Chapter 16
Maddy
Carlo led us to the littles playroom. He was nice. He turned on the TV and gave us the remote, showing us how to change the channels. It was all programmed in kid’s mode, so showed only cartoons.
“Thank you.” Ozzy took the remote from him.
I looked at the other boy, Trent Winterbourne’s boy. He was super cute and was rich. I’d never known anyone so rich before.
“I’m Maddy,” I said, as we both sat down on the beanbags.
“I’m Ozzy.”
“You have a very handsome Daddy.”
“So do you,” Ozzy said.
“Well, I hope so. We’ve only just started. We haven’t even spent the night together yet. It was supposed to be tonight.”
“Really? That’s exciting. I’m sorry you were interrupted on your date. Colin’s nice. I met him a few times when I came to the club with my ex.” His eyes darkened.
“But now you’re with Mr. Winterbourne. That seems exciting.”
His mood abruptly brightened. “It is. I love him so much. He’s the best daddy ever.”
“I hope I experience what you have.”
“With Colin?” he asked.
“I would like that. He’s so amazingly nice and handsome. And big. I would love to have him as my daddy. Totally my type.”
Ozzy giggled. “You have a crush.”
“Something like that.”
“My daddy was hard to break through to at first. But then, well, it was super good.” His cheeks flushed.
The TV flashed cartoons before us, but we were more intent on talking, getting to know each other.
“How long have you known you’re a little?” I asked.
He scrunched up his face, thinking. “Maybe since I was about twenty.”
“I just learned the term. I had never heard of it before. But I’ve acted out like a baby sometimes since I was about sixteen, and wished I had a boyfriend who would do weird things like wash me and brush my hair. It was sexual, too. I thought I was so bad.”
Ozzy nodded. “It’s a scary feeling, but I always liked toys and I fantasized all the time about having a man take care of me. When I was as young as thirteen, my fantasies were about a man being with me, sleeping with me, and acting like a doctor. It was very comforting. I didn’t know what it meant until I was much, much older.”
We talked about all sorts of personal subjects. We’d hit it off instantly, as if we were brothers waiting to discover each other.
“Are you into other kinks, like in this club?” I asked.
“I thought I might be. I didn’t know. I let my ex do stuff because he wanted it. I wanted to please him. But I didn’t like it. Like being strapped down and held and hurt. He told me it would feel good after a while. Endorphins or something. But it only hurt me and I wanted his approval so I did it.”
“I’ve never experimented like that. I saw guys being whipped the last time I was here. I was fascinated, but not exactly because I want to do that.”
“I understand exactly,” Ozzy replied, repeating my emphasis word, drawing it out with his breath. “I like your stuffed unicorn.”
I held him out to him. “His name is Kornie. Want to hold him?”
Ozzy took him gently into his arms.
Just then, my phone went off.
As I reached into my pocket to grab it, I heard the door to the playroom open. Thinking it was Carlo, I didn’t look right away. But as Ozzy turned his head and froze, a chill went up my spine.
“Hey, what--?” I began.
“Don’t touch that phone,” said a firm, low voice.
I followed Ozzy’s gaze to see a man in casual jeans and a white tank top standing in the doorway.
“Put it down,” the man said, eyes on me.
“G—Griff?” Ozzy hugged Kornie so hard I thought the stuffing would come out.
I wanted to speak but somehow my voice got caught in my throat. Did Ozzy know this man? If the place was locked, how did he get in?
The man—Griff—took a step into the playroom and closed the door behind him. I knew the club was empty and the only people here were security guys and the men in Trent’s office. This man wasn’t supposed to be here.
“Why are you here?” Ozzy’s voice was small, almost shaking.
“Why do you think?”
In a thick, almost-whisper, “I don’t know.”
“I came to take you home, boy.”
I looked from Griff to Ozzy. Ozzy’s big dark eyes started to fill up with unshed tears.
