It sounded good.
Too good.
But the man was right. Will had no choice, not really. Escaping prison on his own was unlikely. Maximum security was almost impossible to breach without allies and significant funds, and increasingly, William had neither.
Maddox flipped the file open to the front page, produced a fountain pen and slid it into William’s cuffed hand. It was a high quality piece of equipment, with a machine-milled steel barrel. A piece of equipment that could be entirely dangerous here.
“Sign here," he said. “And your new life starts.”
“Easy as that, huh?”
Maddox smiled at him, but there was no warmth in it. It was the expression of someone who knew how to mimic human expressions but didn't really understand them. There were several men like that in this prison. Some of them wore prison uniforms. Others occupied offices.
There was no choice, really. William didn’t bother reading the text on the paper. He did as he was told and signed his name.
“Good. Now we can begin.” Maddox motioned to the guard. The guard entered the room and unlocked Will’s handcuffs, just as Maddox had instructed him to previously. It was a pleasure working with such compliant people. It was also a pleasure to break those who were less compliant.
Will stood up, rubbing his wrists. There were marks on them not just from the most recent pair of cuffs, but from all the cuffs that had come before. Incarceration left grooves in a man, and not just on his flesh.
A second later, all hell broke loose. William had clearly been waiting for an opportunity like this one. He whirled and turned on the guard who had taken such pleasure in shoving him around when he was still cuffed. He wasted absolutely no time in driving his fist into the guard’s nose. It burst in a hot red flash of blood and screaming. Not satisfied with having decked his captor, Will knocked the guard to the ground and was in the process of beating him to death until the cold barrel of a pistol at the back of his head stopped him. Will froze, still crouched over his victim.
He took one deep breath, then turned his head to look back at Maddox with a questioning pale gaze.
“You did all this just to shoot me like a dog?”
“I did this because you’re an impudent pup,” Maddox replied, inwardly smiling. The boy had no idea how pleasing he truly was, even inside those ridiculous prison clothes which did nothing to present his body well. What Maddox would have given to see the younger man’s back and biceps flexing with every vicious movement. “Get up.”
Will smirked, and in that moment, even with a gun still trained on him, he was adorable. The same things that were written in his file were now written in his eyes. All that delicious dark tendency for violence was pouring forth. Maddox drank it in, tasting the energy, reveling in it. It nourished him so deeply.
Mad looked from Will’s wild, flushed face, down to his victim. The guard was insensate on the floor, but still breathing. He might survive if he was treated soon, but for the moment Mad had greater concerns.
“You need to learn some impulse control,” he observed cooly.
“Deal's off, I guess,” Will shrugged as he rose very carefully to his feet, keeping his hands up above his head. He showed no remorse for what he had just done, and no regret at having potentially traded his freedom for a brief moment of brutality. There was new color in his cheeks, an excitement which Maddox felt all the way to his loins. The smell of blood perfumed the air, heightening the experience. If only they had more time to draw this out, to truly enjoy every facet of brutal humiliation. But this was not the time, the place, or the person.
“Deal's not off, boy,” Maddox smiled, returning the gun to its holster. “Deal is only just beginning.”
Will’s expression shifted from reckless rebellion to apprehension. Good. Apprehension was the correct emotional response to having made a deal with the devil.
“Look at me.” Maddox made the command firmly, but without emotion.
Will brought his eyes up sharply. He had to look up slightly at Maddox, who enjoyed several additional inches of height when standing.
“You will obey me, William. You will do as you are told, when you are told. From the smallest inconvenience, to the most complicated of orders, I expect complete obedience. Do you understand?”
Will nodded briefly.
“I need to hear you say it. Yes. Sir.” Maddox held Will’s gaze, feeling himself swell at the rebellion in the younger man’s eyes. This boy was so sensitive and reactive to authority, he raged against even the slightest hint of submission. Mad had no doubt that Will wanted to do the same thing to him that he’d just done to the gurgling guard, just for asking him to call him sir.