Bound By Cage Box Set (Complete Series Books 1-4) : MMA Romance

by Brittany Crowley

  Everything has been quiet on the Luke front for the past few weeks. I know he’s still out there, but at least he isn’t leaving anymore notes or showing up unannounced. I know Zander hired a couple of his own people to be out there, tracking him down. I just pray the police get to him first because who knows what Zander would have planned for him before he turned him in to the police.

  I stop to smell the sweet aroma of bacon as I head down to the kitchen. I round the corner and see Zander shirtless with just a pair of gym shorts on, standing at the oven frying up some bacon. I wrap my arms around him, kiss his back, and squeeze him tight.

  “Good morning, baby. I figured I would make you some breakfast before you went dress shopping. Are you hungry?”

  “Starving. You’re playing a dangerous game there, cooking bacon while shirtless.”

  Grabbing glasses out of the cabinet, I pour us some orange juice and meet him at the island, where we sit down and dig in. As we’re eating, I tell him about my impending feeling of doom. He doesn’t laugh me off like I assumed he would. He listens to my concerns and promises me he will be careful today. In return, I make the same promise. Just like the many mornings before, I ask him about the progress his guys have made to find Luke.

  “They actually had a report that he was seen way up in Maine last night. My guys are closing in on him, and I feel a lot better about you going out by yourself knowing he’s not around here.”

  Thirty minutes later, Ash honks her horn in the driveway, which is my cue to leave. I give Zander a kiss goodbye and head out to her car.

  “Okay, we have three appointments with the surrounding dress shops today. They are supposed to be the best, and I already perused their online selection to see if they have your dress, so don’t worry. I guarantee we’ll find that bad boy today.” Ash has a big smile on her face after she’s done talking. This is why I love this woman!

  “Best maid of honor ever, ladies and gentlemen!”

  I have a clear-cut view of what I want my wedding dress to look like, and I’m not willing to settle. Every little girl dreams of finding that perfect dress they had always imagined walking down the aisle in. The only difference is now my perfect dress has a hell of a lot less ruffles on it.

  At the first dress shop, I have no luck finding my dress. They have some beautiful ones, just not what I’m looking for. We do, however, find Ashlyn’s wonderfully hideous maid of honor dress. I know we could easily declare the pact we made when we were 15 null and void, but where’s the fun in that? We read an article about brides who put their bridal party in demure dresses on purpose so as not to not steal the spotlight away from the beauty of the bride. We thought this was ridiculous, so we swore we would put each other in something so over the top and horrible that there would be no way we would blend into the background.

  The dress looks like it’s from the days of Gone with the Wind. It’s a horrible sky-blue color with yellow ruffle details all over it. It comes complete with a parasol and a giant, floppy yellow hat that has a bow in the same color blue as the dress. When she puts it on, we die laughing and immediately know this is the one. I can’t even wait until people see her coming down the aisle.

  We are at the third and final dress shop of the day when I see my dress, the dress. It’s a long-sleeved, white lace dress that cascades down to the floor with a bit of a train in the back. There is a button at the top where the base of my neck would be that connects the back of the dress, which is completely open in an oval cutout that goes from the button at my neck all the way to the top of my ass. I’m in absolute awe of this dress. I go into the changing room to try it on, praying I can pull a look like this off. I’ve been dreaming of a dress like this ever since I saw the royal wedding.

  When I exit the dressing room, Ashlyn gasps and covers her mouth with her hands. “Holy shit, Savvy, you look absolutely stunning!” I turn around to show her the cutout in the back.

  She blows out a low whistle. “Zander is going to go apeshit over you in this dress. You’ll be lucky if you make it all the way down the aisle before he throws you over his shoulder and charges toward the nearest bedroom...or closet, I suppose.”

