Page 51 of Charity's Redemption

I lashed out and hooked my foot behind his ankle then, with my other kicked his hip, sending him flying backwards into the seventies style flower corduroy couch.

He bellowed and dropped the towel as he crashed beside it. “You stupid bitch.” Owen scrambled to his feet, his face red with anger, stomped towards me with malice, and wrapped his hands around my throat.

I smiled as he squeezed, which only made him tighten his hold, cutting off my air and blood supply. If he wanted to kill me, this would take a long time and, most likely, he’d tire of it before he could finish the job.

It took three to five minutes, if not longer, of cutting off someone’s air supply for them to die. Depriving their brain of blood… much less time.

But he wouldn’t know that.

Owen wasn’t a killer.

He was an enraged man with a lack of control over his emotions, and I was the catalyst that tipped him over the edge. With every poke and prod of his buttons, I’d send him fumbling over the line of morally gray to outright black. There’d be no turning back, and the guilt would eat him alive.

If he killed me and got away by the grace of God, his own conscience would do him in for us.

“Owen, stop. You’re going to kill her.”

Kandy rushed forward, pushing at his shoulder. He lashed out and shoved her away, causing her to stumble back and fall on her ass against the cabinetry door in the entertainment center.

My pulse pounded in my injury as I stared into his eyes with speckles clouding over my vision. It took a certain type of person to look someone in the eyes as he killed them. Serial killers, for instance, enjoyed watching the life slip from their eyes.

People who killed others in a fit of rage, or ‘passion’ as they like to say, couldn’t do it. It’s not in their nature to revel in it.

“You’re no better than her,” Kandy said, groaning.

When was she going to learn not to interrupt angry people? She always got hurt.

Owen's eyes softened as Kandy’s confession cut the fiery hot ties to his anger. He hesitated, his fingers still tight against my throat. The stars faded as black ate up the edges of my vision. My head throbbed from the pressure he trapped inside.

His hands flew out to his sides as though police blew through the door and told him to freeze.

I pulled in air with a wheezy cough, causing my wound on my skull to shoot out spires of profound agony everywhere.

Owen looked at his hands, horrified, as if they had a mind of their own, then backed away from me.

I laughed through my coughing as he looked at Kandy with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.

“I’m sorry. I…”

“It’s okay, baby.”

They walked towards each other and hugged as my laughter became louder.

“Oh my God. This is rich.” I wiped a bit of spittle off my chin with my shoulder as both sets of glaring eyes turned towards me. “You two, together? I think I might just puke. No, wait, you deserve each other.”

I’d be seeing their story on the headline news.

Disgraced FBI Agent murders girlfriend in violent rage after discovering the truth about their relationship.

How was it not obvious to him about what she was doing? There was no way she’d go for someone of his caliber or looks.

Kandy was a pretentious nitwit.

She held herself to a high standard, and the men she dated needed to be well above that level. Which was why I knew Owen didn’t match that, not even in the slightest. She had an ulterior motive for being with this pathetic mess.

“We came together because of you,” Kandy said while grabbing hold of his hand.

“Awe.” I pouted my lips, mocking her. “I’m sure you did.”

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