*WHACK!*

Wayne screamed in pain as Grey hit him on the buttocks with the flogger, squirming desperately. He was chained to the bed in the penthouse playroom and Grey was doubling down on the punishment after the fundraiser. Clamps, chains, whips, paddle…. Grey didn't hold back. Wayne's buttocks were bright red and he was crying uncontrollably. After about an hour of torture, Grey stopped and unchained him. Wayne curled up into a ball, his body heaving with sobs.

"Look at me." Grey said flatly.

Wayne forced himself to sit up and face the other man. Grey looked at Wayne's puffy eyes and tear-stained face in satisfaction. "Never disrespect me like that in public again, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." Wayne said, his voice shaking.

"Good. Now, get dressed and let's discuss business matters over some tea, shall we?"

Wayne met him in the kitchen and sat on the barstool, wincing in pain. He sipped his tea in silence, refusing to meet Grey's eyes. Grey pulled out a thick file of papers and was about to show them to Wayne when the intercom beeped.

"Mr. Grey, you have visitors."

"Who is it and what do they want?" Grey snapped.

"They're friends of Wayne, your roommate, sir"

Grey glared at Wayne who in turn shrank down into his seat, looking absolutely terrified. Grey ran a hand through his copper hair and sighed. "Fine. Send them up," he said.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door and Grey answered it after sending another death glare at Wayne. A tall, muscular blond haired, blue-eyed man and a beautiful, dark haired woman stepped into the entranceway. Wayne's face lit up upon seeing them. He got up and hobbled over, smiling through the pain.

"How are you?" Wayne said, hugging them both. Grey stepped aside and watched the scene with a cold interest.

"We're great, how about you? Heard you moved," the blond man said, glancing at Grey. "Who's this?"

"I'm wondering the same thing about you, actually." Grey said, glaring at the visitors. "What do you want and how did you find my address?"

"Wayne told me about some new living situations and wanted to see us," the woman said. She looked utterly confused. "Er…. I'm Di, by the way. This is my friend Arthur. What's your name?"

"Christian Grey. And when were you going to tell me about this invitation, Wayne?" Grey's voice was deadly.

"I'm sorry…I nearly forgot. I meant to tell you…I just wanted to talk to my friends. We were thinking about going out to dinner or something…I needed to check up on some things." Wayne was sweating, eyes darting from Grey to his friends.

"Your personal excursions are not part of our agreement, Wayne. Now, please escort your associates out of my house."

"Wait…this isn't your new house?" Di asked, looking even more baffled. Wayne blanched. "What's going on? You moved in with someone?"

"He's a new business partner, we just-" Wayne tried.

"Something really weird is going on, " Arthur said, throwing up his hands. "C'mon, let's just get the hell out of here and talk about this somewhere else."

Wayne stepped toward Arthur, but Grey grabbed him by the shirt collar. "You're not going anywhere. Now, I want the two of you out of my house or I'm calling security."

"Let go of him!" Di said, raising her voice. "Who do you think you are?" She stepped close to Grey, eyes ablaze. For the first time in many years, Grey was legitimately nervous. The woman was at least six feet tall and very sturdily built. Combined with the sheer strength that both she and her blond companion seemed to possess, there was no way Grey could win if things got physical, so he released Wayne.

"So be it. Be back here in one hour, Wayne." He said coldly. Wayne could barely put his shoes on without his hands shaking. He hurried out the door with his comrades, casting one last fearful glance at Grey before shutting the door.

Although Grey wasn't going to resort to physical force, he still wasn't going to let the incident go. He immediately put on a coat, hat, and grabbed an umbrella and followed Wayne and his friends out of the high-rise, trailing far enough behind them that they didn't notice they were being followed. Di had put her arm around Wayne and the trio walked in silence. Grey was surprised when they turned a corner and walked up the steps to the public library instead of continuing to a café. He waited until they walked inside before darting up the stairs, keeping the brim of his hat pulled down and the umbrella obscuring his face.

He stalked them, weaving between the shelves, all the way to the back of the building where they settled into some comfortable longue chairs near a window. Grey stood off in one of the aisles and pretended to read a book while focusing on their conversation. To his annoyance, they were talking as low as possible. Why did they have to chose a damn library of all places!? He strained to catch bits and pieces of the discussion.

"…worried about you." Arthur was whispering. "…..they said you left….making sure you're okay."

"….I'm okay." Wayne muttered.

Di patted Wayne on the arm. "…worried…..….abusive….." Grey couldn't catch the rest of her words; she had leaned in close to Wayne and was speaking in a whisper. Arthur leaned in closer and said something to Wayne. Grey clenched his jaw in frustration. It was time to visit the hardware store and buy some recording devices and GPS trackers. Wayne's secretive meetings were unacceptable. He left the library, fury and jealousy building up inside his chest.

An hour later, Wayne came back to the penthouse, shoulders slumped and eyes filled with gloominess. Grey looked up from his papers and stared at him frostily, arms folded, lips pursed into a line.

"Such bad manners, Wayne. Inviting strangers up to my house. It looks like you're going to get punished twice in one day. What is wrong with you? How can you be so empty-headed?"

Wayne looked at him, tears spilling out of his baby blue eyes. "Please, no. I'm-I'm under a lot of pressure, I just needed to talk to someone."

Grey studied him carefully. The man was pale, shaky, and looked like he was in a lot of pain from his earlier playroom visit.

"Fine. Take a shower, and then go to your room. I don't want to see your face for the rest of the day."