Page 2 of Maddox

And I saw it. That slight reaction. The firming of her lips, the tightening of her fingers around her glass, the complete stillness in her body. Clare might be silent just then, but her body was screaming at the two girls to get away from her. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know Clare would likely have PTSD, among other things, from her ordeal. Which didn’t explain why she was here, unless she was trying to prove something to herself.

Or she just didn’t have anyone to stop her. No, she didn’t have aDaddyto stop her.

Briony started handing out fresh drinks, and they all knocked their current ones back. Taylor Swift’sShake It Offstarted and with a collective scream all of them jumped to their feet and headed to the dance floor—well not exactly “jumped,” more staggered. Briony immediately pulled out special paper lids that fit our glasses along with the tamper proof seals and quickly attached them all before she left the table.Good.

They were complimentary, but not one of Clare’s party had even given them a thought.

I watched as she stumbled along with her friends and tried to keep my temper firmly buttoned down. They were all drunk, but what the fuck was she doing? Did she have no sense of self-preservation? I celebrated her bravery, but at the same time I wanted to shake some sense into her. She’d been drugged before, and she’d just left an unattended drink in a nightclub, which was a huge mistake. The top tier had dedicated butlers and would keep anyone from going near unattended drinks, but this level didn’t have that. All they had were pre-booked tables with servers.

I moved to the railing and watched as the group quickly became the life and soul of the dance floor, garnering attention. The birthday girl let herself be yanked into some guy’s arms and they made out in the middle of the dance floor. My gaze flickered to one of the three roving security staff we had on the floor. Kazi had already noticed the birthday girl and had stepped nearer to watch for any sign the kissing wasn’t consensual.

I tapped my earpiece and she answered immediately. “I’m about to cut the whole group off. Keep a watch out.” She met my gaze and nodded her understanding then signaled to Roy, another of her staff. He came closer and I saw her pass on my instructions.

I beckoned Briony over and instructed her to remove the drinks, refund them on the account, and replace them with sealed bottles of water. I turned back and my vision narrowed on Clare. She was dancing with some guy who had his hands all over her. Specifically her waist, but his other hand was on her ass. She grabbed his hand and tried to move it, but he’d already pulled her into his body and was grinding on her. I saw her sloppy drunk smile morph to fear, and my feet were moving before my brain caught up.

Kazi saw me move and worked out immediately why. I still got to Clare first, though, and yanked the guy away from Clare so fast he fell. Roy was on him in a second and, not waiting a moment, I half hustled, half carried Clare to the edge of the dance floor. She was frozen and I cursed. “Maddox?” Kazi joined me.

“Tell her friends she felt unwell and have them go back to their table. If one of them looks sober enough, escort them to my office.”

Trying to get Clare to walk was pointless, so I simply swung her up in my arms and carried her to the office. By the time I sat her down on the sofa I had in there, she’d practically gone green, and I just had time to grab the plastic waste can before she spewed her guts up. The only good thing about her reaction was it seemed to bring her out of her shock, and she hung onto the can as I hung onto her hair to keep it out of the way. She moaned pitifully after a few more retches and I put the can down and pushed it away. I could reach the tissues, and I soon had an open bottle of water too. She turned her head away when I offered it, and that was when my temper snapped. I didn’t raise my voice, and I wouldn’t so much as lay a finger on her in anger, but she wasn’t getting away with this shit. Ignoring her squeak, I simply pulled her onto my lap. “Drink,” I ordered, and she tooka couple of sips before I pulled it away. I wiped her mouth gently and cradled her when the shakes and then the tears came.

I hated what had brought her to me, but I unashamedly loved every moment of her curled up in my lap. She was asleep when Walker let himself into the office. He smiled slightly at the sight of her curled up, and without a second’s hesitation emptied and cleaned the trashcan in the adjoining bathroom. “Her friends are a no-go. The only ones not trashed don’t know her very well. Apparently, she and the birthday girl have families that are friends, even if not in the same income bracket.” I scrubbed my eyes with my free hand. I was going to have to call her brother.

I didn’t want to. What I wanted to do was spank her irresponsible bottom bright red until she saw how foolish she’d been, then hold her again through her tears, make sure she had a sippy cup—or a bottle—full of water, two Tylenol, and settle her down in bed in my arms. I ached to hold her through the night, but I didn’t have that right.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled to Karl Newman’s number, then hesitated. It was a long drive to his house, nearly two hours. “Can you find out where she’s supposed to be staying tonight?" Because she had to have made some arrangements other than driving home at the rate she’d been drinking.

Walker left without a word and came back barely fifteen minutes later. “Birthday girl. I told her friends, because Birthday girl was busy being sick in the restrooms, that we would make sure she got home okay and gave them our cards. None of them questioned it,” Walker clipped out.

I shook my head in frustration that she didn’t seem to have one goddamn friend looking out for her, but I wasn’t complaining. “I’m taking her home and I need a driver.”

“You sure?” Walker questioned softly.

I nodded and stood with her in my arms. I might have left the service, but I was still fit. The spanking couldn’t happen tonight, but she was definitely going to spend the night in my arms.

The first of many, if I had anything to say about it.

Chapter Two

CLARE

I wanted to die. My head was banging so hard, my stomach was doing disgusting flips in sympathy. Why? What had possessed me to get so drunk?

You know why.

Yeah, I did. Because I wanted to go out with my friends, and because the only way I could dredge up the courage to go was to get drunk and stay that way. We’d knocked them back while I was getting ready at Tammy’s and hadn’t stopped, really.

I was such an idiot, but I wanted…a life. Everything had been good before, and I just wanted to get back to that. Nothing I triedhad worked. I’d had tons of therapy. I’d even insisted I move out of Karl’s. I loved my brother. I really did, but he treated me like I was incompetent.

Maybe you are.

Who sets herself up to be kidnapped? Who in their right mind gets fooled into thinking that evil bastard was a good guy?

But I knew why. Anna, my therapist, had helped work through my thoughts and realize it had never been Jeremy I was attracted to; it was what he could offer. And I didn’t mean money. Thanks to my brother, I had plenty. No, it was something else. Something else I’d thought was the missing puzzle piece of my soul. I’d been so wrong, and it would never happen again.

I whimpered as I tried to move my head to get rid of the stabbing pain behind my eyes.

“Clare, baby. You need to take these pills and drink some water.”

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