  We both giggle as I twirl in front of the mirror. We pick out a gorgeous veil that matches the dress. It has the same lace pattern and goes down all the way to the end of my train. Luckily, the dress fits me like a glove, so I don’t have to worry about getting it altered on such short notice. We make our way to the front desk to pay, and I hand them the credit card Zander gave me in Vegas. We argued a little but he won in the end, as usual, telling me he wants our wedding day to be perfect for me. I have to get used to his money, seeing as how we’ll be married in less than two weeks. Even when we were “married,” we fought over when I used my own money on things. He’ll just have to get used to the fact that I like to pull my own weight in our relationship.

  They put the dress in a garment bag, and we head out to find a place to have lunch. Shopping for dresses really makes you work up an appetite. We are on our way to the restaurant when I get a text from Zander.

  My Sexy Fighter: Hey, can you meet me at Ashlyn’s really quick? I need to show you something.

  I shoot back a text saying we are on the way and tell Ash we need to make a detour to her house. I wonder why we have to meet at Ash’s and not ours. Maybe his brothers are there, and he doesn’t want to make Ashlyn feel uncomfortable. Lately, everyone’s been sensing something has been off with Ash and Josh. She hasn’t come out and said anything about it, so I’m giving her some time before I demand answers.

  When we pull into the driveway, I don’t see Zander’s truck anywhere, which is weird. He wouldn’t have walked from our house; he rarely walks anywhere. He always says a truck like his is meant to be driven, not stared at. Ash goes up the front steps and unlocks the front door, and I follow closely behind her. She heads for the back of the house toward the bedrooms to drop off her dress, and I look around the living room. I yell out Zander’s name, figuring that we probably beat him here already.

  I’m about to pull out my phone and call him when I hear a voice that makes my blood run cold.

  “Hey baby, did you miss me?” No, this can’t be happening. I’m imagining this. I turn toward the voice, and my eyes lock with a pair of cold, emotionless ones. Luke.

  He walks over to me, grabs the cell phone out of my hands, throws it on the floor, and smashes it with his shoe. “We can’t have anybody interrupting this party, now can we?”

  Thinking about how we got here, I ask him, “Were you the one who texted me?” My heart starts to beat out of my chest. “Is Zander here? Where is he?” I try to walk by him, but he stops me by putting his arm out, effectively blocking my path.

  “Don’t worry about Zander. He’s safe, for now. Funny how they all leave their phones out in the open at the gym without a care as to who is around. They didn’t even notice me sneak in and grab them. Idiots. I took them all. I don’t need anyone within reach to come and save you.”

  I breathe a sigh of relief knowing Zander is safe, that all the guys are safe. Luke slams me up against the wall, his hand holding me in place. He’s squeezing my throat, and I gasp for air.

  “You all think I’m some kind of joke, don’t you? I bet you all had a big laugh about that romantic date I set up for you in the park. Who are you? The sweet girl I knew would never be with someone with such a temper. After I found out you were seeing someone new, I did a little investigating. I couldn’t let my girlfriend make a fool of me, after all. When I saw you were hanging out with Mr. MMA himself, Zander Cage, I knew I had to do something to keep tabs on you. When I saw you take off for the airport that morning, I knew you were heading to see that asshole’s fight. Do you know how easy it is to go unnoticed when you pose as one of those vultures with a camera? I bet you didn’t even notice him tailing you half the time. When he reported in saying you went into a fucking wedding chapel, I told him to do anything and everything he had to. You could not marry THAT PIECE OF SHIT
!”

  “Please let me go…” I gasp out as tears slide down my face. With a sinister smile, he removes his hand from my throat but doesn’t let me go from the wall.

  “What are you doing here, Luke? You know the cops are trying to find you after you broke into Zander’s house, and if you turn yourself in, I won’t tell them you were here.”

  “I bet you’d want that, wouldn’t you, bitch? You’d love nothing more than to see me rot away in a prison cell. I was so good to you. Why can’t you see that we’re meant to be together?”

  He lets me go, and I take a couple steps away from him and notice the gun in his hand. I look around, trying to figure out how I’ll get out of this mess. I don’t see Ashlyn anywhere. I hope she heard him and hightailed it out of here to get some help.

