Sixteen
ZAC
STANDING in the front row, near the cage, I hold Alyssa in front of me. Partly to cover her exposed back from prying eyes and partly to cover the erection straining in my pants. I glide my hands up and down the exposed areas on her stomach, which again is a fucking lot of exposed skin.
I’ve lost count of how many daggers I’ve shot at fuckers who think they can look at her.
I’m on edge, ready to rip the heads off anyone who even thinks to look her way.
Dean senses my edginess and has planted himself right beside me, constantly looking my way to see if I will explode while aiding in blocking people’s view of Alyssa.
Reilly, fucking Reilly. If she wasn’t so good at her job…
There’s also the little thing with Bray being bloody obsessed with her and her being one of Alyssa’s best friends.
If it wasn’t for all of those things, I would fire her ass for buying this dress for Alyssa.
She knows too. Standing next to Alyssa, she looks over her shoulder and smirks at my unease.
I glare back at her, but she just laughs it off.
I won’t admit it to anyone—well, anyone other than my sunshine—but I think I like Reilly. I like that she can give as good as she gets. The fact that she gets her job done, and done well, without trying to find ways to flirt or touch me, like the last fucking PR manager, was a bonus.
We’ve watched three fights; Bray’s is always the last. He is yet to be defeated.
When our parents died, he had so much pent-up anger.
Being a hormonal seventeen-year-old didn’t help.
He started getting into fights at school constantly.
I didn’t know what to do with him, so I ended up putting him in MMA classes.
I figured if he was going to fight, he might as well do it properly and in a contained environment.
He hasn’t stopped fighting since. Although we both make a lot of money off his fights, I know he’s not doing it for the money.
It’s almost like he needs it, needs the adrenaline of being in the cage.
The six-week break over the holidays that’s coming up will make him crazy if he doesn’t find another outlet for his energy, or a really good sparring partner.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, pulling me out of my thoughts. As I reach for it, I realise it’s not my phone that vibrates; it’s Alyssa’s. She holds her phone out in front of her to see she has messages.
Alyssa’s body tenses and freezes as she reads the text message.
She drops the phone and starts looking around the underground basement wildly, like she’s looking for someone.
Dean bends down and picks up her phone, stepping in closer to her.
Reilly turns towards Alyssa, asking her what’s wrong but Alyssa doesn’t say anything, just holds onto my arm that’s around her waist and looks around the crowd.
She’s trembling. I turn her around in my arms and bury her head in my chest. Whispering in her ear, I say, “Babe, you’re okay. I’ve got you.”
I look up at Dean. I can tell whatever he read on that phone has him raging.
His jaw is tensed, and he is now looking across the cage to the crowd on the other side.
He hands me the phone, before speaking to his security team through his earpiece.
All I hear him say is, “Nobody gets out of this fucking basement without me knowing. Lock the entrances, single file out. I want to see every fucking face that exits this room.”
I’m gripping the phone in my hand, surprised it’s not breaking under my grasp. The text has my blood boiling. There is a grainy picture of Alyssa with my arms wrapped around her, standing exactly where we are now. The picture was taken from the other side of the cage. The message reads:
Unknown: You shouldn’t touch things that don’t belong to you! He was mine first. I saw him first! I won’t warn you again, bitch. He is MINE. He will be with me again, even if I have to take you out myself. xxx
I’m holding onto Alyssa so damn tight now that she winces.
“Shit.” I loosen my grip slightly. “Sorry, sunshine, you are okay. I’m never going to let anyone get to you.”
Reilly is almost in hysterics beside me, demanding to know what’s going on. I hand her the phone and see her face go white as a ghost as she reads the message. Her hands tremble. I need to get both Alyssa and Reilly out of this damn basement now.
I look up to the cage and hear the announcer call the start of Bray’s fight. He’s standing in the cage, looking over at us while staring intently at Reilly. He squints his eyes, mouthing the words, “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head and hold up one finger. It’s our signal for me needing him to finish the fight in one round.
He looks back to Reilly, and I swear I see something pass over him as his face hardens.
Bray nods his head and turns as the announcer starts the countdown.
As soon as he yells out one, Bray lands a solid punch to his opponent’s jaw, knocking him out cold.
