Man of the Match: hot celebrity romance (FULL NOVEL)

27. Reunion

[RECAP: Matt has just helped rescue Cara from her deranged ex-fiancé Declan.]

Afterwards it was hard to remember exactly how it all happened. Cara was so overcome that all she could do was call out "help" and the next thing she knew the door was burst open and Matt and her brother Will came falling into the room.

Fiona was there and Cara remembered having her arms around her and being helped up and bundled into the car.

"Let's get you out of here."

She couldn't even remember who said it.

There was some argument as to whether to take her to a hospital or not but she managed to tell them that she just wanted to go home and eventually this was agreed on.

Cara was in the front seat, Will driving again. She had no idea how or why Matt was there. No one asked her any questions which was a blessing as she couldn't face talking. Where was Declan? If he didn't know they had taken her, and he found her gone... she shuddered with fear. The thought of him out there, enraged, was terrifying.

"Should we go to the police first?" Fiona asked.

"It might be wise. Can you handle that, Cara?" It was Will who asked her.

She would manage it somehow. "Yes."

It wasn't too much of an ordeal down at the station. A female officer, who was very sympathetic, was assigned to Cara. Some photos were taken of her wrists which had some bad bruising and injury from the handcuffs. There was also a large bruise on her face where Declan had struck her when he found out about the pregnancy. They asked her various questions and it was all typed up and then she had to read through and sign it.

There was now a warrant out for Declan's arrest and Cara was given some basic safety advice.

She was dying to know how they had found her and why Matt was there, but she was so exhausted that she nearly fell asleep in the car.

"You go straight to bed, we'll all be here all night," Fiona told her. "The doors are all locked, Matt and Will can crash in the living room, there's no way anyone is going to get in let alone get past them."

* * *

Matt had been shocked at how Cara looked when they found her in the cottage. She was incredibly pale and tired and had clearly been through an ordeal. The bruise on her face particularly enraged him. Declan would be lucky if the police found him before Matt and Will did.

Mostly Matt blamed himself. He had had the chance to intervene that day, he should have known something was up, but instead he had left her in the clutches of her deranged ex-fiancé. His pride and knee-jerk reaction once again getting in the way of his common sense and better judgement.

Matt was also frustrated because he was dying to just be with Cara, alone, but he understood the importance of her friends and family right now. He wasn't yet family. Hopefully that would one day change.

He had switched his phone off a few hours ago and had no desire to turn it back on. He knew there would be a dozen or more missed calls and voicemails asking where the hell he was.

Right now his only focus was Cara and sorting out the mess and misunderstanding. Hoping that she would forgive him, if he could ever forgive himself for what he must have put her through.

* * *

When Cara awoke in the morning he was there. Matt. She had had the strangest and most awful dreams, but through them a realisation that she was safe again and that Matt was nearby.