  “Where’s that little bitch who came in with you? You know, I never did like her. I should get rid of her so she can’t interfere with us. I know she’s the one who turned you against me, which is funny because between you and me, I think she had the hots for me. I saw the way she looked at me when you weren’t looking. Some great friend she was,” he spits out.

  Grabbing me forcefully by my forearm, he pulls me along with him as he goes in search of Ash. When we head for the bedrooms, I begin to panic. Shit, what do I do? I try to struggle to buy her more time. Hopefully she will be able to either hide or get out of the house. When I turn around, I feel the sting before I see it coming as he smacks me across the face. Dragging me with more force, we get in Ashlyn’s room, and he looks around, clearly not seeing her. He even checks under the beds and in the closets. I’m beyond thrilled when we leave the bedrooms without any trace of Ash.

  We get back out to the living room, and Luke starts mumbling to himself. “Okay, so she escaped, no biggie. I just need to move this show along before anyone shows up. No doubt that bitch has gotten to someone for help by now.” The way he’s muttering to himself is really unnerving. It’s what the psycho killers always do in the movies.

  I notice movement in the back window, and I see Ash pop her head up. I release the breath I’ve been holding. She must have jumped out her bedroom window. She signals to me that she’s going for help, holding up her phone and pointing toward the road. I subtly nod, letting her know I understand. I look around and realize that Luke is on the other side of the room, and since Ash isn’t in immediate danger, now is my chance to make a run for it. I race toward the front door.

  I’m an arm’s-length from the door when I’m yanked back into the living room by my hair. I try to fight him, but he’s too strong for me. He throws me on the floor and kicks me in the ribs. I gasp out, barely able to take a breath from the force of the kick.

  “Where do you think you’re going? Back to your fake husband?” He spits on me. “He won’t want you after I’m done with you, when he realizes you’re really a whore!”

  He kicks me again in the side, making me yell out in pain as I feel bile trying to make its way out of my mouth. I try to swallow it back down when he grabs my hair, pulling me up to my feet. What did I learn in those self-defense classes? Never stop fighting. I need to fight.

  He leaves me with the perfect opening, so I pull my foot back and kick him right in the balls with all the force I can muster. When he drops to his knees, I seize my chance to run. I try to get around him, but he grabs my ankle, making me crash to the floor and land the wrong way on my arm. Wincing in pain, I try to fight him off. I clearly pissed him off with the ball shot because he pulls me back toward him, straddles my waist, and smacks me right across the face. Son of a bitch, that stings. Tears form in my eyes, and I try to stay focused.

  Failing to buck him off leaves me feeling defeated. He’s too heavy. In a last-ditch effort, I go for his face, trying to claw at his eyes. I get one scratch across his cheek before he traps both of my wrists in one of his hands. I yell out in pain when he twists my bad wrist at an awkward angle. Releasing my arms and putting each hand in my hair, he slams my head on the floor more times than I can count. The pain is excruciating, and I start to pray for him to end this fast. All the fight has left me, and I have never felt such pain as I do right now.

  “What’s the matter, Savannah? Can’t handle a little tough love? You should have thought about that before you went behind my back and started fucking another man!”

  He cocks his arm back and punches me in the face. I can’t keep my eyes open anymore. I’m so tired and have an overwhelming need to sleep.

  “This next part I have been waiting a while for. It’s long overdue to claim you as my own again.”

  I faintly feel Luke shifting off of me, and then his hands start to take off my pants. Before I can register the real fear of what he’s about to do, I hear him undo his belt buckle. Knowing I need to do something, anything, I move to the side.

  “Where do you think you’re going, Savannah?”

  He pulls me back over and straddles my waist again.

  “Fuck you, Luke. I will never want you. You can do whatever you plan to me, but just know I will never love you.”

  “Fucking bitch.” He snarls.

  His fist connects with my head again and again. I can’t keep myself present anymore, and everything fades to black…

  I can hear frantic voices jarring me back from my unconsciousness. I try to open my eyes, but the pain in my head stops me. I can still hear people yelling, and it sounds like something just crashed. I try to open my eyes again, and I find I can only slightly open my right eye. I’m trying to remember what happened and how I got here, and then it comes back to me. I start to scream as I think of Luke being in the same room with me, touching me, waiting for him to violate me.

