“It’s closed.” This huge man crosses his arms over his chest trying to look intimidating.
“You don’t understand, my boyfriend’s fighting. I need to get in there.”
He chuckles. “What’s the password?”
“Password? What the hell? Let me in, Skid knows me!”
He talks into a walkie talkie and after a brief conversation lets me into the building. When I walk through the entrance my eyes roam over the inside. Dirty, gross and scary are the first words that pop into my mind. There are open steel beams all over the place and dusty concrete floors. As I look across the building my eyes catch where the fights going on. I run over and the closer I get, the louder the shouting is. Everyone’s standing on their seats cheering.
“Rip his fucking head off!” Someone yells and my eyes train on the ring.
My heart constricts in my chest when I see Jayden looking severely beaten on the ground, held in some sort of hold by another guy. He looks like the fight has completely left his body and like he’s about to give up. No freaking way.
Making my way through all the people in the back, I run down the aisle towards the cage. Slipping my fingers through the wholes shaking the fence I scream for Jayden to fight.
He briefly looks up at me and a look of surprise passes through his face. That’s right, I’m here baby.
“Jayden, you have to fight!” I scream. An arm wraps around my shoulders and I jump before realizing its Zander pulling me against him.
“We have to do something!”
Then I see Skid stand up. He’s up on some platform and the look he’s giving me causes my body to involuntarily shiver.
“Nice of you to join us Georgie. As you can see your man’s about to lose.” He laughs. “It’s all for the best, now you can come up here and see what a real man’s like.” He licks his lips and I want to vomit.
The crowd starts going crazy as I whirl around and place my focus back on Jayden who isn’t on the ground anymore. No. He’s pulling himself up using the fence and Serge is rolling around on the floor holding his junk. I jump up and down and scream like a lunatic at this awesome change of events. When I look hopefully towards Zander I notice Kyle standing next to him, eyes fixed on his brother in the ring.
“He’s got this, he has to win.” I’m speaking more to myself than anyone around me.
“You’ve got this Jayden, kick his ass!” I yell.
Now on his feet, Jayden stalks to his opponent, grabs him by the hair and slams his face into the fence over and over. His face is almost unrecognizable it’s covered with so much blood. He’s blindly trying to swing at Jayden and missing every time.
Finally, Jayden knees him in the mid-section numerous times before slamming Serge’s head down on his knee. He crumples to the floor and looks lifeless. Jayden gives him two kicks in the ribs before looking over at Skid and holding his hands in the air.
Skid looks severely pissed off but stands up and acknowledges what just happened. Jayden pulled it off, he won! His opponent lies unconscious on the ground as Jayden looks to be having trouble standing on his own.
“Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time ever, someone knocked out the legend of the underground ring. Jayden Cage, you have done the unthinkable and beat the champ. Congratulations.” Everyone cheers apparently seeing Jayden in a different light. It’s a far cry from the boos and chants not even five minutes ago.
Skid may have congratulated him but his demeanor lets me know he’s anything but thrilled. He wanted Jayden to get beat tonight and its written all over his face.
Zander and Kyle rush into the ring to help their brother. He looks a mess but at least he’s breathing. I get in there and get on my knees beside him where he dropped to the ground. Placing my hands on the sides of his face I look him in the eyes.
“Thank you.” Tears well up in my eyes.
“It’s all for you, always just for you baby.” I pull him to me and cry. After a moment, I look up towards Zander and let him know we need to get the hell out of here. He may have won but we don’t need any disgruntled spectators getting any ideas. Or Skid for that matter.
Zander and Kyle help Jayden off the floor and throw his arms around their shoulders. He’s severely bruised already and his face is swelling.
“Hospital?” I question.
“No, take me home Sunshine.”
CHAPTER 27
Jayden
“How’s the arm?”
“Good as new.” I hold it up and twist my wrist.
