Back To The Start Box Set: Five Full-Length Novels

by Aly Martinez

“He’s no pro. He’s a small-time, cracked-out bookie. I met him once when I was eighteen. This has something to do with my dad. I don’t know if he’s in on it or what, but you find Clay Page. He’ll have some fucking answers.”

  “He was released last week and already skipped parole. It’ll take me longer to locate him than it will Eliza,” Leo answered as Flint furiously signed for me.

  “This is out of control. We need to call the cops,” Slate announced.

  “No!” I yelled. “No cops.”

  Leo stepped in front of me and began talking, but I was forced to watch Flint fill in the words. “Till, there is no guarantee that he will even release her after you lose. We need some backup here.”

  “No, we don’t. Just find her.”

  “I’m working on getting access to the hotel surveillance cameras. It’s a casino. There isn’t an inch of this hotel we can’t see. But I’m hitting walls at every turn. I need a badge. I’ll explain the situation and get minimal officers, no uniforms.”

  “What if he finds out? He’ll kill her . . . He’ll kill them!” I roared before I felt my throat close and I was forced to depend on my hands. I can’t risk it.

  “I’m sorry, but I think you’re wrong about this. I’m calling it in.”

  As Flint finished signing Leo’s words, I exploded and rushed across the room. “No! That’s not your fucking choice!” I batted the phone out of his hand, sending it flying across the room.

  Slate wrapped his arms around my shoulders from behind, and Flint stepped in front of me.

  “That’s my wife. My daughter. Goddammit, I get to decide how this goes down.”

  “Till, you’re making decisions with your heart based on fear right now. I’m trying to think logically.”

  My eyes flashed from Flint back to Leo. “Fuck, your logic. I am not taking a gamble on calling in the cops when my entire life is on the line. And if you even try to tell me you wouldn’t play it safe if it were Sarah and Liv, then you’re a goddamn liar.” I stopped fighting and pinched the bridge of my nose, barely clinging to the edge of sanity.

  Slate released me and shoved me toward a chair in the corner. He tried to force me into it, but there was no possible way I could have relaxed. I wanted blood.

  Slate signed for my benefit as he explained the situation to Leo. “If we call in the cops, the Boxing Association will cancel the fight if there is any suspicion that Till might throw it. This guy has made it more than clear he has money riding on this fight. But there has to be more to it. Till offered to pay him off, but he hasn’t gotten a response. Sounds like someone has a vested interest in the actual winner of the fight.”

  “You think Matthews has something to do with this?” My murderous rage became palpable.

  “I don’t know. Maybe. More than likely a big-time, dirty bookie is using a small-time, dirty bookie to make an ass-load of money. I bet this Dragon guy doesn’t even know how much money is actually on the line.”

  “Someone, please just fucking find her. Jesus Christ, I don’t give a shit about this fight anymore. I just need someone to find her!” I pushed a hand into my hair. The anger was quickly subsiding as my anxiety took up root.

  Flint moved to where we were all talking. “What if we do call the cops—”

  My eyes grew wide, but he held up a hand to silence me.

  “—but don’t tell them about throwing the fight. Just tell them that someone took Eliza. That way, if at fight time, they don’t have anything on Eliza, Till can still throw the fight. We have two outs instead of one.”

  Slate turned to look at me. “Now that’s an idea.”

  My eyes jumped to Leo.

  He shrugged. “I’m okay with that.”

  I toyed with my bottom lip as my mind ran over every possible scenario, but I came up empty. Losing her wasn’t an option. “No uniforms. No cop cars. Nothing.”

  “I can do that,” Leo announced, walking forward and holding my gaze. “I’ll find her. I promise.”

  I sucked in a deep breath as I read his lips. He could promise all day, but nothing would make me relax until she was in my arms again.

  Flint

  “Find her!” Till screamed at the top of his lungs. His words slurred from the force.

  “We’re trying,” Leo explained, slapping the laptop closed.

