Page 1 of Saved By the Game

Prologue

Kybella Vonshire (Bella)

“Help! Help!” Bella screamed. The lobby was full of people, but no one heard Bella. She slowly limped into the hotel lobby from her hotel room she shared with her boyfriend, with blood gushing from her face. The pain was too much to handle, and she fell to the ground from light-headedness. Everyone in the busy hotel lobby overlooked her in pain but Adonis. Adonis, the NBA shooting guard of the Dallas Mavericks, standing six feet, six inches, with a solid, muscular build. He wore a neatly trimmed beard and his hair in a clean fade. He had a quiet confidence about himself, and he looked like a leader. Seeing she was distressed, he quickly ran to help her.

He introduced himself, “Hi there, my name is Adonis. Ma’am, are you okay? Please tell me what happened?” He leaned in and asked me, anticipating my response.

“Please, help me.” Bella replied without looking at the man helping her.

“I’ll call 9-1-1 for you.” Adonis began to take his phone out of his pocket to call for help.

My stomach lurched. “No, don’t call the police. He’ll kill me.” Bella whispered in Adonis’s ear as he held her up, her bodytrembling. No response. He reached out and gently removed my black sunglasses, looking in my disoriented eyes. Her eyes were discolored and beaten so badly that she could barely see out of one of them. “Please, just get me out of the lobby, sir.” Although Bella couldn’t completely see who was helping her, she loved the way he smelled. Bella smelled the scent of Dior Sauvage on him. From her experience, any man that wore Diorwas fine. He approached her in the most calm and sincere way. She had to trust him to help her escape because there was no other choice.

As he picked her up, she wanted to cry in his arms. A wave of dizziness washed over her, and the room seemed to spin, leaving her grasping for stability. She threw her arms around him. It was something about his spirit that calmed her tingling nerves. “Before I leave with a stranger, can you at least give me your name?”

“My name is Adonis Ferguson. Most people call me Game. I’m the star guard of the Dallas Mavericks.”

My heart skipped a beat as I realized it was really him, my favorite NBA player, holding me. “Hi, Adonis, I’m a big fan of yours! If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind helping me get away? I’m sure that if my eyes weren’t swollen and beaten, I would’ve recognized you.”

1

Kybella Vonshire (Bella)

Bella could hear the gasps and whispers as Adonis carried her from the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton hotel. She hoped no one recognized her. Although she was disguised well with a midnight navy baseball cap, black shades, and a black leather jacket. She was a WNBA basketball player. Kybella Vonshire played guard for the Wizards, a professional basketball team.

God blessed her to be the first draft pick for the Wizardsafter graduating college in 2023. At twenty-three years old, she was living the life of her dreams. Everyone was shocked when she was drafted to play for theWNBAbecause she was redshirted her senior year in college. Basketball was her passion, but she also loved children. Her academic goal was achieved as she graduated college with a bachelor’s degree in child life studies.

Bella came from a basketball family. Basketball was in her blood. Her father, Devin Vonshire, played for Kansas State Universitybefore being drafted to the New York Knicksin1980. Her mother, Sandra Vonshire, played for the University of Pine Bluff, where she won two national championships. She also worked as a middle school basketball coach for twenty years. Her older sister, Samantha, was also an elite basketball player.She played for the University of South Carolina. Since she was around the game at an early age, it allowed her to have a high basketball IQ. Now her sister Samantha works as a college basketball coach.. While her mom is away living in a vacation home in Arkansas that her parents invested in many years ago.

Bella didn’t have anyone back at home in Dallas because all her family lived in other states. Once she could escape her abusive boyfriend, Brian, she could go back. The only problem was she had to decide where she would live in Dallas, because she refused to go back to the shared mansion with Brian. She needed to produce an escape plan quickly. She was only in Paris to support Brian for the USA Olympic basketball games. Bella’s mother always told her that once she’d had enough mistreatment from a man, she should leave. The time had come where she’d had enough of Brian’s abuse. The thoughts of violence caused her chest to tighten. She took a deep breath and shook the stiffness from her neck to bring her back to reality.

Adonis’s hotel room was located on the second floor, so it didn’t take long for them to make it to his room safely. He held Bella in his arms as if she were light weight for him. She only weighed one hundred and fifty pounds, but she was a lanky petite woman, five feet and nine inches in height. He looked like he lifted two-hundred-pound weights in the gym every other day.Adonis pulled Bella’s long black hair from her eyes to wipe more blood from her face with a towel. Her face was scratched and bruised up like she’d lost a fight. The t-shirt that she wore had a Wizards logo on it and blood stains all over it. He placed Bella on the bed, allowing her to calm down.

“Thank you for helping me. I’m sorry to have bothered you Adonis.”She said in a strangled voice.

“You didn’t bother me and I’m happy that I could help you.” Adonis took a closer look at Bella’s face. Once she removed her shades and outerwear, she was more recognizable. “Aw, I can’t believe it’s you. Don’t you play for the Wizards?”

“Yes, I do.” She reluctantly admitted. Her mouth went dry. She looked down to avoid the feeling of judgment from him.

“Please tell me what happened to you. Who did this to your face? Promise me that you’ll press charges. You’re too beautiful for anyone to hurt you.” Adonis said as he stroked my cheekbone.I immediately flinched when he touched me. Adonis shook his head slowly in disbelief, pulling away from me in agitation.

“Okay, I’ll explain. My boyfriend got upset with me because I told him it was over. I’m tired of the abuse. As I was leaving, he attacked me. He beat me up last month and I called the police on him. He’s in the NBA but got cut from the Buck’s after the owner of the team found out. His sorry ass has been on five different teams in his short career span. I didn’t want to go through that again, so I’m not pressing charges this time. He just got traded to a new team, the Pelicans.

“I got you. I’ll make sure he won’t hurt you again. Look at what he did to your gorgeous face. You have cuts on one eye and the other is severely swollen. Don’t you know how pretty you are? You can’t let nobody mess up your beautiful face.” He pleaded with Bella while looking over her ugly scars.

“Thank you for the encouraging words. I know he isn’t good for me and that’s why I was trying to leave him.” With open body posture, Bella breaths became a little easier. “Honestly, I just wanted a relationship like my parents. I’ve always admired my parents’ marriage. Both my parents had successful basketball careers and successful children. Then I got with aman that was as passionate about basketball as myself. Only he wanted to show his love to other women and his friends, while I gave all my love and affection to him. Instead, all I got was slaps in the face and kicks in my ass. I couldn’t change Brian or make him be a part of my fairytale relationship. I’ve just been terrified without family around and without anywhere to go.”She explained with her eyes watering.

Adonis shook his head at me and stepped away. He paced back and forth. “I want to find Brian and give him the beating he deserves. At the same time, I want to keep you safe.” He announced.

Adonis bowed his head and prayed silently to God. After praying he approached Bella in a happier mood. “So, are you hungry? Do you need me to get you anything to drink? I want to do all I can to help you.”

“I’m good. I’m just stressed.”

“Here, drink some of this juice. It always makes me feel better.” Adonis handed her an Ocean Spray cranberry-apple juice.

“Thanks, this is my favorite drink.” She gushed as she took a sip of the juice and wiped her mouth.

“We have something in common. I keep stock of that cranberry-apple juice with me everywhere that I play.”

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