After the fight, I did end up going to the hospital and it’s a good thing. My wrist was broken, I had a few cracked ribs and a concussion. The best part was Georgie playing nurse for me during my recovery. She even got a little outfit; damn did she look sexy.
I realize Zander’s asked me a question and have no clue what. “Huh?”
“How’s she doing with everything?”
“She’s definitely skeptical, but it’s her mom. From the stories I’ve heard, her mom really might have been kept there against her will.”
Isabelle McNamara kept true to her word and hung around. It wasn’t until two weeks after my fight that Georgie finally decided she could leave my side to meet up with her mom. Being a Cage man, of course I went with her. No way was I going to let her go through all that by herself.
I crutched my ass to her grandmothers where we had a sit down. She explained everything. And by that, I mean everything. About how she got pulled into the life of the compound under false promises. When Georgie’s dad found out that Isabelle was pregnant he would have been an outcast. It’s against their moral code to even have sex before marriage. So, he fed her whatever shit he had to. They had a shotgun wedding, and she found herself forced into something she didn’t agree with. She didn’t know about Gwen, his first wife, until all her things were moved in and by then it was too late.
She didn’t get into a lot of specifics. Over time I’m sure she’ll fill her daughters in when she feels comfortable to do so. I said daughters but she’s yet to meet up with Ash again. She kind of freaked when she found out her mom was in town staying with her Gran no less.
I check my phone looking for an SOS from Georgie. Today’s the day. Ashlyn finally agreed to meet up with her mom and it should be going down right now.
“Nothing yet?”
“Nope. That must mean it’s going okay. I hope.”
“You know Ash, she doesn’t fuck around. I just hope she gives her mom a chance to explain herself.”
“You know if shit goes down, Gran’s gonna kick some ass.” We both laugh.
We pull up in front of a row of stores in the town center. My hands get a little clammy thinking about what I’m about to do. I’m acting like a pussy, pull it together Jay.
I knew Georgie was it for me the second I laid eyes on her, and today I take the next step to get her to be my wife. I’ve been eyeing a few rings for the past few weeks, but nothing really called to me. Settling isn’t an option when it comes to this. I’ve been looking for something particular and the jeweler called me the other day saying they had something I might want to check out. I’m not getting my hopes up, for all I know it’s a piece of shit.
We exit the truck and quickly enter the jewelry store. It’s a Sunday afternoon so it’s not busy at all. This place is really upscale and makes me kind of uncomfortable. I was gonna go to Kay’s but Zander threw a fit and sent me here telling me to drop his name.
“Ah, Mr. Cage. We’ve been expecting you. Let me pull the ring out of the vault.” He exits leaving me wondering how much a fucking ring costs that’s kept in a vault. I can afford a very nice ring, being on Josh’s payroll keeps my bank account pretty hefty. The teaching gig is mainly for my passion to teach. But the vault? I feel like that’s where the Crown Jewels are kept. When he walks back into the main area of the store he has a box with a padlock.
“Fuck me. Z, we may need to grab and dash.” I whisper out the side of my mouth.
“I’m sure it’s
in your budget.” He places his hand on my shoulder.
“Here it is. I’ve scoured high and low to find what you’ve described to us. When I found this beauty, I locked her up tight.”
That little speech makes me feel better. But he makes me sound like a prima donna. I didn’t have demands, just ideas. What if I turned down over 50 rings shown to me. If that makes me a picky son of a bitch, so be it.
When he opens his hand, my eyes zero in on the ring and I almost squeal in glee. By almost, I mean not at all because I’m a grown fucking man. The squealing’s all on the inside.
“Holy shit, this is it. Gavin, you’re the man.” I hold up my fist and he bumps it back.
“Z, check this out.” He looks over my shoulder and sees the ring I’ve been searching for. It has a flawless platinum band with intricate diamond work all up the sides. The diamond is massive and a faint shade of yellow.
“It’s perfect bro.”
