia either."

"Okay.. how long was I asleep?" she asked, confused.

"I was frustrated, overwhelmed with everything.. and with you throwing it all in my face like you did, I blew up." I admitted, "I didn't want to be mad at you so I took it out on Lydia. Im sorry, I really am.. and I'll apologize to her later."

"Okay."

"Okay?" I asked.

"What do you want me to say?" she questioned, "Im tired of these useless fights Aubrey."

"I know.. I understand that too. So lets just talk, you love being able to just talk things through." I offered.

"About what?" she sat up.

"How was your night?"

"Aubrey!" she threw her body back onto the bed.

"I know you didn't have sex Nic. I just wanted to know if you at least enjoyed yourself- if you got the break you needed and deserved." I clarified.

She sat back up and squinted at me, "What do you mean, you know?"

"For one, I trust that you wouldn't do that.. Secondly, I am pretty sure Lydia wouldn't have let you.. But honestly, your lipstick isn't even smudged which leads me to believe you two didn't even kiss." I exhaled.

"You're right.. about all three." She shrugged.

"So can you answer my question?"

"I was- confused last night. Lydia and I talked about some things that I really needed to deal with you know? And then I told her I needed to get super drunk to numb the emotions I didn't want to deal with at the moment. We turned on a movie, ate brownies, and got drunk." she detailed.

"Good." I nodded.

"Actually, I have to tell you something." She decided.

"Uh- okay." I sat on the bed.

"You know how Alex has been trying to get in touch with you for a while?" she began.

"Yeah.."

"She has an STD, she isn't sure how long she's had it so she wanted you to get checked." She informed me.

"You do know she and I havent-"

"Yeah I know."

"But you still think I shou-"

"Yeah, to be safe." she nodded, "I'm clean and so are the triplets. That doesn't mean that you're clean.. but I'm pretty sure you are. Nonetheless it can't hurt to be sure."

"I'll set up an appointment for tomorrow." I gave in.

"Actually, there's something else I should tell you.." She seemed tentative.

"Yes?"

"They want Lydia and I to take over your company." She looked up at me.

I wasn't sure how to react, "What- I mean-"

"Lydia found out that Wayne was the one who turned everyone against you.. thats why he attacked her that night. When word got out about the attack, the rest of your management team added us to the list of new owners." she explained, "We are the most prominent businesses on the list, I checked the email chain."