  Till had insisted on watching the video Leo had acquired of Eliza being dragged from the hotel. After over an hour of trying to talk him out of it, Leo had finally given in when Till went off and started demolishing the entire conference room.

  We’d all huddled around the computer and watched as Eliza walked willingly from the room with Frankie. Everything was fine until he tried to push her out of the hotel through a back exit. She planted her feet and tried to snatch her arm out of his grip, but it only caused him to slingshot her out the door. She stumbled and landed facedown. She immediately got back on her feet, but watching her fall on her pregnant belly had been more than enough to send us all into a fit of rage.

  “Try fucking harder!” Till seethed.

  “Look, we know she’s in the building. Or at least she was when those images were sent to you. We’re going through footage of every single entrance to see when and where they came back in. It just takes time,” Leo said as I translated. “You get in that ring and do what you have to do. I’ll do what I have to do out here.”

  The entire thing was so surreal. I couldn’t wrap my mind around any of it. Leo had made good on his word, and everything was very low-key. So much so that it almost felt like nothing was being done at all. Two plain clothed detectives milled around, but when I found one sitting around eating a sandwich, I’d lost my shit too. It took Leo and Slate to keep me from shoving that goddamn sandwich down his throat.

  We’d all spent the day in upheaval. Sarah and Erica buzzed around the room, trying to coddle us, but they were a nervous wreck right alongside the rest of us. Till was a fuming mess, understandably. He paced a lot and ranted at anyone who would listen. Quarry had been transformed into a depressed, weeping child. He sat alone in the corner, refusing to talk to anyone. It seemed my brothers had figured out their coping mechanisms, but I flipped back and forth between anger and hopelessness.

  God. Eliza. She must have been so scared. It twisted my gut and sent flames through my blood. I had never experienced that level of fear before and was clueless about how to channel it.

  But then again, I’d never felt for anyone the way I did for Eliza Reynolds Page.

  I’d been in love with her since the day she’d first walked through Till’s front door. I had barely even been a teenager, but when she’d smiled at me, I had known I’d never be the same. And I wasn’t. There wasn’t a girl in the world who would ever make me feel the sense of belonging I felt when I touched her. She was beautiful, and funny, and so good to all of us. It was so fucking wrong for me to want her the way I did, but even the guilt couldn’t stop me.

  I always knew she was in love with Till. I couldn’t even be mad about it because it was obvious how much he loved her too. At least, if they were together, I had a way to keep her in my life. But right then, with her missing and having absolutely no control over where she was or what was happening, it was excruciating.

  A sudden knock at the door grabbed all of our attention.

  “Ten minutes!” was shouted from outside the door.

  Slate stepped in front of Till. “You need to calm to fuck down or you’re going to get your ass knocked out in the first round. What good is that going to do her? You have ten minutes to get your head in the fight.”

  Till might have nodded, but I knew for certain that he wouldn’t be into the fight while Eliza was missing. I didn’t know how he was going to do it. I could barely breathe, yet he had to fight.

  “Let’s go, Flint,” Alex called from the door. “Time to get you seated.”

  Slate had made the decision that Erica, Sarah, and Liv would watch the fight from their hotel room with Johnson standing guard. I’d insist
ed on watching ringside. I needed to be there. Quarry had been given the option, but he’d only shrugged and followed the women as they’d left.

  Alex had been assigned as my bodyguard for the fight, and while I absolutely loathed the idea that they assumed I couldn’t protect myself, I hadn’t argued. I knew that my bitching would have only stressed Till out more. He had enough going on without having to worry about me too.

  I walked to the door and stopped to sign to Till, You got this.

  “Yeah. I got it.” He forced a tight smile then turned away to shrug into the robe Slate was holding open.

  I walked toward the arena with Alex barely a step behind me. “Can you not make me look like a pussy with a babysitter?” I smiled tightly.

  “Sorry, man. It’s my job.”

  “Can I have a little breathing room at least?”

  He chuckled but dropped back a few feet.

  We navigated through numerous winding hallways, the crowd getting thicker the closer we got to the arena until it eventually bottlenecked at an intersection.

