Page 25 of Perfect Convergence

She laughs. “Oh, and my self-preservation instincts are fine, by the way. I was trying to get away from you.”

“Yeah, because you didn’t want another stupid fucking man ruining your life. I think staying alive should be a higher priority, princess.”

She huffs. “I suppose.” Then, turning to look at me, she says, “Thank you. I... I probably could’ve told Adam off. Or outrun him, considering he’s still all beat up. But Thomas...”

When she trails off into silence, I grip the steering wheel. I have no idea what went down in the restaurant, or why she dislikes her stepdad, but none of it’s good. And I hate how scared Wren looked earlier.

“He was going to propose,” she murmurs after a minute or so. She’s staring out the window, running her fingers over her seatbelt. “He was cheating on me, but he was still going to propose. I don’t get it.”

“That’s... fucked up.”

We lapse into silence, and I’m able to catch up with Williams’ car and keep a safe distance.

After a few minutes, Wren says, “Um. Oliver?”

“Yeah?”

“Where are we going?”

Right. I still have to give Wren some kind of explanation. God, Elliot is going to be so pissed.

Shit. I need to call him.

“Hold on, princess. I’ll answer you in a second. But I just remembered I need to call Ell.”

Thankfully, my phone is hooked up to the car, so it’s easy to dial. He answers on the first ring.

“Hey. Where are you? And is Wren okay?”

“Just pulled onto the interstate behind Williams. Looks like he’s headed home.”

“And Wren?”

I don’t miss the unease in his voice. Fuck, I should’ve called them immediately. They’ve probably been worrying this whole time, wondering if she’s safe.

Which she’s not. Not when she’s with us tonight. Especially since, by dragging her along, I’m making her an accessory to fucking murder.

“There’s... been a slight change in plans.”

“What?”

I clear my throat. “Say hi, Wren.”

“Hey Elliot,” she says cheerfully, but she casts me a concerned glance.

There’s silence on the other end of the line. I can picture Elliot sitting in the passenger seat as Rhett drives, trying to think his way out of this.

If Tyler wasn’t in the picture, it’d be a simple decision: I follow Williams until he turns onto his road, and then I take Wren home. But Tyler is a wild card, and Rhett and Elliot may need backup.

But if they do need backup, there’s a chance we’re endangering Wren. And if things go wrong...

After a minute, Elliot sighs. “It’s too big of a risk.”

“We’ll be fine,” I protest. “The plan is damn near perfect. Williams and his men will be sitting ducks.”

“I’m not risking getting her killed,” Elliot says.

“What?” Wren looks at me with a shocked expression, and then she narrows her eyes, and my god, she reminds me so much of Elliot when she’s thinking hard. Then her jaw drops. “Oh my god. Are you guys going to kill him?”

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