Page 67 of Hold On

“You hope.”

A muscle twitched in Ren’s face. “They think I’m dead.”

“Do I need to repeat my last comment?”

Ren bristled. “I’m not going to spend the rest of my life worrying that they might discover I didn’t die.”Except I am worried.“I like him.”

“I guessed that.”

“Give him a chance. Please.”

“Not if he’s a danger to you. No. I don’t want him around here.”

Will walked out of the tent and Ren clenched his teeth.

When he was back with Dominic, Ren tried to smile.

“Ah,” Dominic said. “The face that sank a thousand ships. You told him everything?”

“Not how hot you are and how you go all…”Don’t joke!“Yes. I felt I had to, in case there’s trouble.”

Dominic nodded. “What did he say? Run fast the other way?”

“Sort of.”

“He’s right.”

“No, he’s not.”

Ren and Dominic had a different couple with them for the next half of the morning. Herb, the guy with the horrible ears, who was from London, and Julia, a forty-something woman from Hastings, who was in shorts so tight they looked in danger of splitting.

As before, the woman was chatty, the man was not, but they both worked hard. Herb found a Roman coin and when Ren saw Dominic’s face, he wished Dominic had been the one to find it, especially if he wasn’t going to be allowed on the dig again. Though he was going to try and change Will’s mind about that.

“What is it?” Herb asked.

“No idea,” Ren said. The metal was very degraded. “Take it to the guy in the finds tent. He might be able to tell you. Might as well stop for lunch now.”

“I’ll come with you,” Julia told Herb.

While Dominic was showering, Ren took Will aside for another chat.

“Please don’t turn your back on him,” Ren said quietly.

“You’re thinking with your dick. You know better. My God, Ren, the guy killed three people. I looked him up. He was called ‘viciously cruel’ and ‘sadistic’. He tortured his parents. Get rid of him.”

“No.”

Ren and Dominic ate lunch in a beer garden, tucking into gourmet burgers and thick-cut chips. Ren was relieved to see Dominic eating. He didn’t want to tell him that Will didn’t want him back on site.If I come up with stuff for us to do instead, I’ll never have to tell him.

“I enjoyed myself this morning,” Dominic said. “I can see how addictive it is.”

Don’t think that!“It’s boring.”

“Right. So Will wants me gone. I’m not to work on the dig anymore?”

“Why do you say that?”

“I can sense it and I know how protective older brothers can be. It’s okay. I understand. It would only have been a few days more anyway.”

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