“A sunshine for my Sunshine.” I turn to Gavin. “Wrap her up, she’s coming home with me today my friend.”
“As you wish Mr. Cage. I’m so glad we were finally able to accommodate you.”
“You accommodated the hell outta me. For all your efforts, Zander here is going to buy something expensive for his wife as a thank you.”
Zander sighs. “Sometimes I hate you.”
“No, you love me way more than anyone else in the family. If that’s not true now, it will be when Savvy’s banging the shit out of you after you give her some new earrings.”
He smiles and makes his way around to look. The price of the ring is actually in my price range making me wonder if Zander was up to something? I was expecting another zero on the price tag. But good old Gavin swears up and down that it’s the correct price so I’m going with it. Carpe Diem and all that shit.
“Alright bro, let’s go. I have to plan the greatest proposal to ever be made in the history of proposals.”
***
Georgie
My hands are shaking I’m so freaking nervous. Never in a million years did I think I’d be having a sit down with my mom and Ashlyn.
After the wedding, I waited a bit to tell Ash about my run-in with mom. I didn’t want to put a damper on her honeymoon, so I waited until she got back. She didn’t take the news great, actually, it was awful. She wanted to call the police and report her but I managed to talk her down. And that’s when we had a heart-to-heart for the first time about my life in the compound.
I’ve never brought up the topic before because I didn’t want to upset her. She got kidnapped and brought into that situation. Being raised in it makes you numb to the things that go around. So, I told her about my time there. The rules, the lack of emotion, no sense of loyalty or family. Except for my mom. I’ve only ever told Jayden about me and my mom’s relationship, it was about time I told Ashlyn.
I explained her fighting my dad at times, and especially fighting Gwen when it came to me. Standing up for me in the early years, and the fact that something happened and all that stopped. She never stopped trying to give me a normal childhood, but she was less public about it. Opting to take me away in private rather than letting me play amongst town where it was frowned upon.
I’ve talked with my mom several times since I saw her at the wedding and she’s explained so much to me. Surprisingly it all made sense and it broke my heart. The stuff she had to do to ensure I was safe. Having to endure a loveless marriage out of fear that she’d be kicked out… or worse. Then she’d be unable to protect me from all the craziness of our compound. And through the compound she was able to keep an eye on Ash.
She even told me she tried to escape with me once. She didn’t go into great detail on what happened once we were found and brought back, but the tears in her eyes and the way her hands began to tremble spoke volumes. I don’t remember any of that, but she said I was only a toddler. She grabbed me one day and ran. Planned on going to Gran’s and begging for forgiveness. She didn’t make it anywhere near her destination.
So here we are, sitting in Gran’s living room waiting for Ash to arrive. When there’s a knock on the door, I start to sweat when Gran stands up and make her way to the front door.
Ashlyn enters the room hesitantly, looking extremely nervous. It’s completely opposite to how she usually carries herself. Usually super confident and self-aware. She comes over and takes a seat next to me on the couch. Our mother in a seat on the other side of the coffee table.
“Hello Gen… Ashlyn.” Mom corrects herself. She doesn’t know her as Ashlyn. The brief time she had custody of her she was Genevieve.
“Hey.” She fidgets with her hands in her lap. I reach over and place my hand on hers letting her know I’m here and that everything’s going to be okay.
For the next hour, the conversation’s stilted and awkward. But after mom explains everything I can feel Ash’s demeanor change and she visibly relaxes. Ash stands up and makes her way to our mom who stands as well. They stare at each other for a beat before slowly going in for the hug. Moms eyes are closed and she looks content. Happier than I’ve seen her in my whole life. It makes me emotional.
Finally, Ash pulls away and says she’ll be right back. A moment later she comes into the room with Mia and Josh. They must have been in the car this whole time.
“Mom, this is your granddaughter Amelia. Mia, this is your…” Ash looks up to my mom with question in her eyes.
