Page 72 of Hold On

“Not sure about him. I think he just didn’t like being toldno.”

“Levan got tired of me fighting back. Mild kink is okay. It can be fun, but he kept pushing my boundaries. I was in over my head. Spain and escape turned into a distant dream and I knew I had to get out while I still could. I had a plan. I was going to take the plane. I just had to wait for the right opportunity. Then something happened and…”

“And he tried to kill you.”

“I was crap in bed.”

“Right.”

“You were supposed to laugh,” Ren said.

“What happened?”

“I got caught reading something in Georgian and that was that. A stupid slip. I was seen looking at it too long. Levan put two and two together, got four and that was the end of me. I was beaten and stabbed, then thrown off a cliff into a river. That should have been enough to finish me off but the shock of the cold water brought me round. I managed to hook my arm around a branch and I floated downstream, hidden by the foliage. Apparently, I was found by a bunch of kids who got me to a doctor, then to a hospital. When I came round, I pretended to be Georgian but to have lost my memory. As soon as I was able, I lifted a nurse’s phone and called for help. Next day I was taken to a different hospital. Once I was stable, I was smuggled back to the UK. Took a long while to…recover. And here I am. Still a bit fucked up.”

“Thank you for telling me.”

“I shouldn’t have told you.”

Dominic nodded. “You didn’t have to go into witness protection and change your name?”

“I used a different surname. There was no link to my real identity. And Levan thinks I’m dead. I’m safe enough.”

“Until you met me.”

“Promise me you won’t just walk away,” Ren said quietly. “I can sort of see that you’ve been thinking about it, assuming that will keep everyone safe. Maybe you’ve even thought about going to see Kilic, trying to persuade him to… Shit, I dunno. Not kill you? Not kill Col? I’d advise against it. I sincerely doubt he has a better nature to appeal to. Levan didn’t.”

“I thought I could just move to a big city. Disappear.”

“And risk getting thrown back in prison? If you get a job, you can be traced. If you use your bank card, you can be traced. If you need a doctor… If they threaten Col and he calls to tell you, or they get their hands on him, what are you going to do? And if you block him, and they hurt him because he can’t contact you, how will you feel then?”

Didn’t Ren think he’d already told himself all that? “Do you have any better ideas?”

“For the time being, stay where you are. The marquess has extra protection in place. I have a contact who has a confidential informant who’s listening for chatter. Nothing’s been heard about Kilic coming after you. We should stick together. We both have reasons to keep a low profile. Let’s keep one together. I could rent a place and text your Offender Manager on your behalf, not quite give him the right address so the mistake is mine. Not that he’d come and look. Keep our phones off when we’re there. If we need to make calls, then we go elsewhere.”

Dominic didn’t even want to think about it. But he should, so he did.Oh God. I want to say yes.

“What is there to lose?” Ren asked. “If I can’t stand the way you drape your boxers over the radiators, then we call it a day. Or if you object to my collection of plastic ducks, ditto. Or if you keep talking about Rongorongo or persist in telling me there’s no such thing as a pterodactyl or—”

Dominic shut him up with a kiss.

When they broke for air, Ren smiled. “Can I take that as—what a brilliant suggestion. The answer is yes. When can we start looking?”

Dominic still wavered. “Are you sure?”

“Do you want a list of my dirty habits before you say yes?”

“Should I ask for a list?”

“No. It’ll be more fun for you to discover them for yourself.” Ren grinned.

It was amazing how Dominic’s mood had lightened, how suddenly a future looked possible.

“Let’s find somewhere near the sea,” Ren said. “Kids are about to go back to school, there should be plenty of short-term rentals available.”

“Okay.” Dominic smiled though his heart snagged onshort-term. He knew he was being stupid. They’d only just met. There were a million reasons why this wouldn’t go anywhere. And how could he ever feel safe? But to feel secure for a week or two? To get to know Ren? He’d take it.

They found a place close to a beach, a ninety-minute drive from Asquith, and although it wasn’t available until the following week, it looked perfect, and Ren booked it.

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