“Home?” he asked.
Was this his ex? The bad man ex?
“You’ve been gone long enough. Now it’s time to stop playing around and come home. Remember who your true master is.”
Ozzy started to shiver. Two tears splashed on his flushed cheeks. A high, desperate sound escaped his throat.
I threw my arms around him. “He’s not leaving. He has a new daddy.” The anger in my voice surprised me.
The warm body in my arms trembled.
Griff laughed and spread his arms. “No one’s around to stop me. I’m going to take him where no one will ever find him. Not even that egomaniac Trent Winterbourne.” He took two steps toward us.
I scurried back on my butt, nearly falling off the beanbag and taking Ozzy with me. I quickly stood up, lifting Ozzy up beside me. We both stepped back as Griff came forward two more steps.
“Stay away or else,” I yelled.
“Or else what?” Griff grinned.
I didn’t know what else. This guy was big. Bigger than Colin, even. Bigger than Trent. We littles didn’t stand a chance.
“Little boy acting so big,” Griff taunted. “Maybe I’ll take you with me, too. I’ll have twinsies. We’ll have so much fun together.”
Ozzy and I backed up faster until we hit the couches where the daddies sat as they watched their boys play. There was nowhere left to go.
Where was Carlo? He must’ve gone back upstairs. They were all preoccupied in their meeting. No one knew we were down here facing a very bad man. We were on our own.
I looked around me, still holding onto Ozzy who was hugging Kornie hard and making huffing sounds like it was getting hard for him to breathe.
“Don’t make me use force, Ozzy. Just be a good boy and come along. Then no one will get hurt, okay?”
Ozzy let out a strange whine, then fell back onto the couch, his eyes rolling up. Kornie fell to the side.
My fear turned to outrage. “You made him faint. Look at what you did! You don’t care about him, or you wouldn’t have done that.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, boy.”
I saw Ozzy was still breathing, then turned back toward Griff. “Leave him alone. He doesn’t want you.”
“How dare you talk about something you know nothing about!”
“I know he fainted from pure fear! Why would you want that in a boy?”
“Cute, isn’t he?”
My fingers curled into fists. “Why are you doing this to him?”
“Because he’s mine. I own him. And he knows it.” Griff strode forward so quickly I jumped back. He was bent over Ozzy within the blink of an eye. “Come on, boy. Get up. Get up!”
“Leave him alone!” I screamed the words. Everything that kept me polite and civilized and little went right out the window. I started to lash out. Kicking. Punching.
“Shit, you fucking brat! Stop that!”
Suddenly, hands were on me. Good. That would distract him. Maybe Ozzy would wake up and make a run for it.
I didn’t care about the hands on me, or how they rose to my neck and closed tight, making it hard to breathe. I kept kicking and punching with all my might. His hands choked the screams away. Now I struggled to keep my balance, to keep kicking.
“Little shit! Stop!”
The room began to spin. A sparkly darkness came in from the sides of my vision like a big, black tide. I heard a loud roar as the blood rushed inside me. Was this the end? My life had been so short. I wasn’t ready. And I had only just met the daddy I’d always dreamed of.
Suddenly, I was falling back. I thought I heard voices. So far away.
Somebody put a hand against my back, helping me to sit up. When had I fallen all the way down to the floor?
“Can you breathe?” a voice asked.
Air rushed into my lungs and out again. I blinked and the darkness that had creeped into my vision started to recede.
I saw Colin on top of Griff, struggling to keep him down. Griff was huge. Trent, in his three-piece suit, joined in, one knee on his chest as Colin sat on the man’s thighs and leaned in, holding his wrists to the floor.
Security came running into the room. “One man down at exit four. Alive but bleeding from a head wound.”
There were three men in uniform surrounding Griff, Trent and Colin, now. One knelt at Griff’s ankles and cuffed them with a short chain between them. Another knelt by Colin and Trent and cuffed Griff’s wrists with plastic bindings.