“Grammy.” She smiles.
“This is your Grammy. Can you say hi, sweet girl?” Mia clings to her mom acting shy.
“It’s okay angel, I look forward to getting to know you.”
Josh walks up behind Ash and places his hand on her shoulder. “This is my husband Josh. Josh, this is my mom Isabelle.”
They shake hands and it’s slightly awkward. This relationship will take time, but at least we’re off to a good start.
“Alright we have to go because Mia’s due to go down for a nap. Do you maybe want to come over for dinner one night this week?” She looks around the room. “All of you are invited.” She looks from me, to Gran, then ends on my mom.
“I’d like that.” Mom says with tears in her eyes.
We say our goodbyes and I squeeze mom extra hard before saying goodbye to Gran. I walk out with my sister and kiss Mia before Josh puts her in the car seat.
“Thank you.”
“Why are you thanking me? You should be smacking me upside the head for putting up a fight for so long. I should be thanking you for making me do this. You guys are a lot alike you know? You act the same.” She smiles.
I look back to the house then back to Ash. “You think?”
“For sure.” She pulls me in for a hug. “I love you, see you soon.”
And with that, I get in my car with a smile on my face and head home knowing that Mom being here’s going to be a good thing.
CHAPTER 28
Jayden
“Jesus, why am I so nervous?”
“Because she’s going to say no.”
I look over at little Jenny and narrow my eyes. “She’s not going to say no.”
“If you say so, Mr. Cage.”
My phone chimes and I know what it says and who it’s from without looking. It’s Zander telling me Georgie just pulled into the parking lot. Taking a deep breath, the kids take their places before I take my own.
Georgie’s under the impression that I forgot my lunch at home. It’s not the first time it’s happened so it’s a believable lie. The first time this happened I had to beg her to bring me food so I didn’t have to be subjected to the hideous cafeteria spread. Thankfully she didn’t put up a fight this time.
When I hear heels click clacking down the hall, my heart starts to race. You can do this Jay. There’s a knock on my classroom door and on cue little Milly skips to the door. As she pulls it open, Georgie stands there with a brown paper bag in hand and apprehension in her eyes when she takes in my classroom. Milly grabs her hand and pulls her in then closes the door. All my
students are hiding in the closet and behind my desk.
When she looks at me I start playing the guitar in my hands. I’ve practiced this song a million times and can pretty much play it in my sleep. What I didn’t factor in was the look on her face when my fingers start strumming the chords nearly making me jack up the whole song.
I start singing Ed Sheeran Thinking out loud and try to pour every emotion I’m feeling into the words. Making sure she knows every word I’m singing to her is the truth. She just stands there with a look of awe in her eyes as I continue pouring my heart out to her. She has no idea what’s in store for her, this is just the beginning.
As I strum the last chord, I place the guitar to the side and take my girls hand. We walk to the font of the classroom and my hands grip her hips and lift her up onto my desk. She doesn’t see the kids giggling because I keep her back to them.
“Baby, do you know how much I love you?” I kiss both her hands and back up. When I’m in the middle of the classroom which is now devoid of desks, I give a nod to Ryan hidden off to the side.
The song starts and a smile comes to my face. If she doesn’t know what’s going on she sure does now.
***
Georgie
Bruno Mars- Marry You starts playing towards the back of the classroom as a whole bunch of kids scare the crap out of me, running out from behind the desk on either side of me. They’re weaving in and out of each other with their hands in the air and I can’t help but laugh.
Then it hits me, the name of the song. My eyes meet Jayden’s and he winks at me knowing I must have finally figured out why I’m here. Holy crap, he’s going to propose!
As I watch the kids dancing around the room tears build up in my eyes before leaking over. This is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. And it’s for me. Jayden’s still standing in the back of the classroom, eyes trained on me like he’s looking into my soul.
Bound By Cage Box Set (Complete Series Books 1-4) : MMA Romance Page 60