Page 12 of Maddox

My heart swelled at her words. "I'm glad," I said sincerely. "Thank you for giving me a chance, Clare."

She looked at me. “You’re easy to give a chance to.”

It was such an honest thing to say, I was lost for a reply and just settled on, “Glad to help,” which was completely lame but all I dared admit to. I put on a movie I knew Abby liked, something about a ton of bridesmaid dresses and a reporter, and spent the next hour watching more of Clare than the film. But when her eyelids drooped again, I knew it was time for her to go to bed.

“Princess,” I called her without thinking. “I think it’s time for me to go so you can get some rest. How about you go to the bathroom, and I’ll make sure everything is shut off in here?” Her eyes widened a little at the dichotomy between me takingresponsibility for closing up her home and making it clear I was leaving. It was the last thing I wanted to do, but it was more important she learned to trust me. I heard her go to the bathroom, then the creak of her bed as she got in while I rinsed the few dishes and made sure everything was put away.

I walked into her bedroom and caught another yawn. How many sleepless nights had she had, frightened Blakeny would come for her again?

I swallowed the grunt that tried to come from my throat and stepped closer to the bed, bending down and kissing her cheek before she had the chance to be alarmed. “I’ll drop the latch. Sleep well. Text me if you wake up at all, or in the morning.”

I didn’t give her another chance to fret and walked out, going to the apartment door and letting myself out. I’d feel better if I had a key, but baby steps.

I glanced at my phone as I got into my car. It was barely nine-thirty. I could head to Kingdom and make sure everything was okay.

When I arrived at Kingdom, the club was in full swing. The bass pulsed through the air as I made my way inside, nodding to the security staff.

Walker spotted me from behind the bar and raised an eyebrow. "Didn't expect to see you here tonight," he called over the music.

I shrugged, sliding onto a barstool. "Just checking in."

He studied me for a moment, then poured me a whiskey without asking. "How'd it go with Clare?"

I took a sip, savoring the burn. "Better than I expected, honestly. We talked, and I made her dinner. She even let me read to her a bit."

Walker's eyes widened slightly. "Wow. That's...progress."

I nodded, a small smile tugging at my lips. "Yeah. Baby steps, but it's something."

"And how are you holding up?" Walker asked, his voice lowering. "I know this can't be easy for you.”

I honestly didn’t know. I’d made a ton of progress with her tonight but was that only because I was hiding who I really was? Sure, protection was a huge part of who I was, but when everything was said and done, I was a Daddy. I absolutely knew Clare was a Little, I just didn’t know if she would ever trust herself to become that with me.

Chapter Six

CLARE

I heard the cage door slam. A small part of me knew I was having a nightmare. Jeremy’s cruel smile seemed to be all I could see. I’d refused to wear the tiny nightgown and he’d beaten me. At least I wasn’t hungry anymore. I’d had such little food, my stomach had grown used to it, so much so it was barely an effective punishment anymore. But then he raised his hand, the brass-topped crop in it that I knew was so painful…

I jolted awake with a gasp, my heart racing. For a moment, I was disoriented, expecting to see the bars of the cage. But asmy eyes adjusted to the darkness, I realized I was in my own bedroom.Safe.

I fumbled for my phone, desperate for some connection to reality. My finger hovered over Maddox's name in my contacts. He'd told me to text if I woke up... But it was 3 am. I couldn't bother him now.

But the remnants of the nightmare clung to me, Jeremy's cruel smile still vivid in my mind. Before I could talk myself out of it, I typed out a quick message:

"Had a bad dream. Sorry to bother you."

I hit send before I could change my mind, then set the phone down, not really expecting a response. To my surprise, it buzzed almost immediately.

"You're not bothering me at all. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?"

Tears pricked at my eyes at his concern. I hesitated, then typed back:

"It was about...him. The cage. I just needed to know it wasn't real."

Maddox's response came quickly: "It wasn't real. You're safe now, Clare. Is there anything I can do to help?"

I bit my lip, considering. Part of me longed to ask him to come over, to feel safe and protected, but a bigger part knew that wasn’t fair. I couldn’t take from him without giving something back, and I had nothing in me to give.

---