CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
MADDOX
––––––––
Fuck.
How the hell did the cops get in here?
Of course, I knew people would share photos on social media, but the security is like the fucking pentagon at the Alliance.
My eyes flick to Travis and he looks as fucked off as I am.
I thought it would hit social media first and we could then slip out the back. That was my fucking plan.
Jesus, I guess time got away from me.
I got sidetracked with Kyra’s pussy and ended up fucking her in one of the private rooms for way too long.
Christ.
I’m not worried about being arrested. Half of these cops are poor as hell and will be easy to pay off. My lawyer will take care of it in an hour. What I’m—
Kyra suddenly rips out of my hold and flies across to her father as I reach out to stop her.
No!
He wraps his arms around her and glares my way.
Mine.
“Kyra,” I command, calling the woman currently wearing a sex toy that I put inside her.
“Maddox Sterling, you are under arrest,” one of the cops with blond hair says.
“For what?” Parker stands in his way.
“Parker,” I warn, not wanting any of them to be brought into this.
“No, fuck that. She was here on her own free will.” Parker props his hands on his hips.
At thirty-one, Parker is a well-known investor of businesses in the United States and a billionaire. His companies are listed in the Fortune 500, and he frequently donates to causes.
Likely for his own benefit.
“Mr. Stone, please stand down,” the cop says.
“Ask her,” he demands as Kyra finally lifts her head from her father’s chest.
I don’t like her being this far from me. And don’t fucking like that she won’t look at me.
“Kyra,” I repeat through gritted teeth.
“How dare you fucking come into my home and take my daughter?” Derek Fox growls as I study the hold he has on Kyra. There’s little affection. He’s simply keeping her from moving.
I remain silent.
I’m not saying a thing until my lawyer gets here.
“Calling Troy right now,” Travis says from behind me, on it.
“Thank you,” I say, not taking my eyes off Kyra.
She finally lifts her head and looks directly at me as my heart pounds. As it crumbles.
“Come here,” I say in the darkest and roughest voice I have.
If she leaves with them, I know I’ll never see her again. That is unacceptable. She belongs to me. Anger begins to bubble up with every second that passes, and she doesn’t walk back across the room.
“Mr. Sterling, we are arresting you for kidnapping. I recommend you refrain from talking to the victim,” the blond cop says, pulling out some handcuffs.
“I didn’t kidnap anyone.” I growl.
“Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?” her father asks, holding her at a distance.
He doesn’t care. I can see it in his eyes. He’s looking for something else to charge me with.
“How did you get in here?” Travis demands of the cops.
“Step back, sir.” One of them holds up his hands and Travis rolls his eyes, shooting me a look. I shake my head back, telling him it’s okay.
But it’s not fucking okay.
I want her back.
My cock was just filling that woman, and she belongs to me. I felt it with my goddamn soul. I will burn the fucking planet to ashes to get her back if I need to.
What would be really fucking nice is if she was honest and admitted how she felt these past few hours and days and walked back over here.
“Kyra.” Her father presses her for an answer because we all know her testimony will be vital here.
“I...” Kyra starts and glances back at me, then at the cops.
“Come here,” I repeat, calling on the dominant and submissive bond we’ve built.
“Hey! Fuck you, asshole.” The blond cop pushes past Parker and yanks me to my feet.
With great effort, I might add.
I’m a big man weighing at least two hundred and forty pounds.
“Be careful,” I say calmly, warning him, and he blinks for a second.
“Stop.” Kyra rips from her father and takes a few steps toward me.
That’s it baby, come back to me.
“Wait. He didn’t kidnap me,” Kyra announces, and I blink as everyone in the room stops.
“Oh, I thought it was the girl on the news,” the girl who sucked Killian off earlier says. “You said it was her,” she says to her friend.
“It is. I think.”
“Are we going to get in trouble for phoning the cops?”
Goddamn the stupid bimbos. They called the goddamn cops. I thought they’d go straight to TikTok.
Fucking hell.
“Please stop talking.” Killian moans, rubbing his face.
“We still need to take him in,” Blond Cop says to Kyra, “and you will need to make a statement. And explain your whereabouts.”
“Drop the cuffs,” I growl. “Or lose your job when my lawyer is done with you.”
“I’d listen to him.” Parker slides his hands into his pockets.
The cop glances at his partner and the guy nods. I’m obviously not the first billionaire he’s dealt with. In New York, money is power and there’s a different set of rules when you have as much as I do.
Sorry. Not sorry.
“You need to come down to the station.” Blond Cop tells me as I nod then look back at Kyra.
She’s trying to tell me a hundred different things with the look in her eyes. But I can only see one of the messages.
Goodbye.