My throat hurt when I breathed, but I was okay. Now I was worried about Ozzy.
I forced myself up and went to him. He looked dazed and unsure, but his eyes were focusing again. I picked up Kornie and handed him to him to hold, then put my arms around him while talking softly into his ear.
“It’s okay. Griff’s caught. They caught him. He’s not going to hurt you ever again.”
As soon as security had Griff trussed up and on his feet, Trent jumped up and ran to Ozzy, taking him from me and gathering him into his arms. Colin came to me and hugged me, then leaned back and surveyed my neck.
“Are you all right? Do you need to go to the ER?” he asked.
I put my hand to my throat and rubbed. It felt like bruising only. “I think I’m okay.”
The guards dragged Griff out of the room. The detectives followed. Griff yelled and fought even as three guys held him, cussing worse than anyone I’d ever heard.
“It’s straight to jail with you and your brother Stewart,” I heard someone say.
Trent turned, still clutching Ozzy tightly to his chest. “Maddy should be taken for a check. Bruising around the throat can lead to swelling until he can’t breathe.”
“Right.” Colin caught me up as he stood, lifting me into his arms.
I put my legs around his waist and rested my head on his shoulder.
“Take him to the ER. Ozzy and I will follow in a few minutes,” Trent said.
Colin whirled me around and ran like the wind out the playroom entrance. Ahead of us, security grappled with Griff. We followed them out the side exit where police cars were just pulling up.
Colin got me into his car, strapped me in, and drove down the street not paying attention to the speed limit.
“Tell me if you’re having any trouble breathing.”
“Okay.” I was a little breathless. But mostly it was from all the adrenaline still running through my system.
Colin arrived at the ER lot in less than five minutes. He knew exactly where he was going.
Once we were inside, Colin grew impatient with the check-in process. When he explained I’d been choked until I almost passed out, the male nurse looked alarmed.
“By you?” he asked Colin.
I spoke up quickly. “No. It was by a bad man.”
“He’s under arrest right now. We rushed here. If his throat swells, he won’t be able to breathe.”
“We can get him into a special unit with a nurse on duty right away. Follow me.”
“Can I come with him?” Colin asked.
“Of course.”
We followed the nurse to a long room filled with about eight beds separated only by curtains. The nurse had me get onto the bed, then started taking all my vitals. The nurse who oversaw the room, a young woman with a long ponytail, came over to be filled in.
“This is Maddy,” Colin said to her.
“Hi, Maddy. I’m a Maddie, too, spelled with an ‘ie’.”
“I’m Maddy with a ‘y’,” I said.
Both nurses examined my neck. The check-in nurse took all my vitals.
“Everything seems normal, but his bruising does not look good,” Maddie said. “The doctor will be in shortly.”
Colin brought a chair to my bedside and sat with me as we waited.
“I am so sorry, baby,” he said. “What a horrible way to spend our first night together.”
“It’s not your fault.”
He shook his head. “I should have taken you home.”
“But then Ozzy would’ve been all alone and even more scared. I fought him, Daddy. I fought Griff hard.”
Colin blinked at me with a shaky smile. “My brave little bouncer. He was a very bad man who did very bad things to Ozzy. I was scared he had broken your airway.”
“It’s sore but I’m still breathing.”
“What happened to Kornie?”
“Oh! I forgot. Ozzy has him.” I let out a big sigh. “He’s safe.”
“I feel terrible that you got involved in all this.”
“But it’s over now, right, Daddy?”
“It’s over. Griff will go to jail for a long time. Stewart will also do time as his accomplice. It’s not just stalking, but now assault charges for Griff on you, Ozzy, Trent and me. Trent has a lot of power in this city. He’ll make sure Griff is put away for a long time.”
Colin held my hand as I lay back in the bed. I started to get a little tired, and I closed my eyes and drifted. Then everything went away as I fell asleep.