Page 73 of Waiting Game

Pete stared daggers at me, and I looked between the two men, before I shook my head.

“Please don’t leave me with him,” I begged Ren.

One side of his mouth tugged into a slight smile before he shook his head, “never.”

Ren pushed Pete to the side, and headed towards me. But before I could reach the safety and comfort of his arms, Pete swung, punching Ren in the side of the jaw.

Ren touched a hand to his face, and laughed slightly, shaking his head.

“You fucked up, mate,” he said, before launching towards him and pushing him against the wall by the throat.

Ren laid a few punches to Pete’s torso, causing him to crumple to the ground and groan. I was sure that before now, Pete had never been in a fight in his life.

Ren dropped to the ground as Pete did, pulling a small switchblade from his pocket and holding it to Pete’s throat. He grabbed a fistful of Pete’s hair, and yanked his head up, hovering the blade by Pete’s neck.

“You come near her again, and you’ll find out exactly what I’m capable of. And I won’t even need the help of my‘little gang’to end your fucking life,” he threatened.

Pete swallowed as he watched Ren, his eyes bulging with fear.

“Now, leave,” Ren whispered, close to Pete’s face, dropping his head and letting him fall to the ground.

Pete scrambled to his feet, and rushed to the door, looking at me only once before he left.

I held a hand to my chest.

So much had happened in just a few minutes.

But I just stood and stared at him. At the beautiful man who was standing in my house. I never thought I would see him here, and by being in Perth it was like he didn’t even exist - but here he was.

He watched me carefully, putting away his knife and coming to me slowly.

“Val?” he asked, taking my face in his hands, “Val, did he hurt you?”

I shook my head, and looked up at him.

He looked down at my swollen knuckles and took my hand into his, cupping it gently and bringing it to his lips.

“Were you the cause of the bloody nose?”

I only nodded, still not quite able to string any words together.

He chuckled, “that’s my girl.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked, frowning.

He considered me for a second, before his eyes dropped to the ground.

“What?” I asked.

He stepped back, looking around, until he spied the pile of clothes on my bed. He stormed towards it without another word, and started shoving the clothes back into my bag frantically.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m bringing you home,” he said, not turning to look at me, just picking things up and stuffing them into bags.

“What? No you’re not. You can’t just make that decision for me.”

“You’re leaving me no choice Val. How can I keep you safe all the way on the other side of the country?”

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