“What the fuck do you mean, he didn’t kidnap you?” her father demands. “Where have you been all this time?”
She swallows, and I want to punch him in the face.
“Maybe she doesn’t want to marry a dirty old man. Ever fucking thing of that?” I ground out with fury.
It’s taking everything I have not to cross the room and use the gun under the seat to shoot every single fucker in this room.
Except my friends.
The girls can die, though. Little bitches.
“Can we talk about this at home?” Kyra shakes her head and pleads with her father.
Watching them together, I can see she fears him. How he’s groomed her to do as he says. Much like mine did with me when I was younger.
Abuse comes in different forms, and Kyra Fox has been controlled and taught she must obey her father.
Well fuck that, if anyone is going to control her, it’s me.
I wish I could turn back time and not kidnap her. I wish I could have known how I’d feel about her and sweep her off her feet. Date her. Make her fucking fall in love with me.
Instead, I let my hatred for my father dominate everything.
“Come with me Kyra,” I tell her, and she bites her bottom lip as tears fill her eyes.
“She isn’t going anywhere with you, Sterling. Stay the fuck away from my daughter,” Fox grinds out.
I will deal with him one day.
Not today.
Right now, I need her to know she can walk back over to me of her own free will.
“Kyra is a grown woman. She can decide for herself who she wants to go with.”
“Maddox,” she almost whispers, but I feel her slipping away from me.
No.
I can’t lose her.
I don’t care about my father. I don’t care about revenge.
I cannot let her go.
I tug against the hold the blond cop has on me but it’s too late. Kyra turns her back on me and ice fills my heart. From the tips of my toes to the tips of my ears I feel the cold pull me under.
She chose him.
I should’ve known she would.
Fox leads her around the corner and then out of my life forever.
I let out a roar, picking up my glass and smashing it across the room.
“Okay, big guy, let’s go,” the cop says.
“Out the back,” Travis tells them. “You’re not walking through my club with him.”
“You should listen to him,” Zayne warns.
––––––––
TEN MINUTES LATER, I’m in the back of the cop car seething when my phone rings.
“Hello Maddox,” my father’s voice says. “Have you finished playing with my bride?”
The motherfucker.
I almost crush my phone, but I dig deep for the familiar control of my fury which I’ve long since learned to channel.
“No,” I reply. “And you should know I’ve taken every inch of her innocence, so you may as well toss her away. You will never pleasure her.”
He laughs. The same revolting dry laugh I heard every time my small ass was penetrated by one of his friends’ cocks. Or as their come leaked from my mouth.
Or I cried for my mother, wanting free of his abuse.
“Ahh my boy. You never understood, did you? It’s never been about anyone else’s pleasure. Only my own.”
Fucking cunt.
I hang up, as his continued laughter rings in my ear, and my jaw almost snaps with fury.
I was wrong. I still care about revenge, but now it’s time to end this.
Kyra walked away, but I will not accept this is over.
He didn’t kidnap me.
Kyra protected me. She could’ve tried to have me locked up for fucking life. Instead, she lied to the authorities.
Without proof and with her statement, I will be home in a few hours. Then, I need to work out my next steps.
Steps to get Kyra home, where she belongs.
In my arms.
––––––––
I LEAVE THE police station two-and-a-half hours later, my lawyer beside me.
“This isn’t just going to go away,” Troy says. “It will leak into the press.”
No, it won’t. I have people who will clean that shit up.
And money.
“Make sure it doesn’t. That’s why I pay you over a thousand dollars a goddamn hour.” I grunt, searching for Mitch and my car.
Troy arrived just as I was being released.
I spot Mitch beside the vehicle and wave out.
“Fine. Keep away from Kyra Fox for now, at the very least. We need to let the heat cool. The media will be all over this now that you have been arrested. And that’s harder to control, even with all your money.”
Whatever. He just needs to do his part and keep the cops away.
I’m not staying away from Kyra. I just haven’t quite figured out the best approach. She may need time.
Then again, she has that toy inside her, reminding her who she belongs to.
That gives me hope.
“I will call you tomorrow,” I tell him, climbing into the back seat.
“You okay, boss?” Mitch asks.
“Tired and hungry.” I tell him, wondering if Mitch recognized Kyra from earlier tonight and what he thinks. Strangely, I care about what he thinks. Maybe it’s because of Denzel. “Just a misunderstanding. Ms. Fox is going to clear things up.”
“She’s a beautiful woman,” he says, and we pull out into traffic.
That she is.
I dig into my original research files on Kyra from my phone and find her phone number. Then send off a message.
You are mine, little P. Come home.
I might’ve become a monster, but I’m her monster.
This time she needs to come to me.