  “Shhhhhh Savvy, it’s me. It’s Ashlyn. You’re okay, everything is going to be okay.”

  I can hear how upset she is as a sob breaks free of her throat. Moving my head gives me an overwhelming need to empty my stomach, and I throw up all over the floor.

  There’s an overwhelming need to fall asleep despite the pain. The last thing I hear before I pass out is Ashlyn screaming. “Guys, she’s really hurt! Zander, get your ass over here and help me!”

  CHAPTER 27

  Zander

  I wake with a start when I hear the door shut. “Sorry dear, I’m just here to check up on our patient.”

  “No problem, I must have dozed off for a few minutes.”

  “Try a few hours. You were snoring during my last rounds.” She chuckles to herself. “You know, you should go home and try to get a good night’s sleep. We will call you with any changes to her condition.”

  Condition. Looking down at Savvy, I get an ache in my chest. She hasn’t woken up in four days. I have been here the whole time, sitting by her side. I can’t bring myself to leave. I want to be the one here when she finally opens those gorgeous eyes.

  They ran a whole bunch of tests when she was first brought in by the ambulance. She has a pretty severe concussion, broken ribs, and a broken arm on top of all the bruising and swelling on her face. I can’t get rid of the image of that sick son of a bitch connecting his fist with her face. Every time I close my eyes, it’s all I see. It’s a wonder I even got a few consecutive hours of sleep.

  Thinking about the state I found her in makes me want to march down to the police station and kill that sick fuck. I made the hospital do some tests to find out if he succeeded in what he obviously had planned. I have never experienced real fear like I had that day when I flew through her front door and saw her pants off with him straddling her, wailing on her even though she was unconscious. A tear slides down my cheek, and I wipe it away, not wanting the nurse to see.

  “I’m good, but thanks. I need to be here for her.” I grab her good hand and place it in my own.

  After taking her vitals, the nurse leaves the room. The doctor told us that it’s up to Savvy now, that she will wake up when her body is ready. The swelling on her face has gone down a lot already, and the bruising isn’t as purple as when she came in. I have been praying every sp
are chance I have, which is a lot right now.

  I look over to the door when I hear it open and see Jack, who walks in with another huge bouquet of flowers. I don’t think he knows what to do with himself, so he keeps buying them. Her room is filled with balloons, flowers, and stuffed animals from all of our loved ones. I know it will brighten her mood when she finally wakes up.

  “Any news yet, son?” He looks so nervous. I can’t imagine how hard it is to see your child like this, knowing there’s nothing you can do to fix it.

  “Nope, just waiting on Savvy here. You know how stubborn she is. Did you really think she was going to make it easy on us?” He chuckles and grabs a chair, pulling it to the other side of the bed. “Jack, I’m so sorry I didn’t get there in time, I…”

  I don’t even know what to say, this should have never happened. We knew that Luke was a threat. I should have insisted she was with me or one of the guys until he was caught.

  “No, we’ve been over this already. That asshole did this to my sweet girl, not you. If you hadn’t gotten there when you did, we could be in a whole different situation right now. He had a fucking gun. I’m just thankful this is what we’re dealing with right now. Don’t beat yourself up. You got there and saved our girl.” He looks at Savvy, and I can see the tears in his eyes. “I don’t even want to think of how much worse this situation could be.”

  Over the past four days, this has become our routine. I stay and Jack comes back several times a day to sit with us for a few hours. Instead of small talk today, I have something important I need to talk to him about.

  “Jack, I love Savvy with all my heart, and I know when we got married in Vegas, I never got the chance to ask for your blessing. I beat myself up over that. I always imagined I would do everything the right way when I found the woman I was going to marry. I’d go to her father, plan a huge proposal, and give her everything she deserves. I can’t explain how devastated I was the day we found out our wedding wasn’t legit, but in a way, I’m thankful. Now I can look at you, as the man who swears to make your daughter happy for the rest of her life, and ask you for your blessing to marry her.”