Page 139 of You Had Me At Thirteen

‘Stop right where you are,’ I say to him. ‘Matilda, come here, baby.’ I hold out my hand to her, the other one gripping the bag as it remains by my side.

She steps forward, but Eli yanks her back with her hair. She cries out again and reaches up to stop him.

‘Give. Her. To. Me.’ My words grind out through my teeth, spit flying in front of my face.

‘Money first,’ Eli says, nodding to my dad again.

My dad hesitates, but as he crouches to take the bag from me, I punch him in the face, sending him flying backwards. He rolls around on the ground for a moment, holding his nose, which is now pissing with blood.

Laughter erupts from Eli, and he tuts at me. ‘Such a hot-head, Wren. Even when I have your pretty little girlfriend in my hands.’ He runs the barrel of the gun down Matilda’s chest, as he pulls her head back, exposing her neck.

She sucks in her sobs as her wide eyes beg me to save her.

I’ve got you, baby.

I pray she can hear my thoughts.

The bag in my hand tugs at me, feeling like a dead weight, just like my dad is right now, so I throw it at Eli and it lands in the middle of our stand-off.

‘There’s your fucking money, you piece of shit. Now hand my girl over.’ I step forward, my arms outstretched towards Matilda.

‘Steve.’ Eli nods at my dad, so the snivelling arsehole crawls across the dirt and grabs the bag before opening the zipper.

‘Count it,’ Eli says.

‘It’s all there,’ I say. ‘Now hand me my girl.’

My dad looks over at Eli. ‘It’s all there,’ he says, throwing the bag at him.

It falls at his feet, so he kicks it behind him, before he shoves Matilda at me, sending her to the ground. ‘No funny business now, boy.’ With the gun trained on me, he bends to pick up the bag.

Matilda crawls along the gravel, her sobs wracking her body, until she pushes herself up and sprints towards me. She collapses against my chest and buries her head into my shirt, gripping onto it to hold herself up. ‘You came for me,’ she says against my chest. ‘You saved me.’

‘Always, beautiful. You’re safe now.’ I kiss the top of her head, then her lips, but my eyes stay trained on Eli as he places the money in the back seat.

He walks forward again, the gun still out in front of him. ‘I’m a man of my word, Wren. We’re even. I’ll be leaving and you’ll never see me again.’ He glances at my dad. ‘You don’t deserve your son, Steve. If I were you, I’d stay out of his life. You’ll just fuck it up.’

My dad hangs his head, his shoulder sagging. ‘I’m sorry,’ he says, as he cries into his hands.

My entire body shakes as I stare at my father. ‘You’re dead to me. I never want to see you again.’

He holds out a hand. ‘But—’

‘But nothing.’ My focus goes to Matilda, taking her face in my hands while I search for any permanent damage. Her eyes are swollen and bloodshot, but besides the black eye and busted lip, she looks okay.

‘Wren…’ Her bottom lip trembles as she struggles with her words, her beautiful brown eyes darting over my face.

‘Jesus, I know. I’m so sorry, beautiful. Let’s get you home.’ She wraps her arms around my neck when I pick her up and carry her to the car. Once she’s secure in the passenger seat, I move to the front of the car again.

Eli reverses his car over the gravel road, and disappears out of sight, leaving only me and my father in the headlights.

‘Wren,’ he says, sniffing, ‘I’m sorry Matilda got dragged into this. I never thought Eli would go that far.’

I shake my head. ‘Shut your fucking mouth. I have nothing else to say to you.’

My dad takes another step towards the car. ‘Wren. Please, just hear me out.’

‘Go fuck yourself,’ I say, and climb into the car, unable to look at him any longer.

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