Page 93 of Hold On

Ren sucked in his cheeks. “Nothing is going to happen until at least… the week after Dad’s party. Do you want us to keep working on the dig or not?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.”

“No one is going to come blazing in, firing guns.”

“Bloody hell!” Will snapped. “Thank you for putting that image in my head.”

“Think about it! If they are after Dominic, they’ll act when he’s on his own, not with a swarm of witnesses.”

“Except you’re not going to leave him alone, are you?”

“If you don’t want us here, then we’ll go.”

Will pulled Ren into his arms. “You know Mum will kill me if I let anything happen to you here. Even if it isn’t my fault. She blamed me for you learning to fly, and for you wanting to join the police. She said I’d put the ideas in your head.”

Ren smiled into Will’s shoulder. “You did.” He wriggled free of his brother’s hold. “Along with not taking drugs, not smoking, and not taking up base jumping. You didn’t do any of those.”

Maybe Will saw something in his face because he paled.

“I don’t take drugs, smoking’s not for me and I have no plans to try base jumping. Okay?”

“I am aware of how you answered that.”

“Look. The marquess has security in place. Theo and Col have been sent away. I’ve heard nothing worrying from my source. If anyone tries anything, it will probably be at the stable block which is under observation.”

“That doesn’t mean you’ll stay safe. Bad enough that you almost got killed because of your job, but this isn’t your job. You’ve only just met this guy. And he’s not exactly suit—”

“Be careful what you say,” Ren snapped.

“What about Dad’s birthday?”

“We’ll still come. I’ll make sure we’re not followed. Everything will be fine.”

“I suppose at least while you’re here, you’re surrounded by people. And you’re better in proper accommodation rather than a tent. Make it up to me. Find me something exciting in that ditch.”

Ren clicked his heels together and saluted his brother. “Aye, aye, sir.”

He and Dominic had the new guy, Travis, and Irma with them that morning. Neither of them was chatty, though he did notice Irma chose to work close to Dominic. It was easy to be suspicious of any curious look he or Dominic garnered, whoever it came from. And not just from those working on the dig but the people who came to watch them.

Then again, who wouldn’t look at Dominic? He was gorgeous.I can’t be the only one who thinks so.Maybe too thin but it made the bones on his face sharp, which in turn made him look fascinating and kind of dangerous. Ren liked the way his hair flopped over his forehead and those thick dark eyelashes… Ren swallowed his groan. He didn’t think it was his imagination that when Dominic stared at him, his dark blue eyes seemed to see more in Ren than anyone had ever seen in him before.

God, I’ve got it bad. I really do need to give myself a hard slap.Maybe after all that time pretending with Levan, his emotions had finally found the chance to bloom and had gone into overdrive. But Dominic was real. The way Ren felt was real. Nothing mattered other than that. Last night, when he’d been inside Dominic, he’d thought his heart had been going to explode with joy along with his cock. If Dominic could get over what had happened to him, Ren could too.

Was Dominic really more secure at the dig, in the midst of a group? In theory, yes, though Ren wanted to hide him away from anyone who might hurt him. Safe until Tuesday? Maybe, but Ren wasn’t taking anything for granted.

Travis found pottery shards in the ditch, then Irma did, followed by Ren. Dominic laughed when Ren cursed.

“What’s funny?” Irma asked.

“Everyone who’s worked with me has discovered something apart from Nic,” Ren said.

“I’m saving myself for a really big find,” Dominic said.

“What do you usually do when you’re not playing in the dirt?” Irma asked.

“We’re data analysts,” Ren said.

“Archaeological data?” she asked.

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