Page 57 of Hold On

Theo whined. “Don’t be mean to him.”

“Theo!” His father raised his eyebrows and Theo glared, then dragged Col out.

“Take a seat.” The marquess pointed to a couch.

Dominic perched on the edge of the cushion and tried not to fidget. The two men sat opposite.

“Would you like a drink?” James asked.

“No, thank you. I want to say how grateful I am that you allowed me to stay here with Col and Theo. I know having me here is an imposition. I won’t outstay my welcome. When I’ve found my feet…”Not going to happen.“…and I hope it won’t take many more days…”It probably will but I won’t let it.“…I’ll move on.”

“You’ve no job,” said the marquess.

“I’ll find one.”

“Doing what?” asked James. “What qualifications do you have?”

Dominic couldn’t help bristling. “Twelve GCSEs, all grade A*. Six A Levels all grade A. First class honours degrees in Classics and Ancient Civilisations, and also in Maths. I’m widely read in many areas including philosophy, history, botany and geography.”And I’m also a complete twat who shouldn’t have said any of that.At least he didn’t add that he was a dab hand with a pair of hairdressing scissors.

The pair glanced at each other.

“I’m sorry,” James said. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I just wondered what sort of job you were looking for.”

Shit. Of course he was.“Despite my achievements, I’m qualified to do nothing. Not even to be a cleaner, but that’s where I’ll start.” No one wanted to clean toilets and he could do that.

“We can offer you a job here in the gardens until you find something suitable.” The marquess leaned forward. “You should take your time. Don’t rush into anything. There has to be something you can do with those subjects. Help with the dig, for a start. You obviously have an interest in ancient civilisations if you did a degree in it.”

“I can’t stay for long.” Dominic forced the words out.

“Why not?” James frowned.

Dominic was torn. How could he burden them with something that might be nothing? But he couldn’t keep quiet, even knowing it was going to make them uneasy about the life they had here, about the safety of those living in or visiting Asquith. Though even if he disappeared, it wouldn’t stop Kilic hurting people to find out where he’d gone.

He felt sick with anxiety to the point where he worried that he’d gag. Taking a deep breath didn’t help. “The reason I spent so long inside was because I was attacked in prison by a guy with a knife. I fought back and he ended up dead. But other inmates claimed the knife was mine and that I was to blame. A prison guard backed up their story. I stood no chance at the trial and instead of six years for murdering my parents, I served almost sixteen. I didn’t deserve to be in as long as that, but… I’d hoped that once I was out…”Get to the point!

Dominic sat up straighter. “The man I killed, Adem Kilic, has a brother who wants me dead. That’s what I was told in Oakhurst by a couple of lifers who threatened me and spread rumours that I was a snitch. I’d have been killed if I’d stayed there. I had to make sure I was transferred to Marsden. I wasn’t as crazy as I led the doctors to believe. But when I was released, Sturdy, my Offender Supervisor, gave me a message, that Miran Kilic saidhe’ll be seeing me.”

He raised his head to look straight at the marquess. “It might just have been an unpleasant parting shot. A lie intended to keep me looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life. I tried to report it at the time, but Sturdy threatened to pretend I’d attacked him. He could easily have found a reason to keep me inside, so I backed down. If I reported it now, he’d deny he ever said it. The only thing I can do to keep Col safe, to keep everyone safe, is to leave. Yet I don’t even know if that would protect Col.” He released a shaky breath. “My brother is everything to me. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for him. But I don’t know how to keep him safe other than walk out of his life.”

Dominic put his head in his hands.Don’t break down. Don’t, don’t, don’t.But it was as if talking about it had made it more real.

“Yet you’ve just said that you’re not sure that leaving would keep him safe,” the marquess said.

James moved to sit next to Dominic. “You’re not alone. You don’t have to deal with this on your own.”

Please don’t touch me.If he did, Dominic knew he’d break down completely.

“How would anyone other than the prison authorities know where you are?” the marquess asked.

“No one else should know. You know. Ren Scott knows. His brother Will—”

“Yes, I know Will.”

“Ren wouldn’t betray me.”Look at me, trusting someone.Though Ren would have his price too. Everyone did.

“Don’t go,” the marquess said. “I’ll arrange extra security. I have people I can speak to about this Miran Kilic. It could be that you’re worrying over nothing. Just a sadistic prison officer who wanted to alarm you. Give it a week and we’ll talk again.”

“We should put location trackers on Col and Theo’s phones and on yours,” James said. “Just in case.”

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