  “Sorry,” a man said as he slammed into my chest.

  I only glanced at him long enough to notice a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. “No problem.” I smiled—until I felt something being shoved into my hand. I looked down at a room key as the man quickly walked away. Written in black marker was the number 3716.

  Confused, I watched the man weave through the tight crowd. Just before he rounded the corner away from the arena, he turned to face me. Similar blue eyes lifted to mine.

  “Dad?” I whispered to myself.

  He gave me a tight smile then raised his hands and signed, I didn’t know he was going to take her. Tell Till I’m sorry.

  I gasped then glanced back down at the card in my hand.

  Eliza.

  Eliza

  “You ready for the big fight?” Frankie asked me as he settled on the couch with a drink in his hand.

  “Are you really going to let me go if he loses?”

  “I don’t know. He’ll be pretty useless to me after he gets knocked out.” He kicked his feet up on the coffee table and crossed his legs at the ankle. “Plus, the last thing I need is you popping that baby out on me. I don’t like kids as it is. I can’t imagine how much I would hate one with Page blood.” He stirred his drink with his finger and then flipped the TV on.

  I watched from the floor as Till’s picture and stats flashed on the screen. My chest ached to get out of there and back to his side, but it pained me that he was losing his one shot at greatness. I should have been sitting ringside, giddy with excitement and hope. He should have been walking to that ring with his head held high and his determination firmly intact. We’d all lost though.

  “It’s about fucking time you got back. Did you bring me—What the fuck!” Frankie shouted, jumping to his feet as Flint came storming through the door. His blue eyes were dark and barbaric.

  Frankie rushed to the table where his gun was, but Flint was faster. Grabbing his throat, he slammed Frankie to the ground. Their tangled bodies knocked over the table, sending the gun tumbling across the carpeted floor. Flint didn’t say a single word as he landed punch after punch with his right hand. Each blow landed harder than the one before, but he never released his hold on Frankie’s throat. Flint’s knuckles turned white as Frankie’s face turned red.

  I scooted away as far as the door I was tied to would allow as Flint unleashed a savagery I had never witnessed before. I wanted to stop him. That brutal look didn’t belong on my Flint’s face, but I didn’t exactly belong tied to a door either. Frankie lay immobile underneath him, and with the threat gone, I really just wanted to get the hell out of there.

  “Flint!” I yelled, and his head snapped to mine.

  “Shit. Eliza.” He crawled over and patted down my stomach and sides, searching for injury. “Are you okay?”

  “Um . . . I want to go home.” I tried to choke back the sob, but it was a losing battle.

  Flint grabbed both sides of my face and tipped it down to kiss my forehead. “Then let’s get out of here.” He rose to his knees in front of me and went to work untying the knot at my wrist.

  Hope began to swell in my chest. We were so close to getting out of there. Everything was falling into place the way it was supposed to be. The cruel universe had given it a good shot, but the Page family had won in the final round. Till was in the ring, the roar of the crowd on the TV told me that much, and now that I was safe, he could actually have a fair fight.

  My entire body buzzed with the idea that for the first time ever we really could have it all.

  Maybe.

  “Don’t fucking move!” was barked from the doorway.

  Flint’s hands froze as he turned to look over his shoulder. I caught sight of Alex in the doorway, his gun aimed at Frankie. Flint immediately slid in front of me and pushed me over backwards. It wasn’t until I felt the first shot that I realized how wrong I truly was.

  I heard the second shot as I lay on the ground with Flint on top of me. Blood sprayed from Frankie’s head as he too collapsed on the floor.

  Maybe having it all was never meant for us.

  Till

  As the bell rang to end the second round, I sat on the stool, exhausted. After the day’s events, I was in no condition to be fighting at all. However, I was fighting for her—there wasn’t a boxer in the world who could have taken me down. But I would fall anyway.

  I opened my mouth to spit out my mouthpiece when one of the water boys stepped in front of me. As my trainer, Slate should have been the one to do it, so my senses immediately went on alert. I looked over my shoulder to find him just outside of the ring, secretively whispering with Leo. It was a sold-out arena in Vegas. No one should have been whispering in that chaos.