Jumping from the cage, he storms over to us and pulls Reilly into his arms, rubbing his hands up and down her back and whispering something in her ear.
For once, she doesn’t fight off his touch.
She hands him Alyssa’s phone, and I watch as his face hardens before we all walk out of the basement together.
Dean leading the way with Alyssa and Reilly between Bray and me.
I’m standing in the bathroom of my office, Alyssa sitting on the vanity and clinging to me.
My heart is racing, blood boiling. Someone’s head is going to roll for putting her through this.
Dean and Bray are in the office. I can hear them shuffling around.
I’m sure, by now, they are scanning through the security footage, trying to find the fucker who was stupid enough to mess with what’s mine.
Rubbing my hands up and down Alyssa’s back, I instruct her to breathe, attempting to calm both her and myself.
“Babe, breathe, just take big breaths with me, okay? Count them with me: one, in… out; two, in… out.” By the time we get to number ten, she has calmed.
She lets go of her grip on my shirt and is wiping at her face.
“I’m sorry, Zac. I’m so sorry I’m bringing so much drama into your world. I don’t know why this is happening again.”
The tears keep rolling down her face. I wipe them off with the pad of my thumb.
“Sunshine, this is not your fault. We will find whoever sent you that message, and they will pay for putting you through this. I promise nothing will hurt you.”
Shaking her head, she pushes me back and jumps down.
Turning towards the sink, I watch as she runs her hands under the water and then splashes the water over her face.
I hand her a hand towel and she dries her face.
Looking up into the mirror, she straightens her back and squares her shoulders back.
Turning around, she says, “You know what? You’re right. I will not let someone do this to me again.”
I’m so fucking proud of how strong she is, how much she can endure. What she says next floors me.
“Plus, I don’t care what anyone says or thinks. You are mine, Zac. I love you too damn much to let anyone take you from me. So, if some psycho-bitch thinks she will get you, well, she will have one hell of a fight on her hands.”
I’m stuck on the words I love you that she just threw at me. I can’t wipe the huge-ass grin from my face.
“What?” she says with scrunched up eyebrows.
“You love me, huh?” I say with a smirk while grabbing her around the waist.
“I… umm… well…” she grunts and then relents, “Yes, okay. I love you, and you’re just going to have to deal with that. I don’t care if you’re not ready to hear those words or if you don’t feel the same way about—”
Placing my finger over her lips, I stop her right there.
“Sunshine, I think I’ve been in love with you from the moment you stepped through the doors of my club.
” She doesn’t say anything, just stares at me, so I continue, “I love you so damn much it scares the shit out of me sometimes.” This brings a smile to her face.
“You love me too?” she asks.
“So much,” I say as I lean in and kiss her.
Breaking the kiss, she looks up and says, “Good, because you are so stuck with me now.” Stepping back, she looks up and continues, “Let’s go figure out who thinks they can take my man.
” I can’t help but smile. I’m so fucking proud of how determined she is.
Just before she opens the door, I get another look at her dress.
“Wait,” I say as I take off my jacket, “put this on.” I don’t wait for her to accept or argue before I have her draped in my jacket. She brings the collar of the jacket up to her nose and inhales.
“Mmm, god, you smell good,” she mumbles as we make our way out of the bathroom.
Dean has the flat screen monitors that line one wall of my office on, playing the video feed from the basement and scanning through each section from the time I entered with Alyssa.
Bray is pacing up and down the office with a drink in one hand and an ice pack wrapped around the other.
Reilly is sitting on the couch, texting furiously on her phone.
They all stop what they’re doing and turn to look at us. Reilly is the first to speak.
“Sarah and Holly are on the way. We’re having a slumber party tonight.” She pauses and looks at me. “Girls only.”
I just smirk. If she thinks she is going to get me away from Alyssa, she has another thing coming.
I’m about to say as much to her when Alyssa speaks up excitedly, “Yes, that is exactly what I need right now,” as she walks over and sits with Reilly on the couch.
I know I’m pouting, but I don’t care. Reilly looks over to me and laughs. “I’m sure you will survive one night without her, Romeo.”
I don’t think I actually would, but we’re not about to find out either. Ignoring Reilly, I walk over to the screens where Dean has a shot paused, zooming in on someone.
“Have you found anything yet?”