Page 84 of Hold On

Ren laughed and flicked a switch. “Now we can contact the airfield.”

“Bastard!” Though Dominic laughed.

Ren turned the plane and repeated what he’d said before. Dominic should have known Ren would pull a trick like that. He stared out of the window as Ren flew back to the airfield and communicated with the guy monitoring the flight. His heart jumped as they came in to land but the wheels touched down smoothly and moments later, they were taxiing back to the hangar.

Dominic’s legs wobbled as he stepped onto the ground. “That was great. Thank you.”

Ren smiled. “Which bit was great?”

“All of it.”

“Right answer. I just need to hand over. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Dominic nodded. He went to stand by the bike and while he was waiting, he turned off airplane mode on his phone. That had been…so good. He stared up into the air.I was up there!He wanted to do it again. Except that might be the only opportunity he ever had. Ren was…

Ren walked straight into his arms and kissed him.

“You continue to surprise me,” Ren said.

“And you continue to shock me.”

As Dominic was zipping up his jacket, his phone rang. Ludo Wetherby, the marquess. He was more anxious now than he’d been when they’d landed.

“Hello,” Dominic said.

“Can you come over for a chat?”

“I’m away from Asquith at the moment.”

“When you get back. Call me and I’ll let you in the side door. Just you.”

“Okay.”

Dominic had been about to ask him if there was something wrong, but of course there was. Why would he phone him otherwise?

“The marquess wants to speak to me,” he told Ren. “Just me.”

“Then we’ll go back.”

Chapter Twelve

By the time Dominic was in the same room as James and the marquess, and found Col and Theo there too, his nerves were shredded. What were they going to tell him? He dropped down on the couch next to Col.

“I’m guessing it’s not good news about Kilic,” Dominic said.

“There’s nothing good to be said about Miran Kilic and his family,” the marquess told him. “They’re into everything you can think of: running prostitutes, selling drugs, armed robbery, insurance scams, protection rackets… The list appears endless.”

“It amazes me that they can be known to be doing all that and not have been stopped,” James said.

Dominic shrugged. “The bigger they are, the more careful they are not to get their own hands dirty. There’s always someone they can find to take the blame.”

“Two sons have spent time in prison,” said the marquess. “Adem was one of them. He was the youngest and is obviously very much missed. There’s no outright threat against you that my source was able to uncover, but you are a person of interest. They’re vengeful. They react badly to perceived slights, so in the case of someone who killed one of their own, they consider an eye for an eye as the only justice.”

Dominic could feel hope slithering away. Maybe if he’d been able to prove it was self-defence… Though it probably wouldn’t have made any difference. Adem was still dead. He also worried that two different people were checking up on Kilic. It was as if he was pushing the guy to come after him. He knew the marquess and Ren meant well, but…

“I’m going to send Theo and Col away,” said the marquess. “And I’m suggesting to the Thomases that they go away too.

“We don’t want to,” Theo said.

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