  Leo pointed to the side, and Slate’s eyes drifted for only a second before he rushed to the ring. His face was pale, but his expression was murderous.

  “What’s wrong?” I stood up, but he roughly pushed me back down. “Is she okay?”

  He squatted in front of me. “One round. Then I’m calling the fight. You knock this motherfucker out right now or it’s over.”

  “I’m supposed to fall,” I stated as panic built in my stomach. I pushed to my feet. “What the fuck is going on? Where is she?”

  He looked down to Leo and swallowed hard. Leo responded with a nod, and Slate slowly lifted his arm and pointed to the far side of the arena. I swung my head to follow his direction.

  My breath failed me as the weight of the world fell away.

  Eliza.

  She was wrapped in a blanket and surrounded by two uniformed officers, but she was more beautiful than I had ever seen her before. The second our eyes met, she burst into tears, and it was all I could do to keep my knees from buckling.

  “Oh, God.” I breathed. I lifted my hands to sign before remembering my gloves.

  “I’m okay,” she mouthed with a steady stream of tears dripping from her chin.

  I nodded and swallowed the lump in my throat. I wouldn’t believe it until I held her. I’d started to climb through the ropes when Slate grabbed my arm.

  “No. Finish this.”

  I looked back at Eliza and smiled weakly.

  “Why only one round if she’s okay?” I asked Slate without tearing my eyes off Eliza. I bounced on my toes and shook out my arms, trying to get myself back into the fight but finding it impossible.

  Slate didn’t have a chance to respond before Eliza gave me the answer.

  From under the blanket, she lifted a shaky hand to wipe away her tears, but her fingers left a streak of blood across her cheek.

  My eyes went wide. “Eliza!” I called out, but there was no way she could hear me over the crowd.

  I love you. I’m okay, she signed as one of the officers started to guide her away.

  “Eliza!” I yelled as I traced the ropes down the side of the ring to follow her. I was vaguely aware of the ref pushing me back to my corner, but all I cou
ld see was the blood painting her face.

  Slate moved in front of me as she disappeared around the corner. “One round.”

  “Why is she bleeding? What the fuck is going on?” I shoved his chest.

  “She’s fine. Get your ass in that corner. Three minutes. Then you are out of here.”

  I studied his eyes. “Swear to me she’s okay? Swear it!” I barked, backing into my corner.

  “She’ll be fine. Now, hurry this the fuck up. You have one round to secure your entire future. There are millions on the other side of that bell. Claim them.” He pointed across the ring as he folded out. “Silence him.”

  That I could do.

  With a deep breath, I called up every bit of strength I had left. I drew from Eliza and the images of the life we were going to have together. The future I could provide not just Blakely, but also Flint and Quarry. I could win this for them.

  The fight had been somewhat one-sided until that point—and not my side. It was obvious that Matthews wasn’t the same fighter I’d easily knocked out all those years ago. Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t the same Till Page either.

  Sixty seconds later, with the same combination I’d knocked him out with the first time, I made my own dreams come true. Rick Matthews stumbled back against the ropes before collapsing to the mat. The combination wasn’t anything special or unique to boxing, but it was conceived from a desperate need for me to get to Eliza’s side. And for that alone, it was unstoppable. I counted around my mouthpiece as the ref issued a ten-count, but I could have told you at three that the fight was over.

  When the ref waved his hands to call the fight, the crowd went nuts. The vibrations from the cheering fans were unforgettable, but it was the sight of thousands of fans twisting their open hands in sign language applause that choked me up. I lifted a glove in appreciation to the fans on all four sides of the ring, but that was my only celebration.

  “Let’s go!” I barked at Slate as he started pulling my gloves off. For a man who had just won his very first championship belt, my corner was entirely too subdued.

  “Wait,” he signed back. “Let them lift your glove and we’re out of here, okay? There’s a car waiting out back.”