Little Maxie

Chapter 22

Christian was holding his phone in his hand, feeling stress and frustration gripping his body. The call from Sebastian from all people had come as a surprise. Yes, they had expected Max to come in contact with Jos again, but they never had expected it to be so soon.

Nor had they expected the man to hurt Max this badly, especially after he had known that they already had movies of him harming Max.

Seb had tried to sound calm, but Christian knew the man good enough to hear the slight edge to his voice, the way he was overwhelmed with this weird situation and that he wouldn't tolerate Max to be hurt again.

Giving a sigh, he went to his contacts and contacted Bradley, who had immediately picked up the phone.

"Christian, what's wrong?" the man asked immediately, knowing that there was no reason for Christian to call him unless something was wrong.

"It's Max," Christian said, and started to tell him a short version of what Seb had told him.

"I'm not far from the hotel. I'm there in five minutes," Bradley said.

"I'm going to come as well," Christian said, and that conversation ended well enough. Another quick call to the police and the medical facilities, and they agreed to meet in the lobby of the hotel.

Now that everything essential was arranged, he took his stuff and hurriedly left his office. Christian was supressing the feeling of disquiet in him, knowing that anxiety on his part wouldn't help Max. Hopefully they could use this to permanently ban Jos from his life, even if the little was against it.

Trying to keep his face neutral, he walked through the paddock, his step hurried. And like always when one is in a hurry, he was stopped by Toto, who had seen him pass.

"Christian, can I have a word," Toto said, his long legs quickly gaining on Christian. Not wanting to seem too rude, or ridiculous, he stopped and waited until the taller man had gained on him.

"I got urgent business," Christian said calmly, trying to keep his look not too agitated at the unwelcome timing, but letting the man know that if it wasn't anything that needed immediate attention, then he could wait for another moment.

"Is it to do with Max?" Toto asked, and Christian frowned, knowing that the other man wasn't just asking out of polite interest.

"Yes," Christian admitted, "what do you want with Max?"

"I... well, normally I wouldn't say this because we're rivals, but seeing the news that came out today," Toto said, clearly meaning the discovery that Max was a little, "well, I just wanted you to know that Jos is trying to get Max a contract at Mercedes,"

"What?" Christian asked in surprise, this time the surprise clear on his face, "Max has signed with us until 2028,"

"I know that," Toto said, a frown on his face as well, "but Jos was adamant on the fact that Max would break the contract soon,"

"And did you accept?" Christian asked giving the other man a calculating look, but Toto just snorted, as if the idea was too ridiculous to consider.

"Of course not. With Lewis in the team..." he said, letting it carry itself, but then he looked back at Christian, almost seeming uncomfortable with what he was going to say, "I said as much, and he offered Max as a reserve driver,"

"As a..." Christian said, shocked that the man's narrowmindedness would see the talent of Max to waste, "you know, Jos has no legal right to sign away Max's contract. Max is an adult, capable of making his own decisions and if he wasn't, he wouldn't be able to function in the sport."