Page 29 of Severance

Slap.

“Ple-ease, Dex,” the woman sobs. “I swear, I didn’t do anything!”

“I fucking saw you with the pool boy!”Slap. Sob.“Do you think I am that fucking stupid?”

Lifting my finger to my lips, I signal to Dahlia to be quiet and I move slowly down the hall, closer to the noises. Peering around the corner, I see Dexter’s mistress in a heap on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Her body wracks with her cries as she hangs her bloodied face in front of her.

With her hands on my back, Dahlia peeks around me and her fingers clench my shirt as she takes in the mess on the dining room floor.

Dexter reaches down, grabbing a fistful of the woman’s hair and jerks her head upward. She cries out loud as he lifts her onto unsteady feet and he backhands her again.

“You need to shut the fuck up,” he barks, tightening his grip on her hair.

The woman nods stiffly as her sobbing subsides. “And then you’ll let me go?” She hiccups and sniffles. “I won’t say a word to anyone.”

Slowly releasing her hair, Dexter runs his hand down the side of her face, lightly brushing the marks he’s left. “Is that what you want, baby? To leave me after everything?”

His hand travels down her throat and he rests it heavily on her collarbone. “I have done everything for you and this is how you want to repay me?”

“Please, don’t hurt me, Dexter,” she whimpers.

With a wicked grin, Dexter lets out a harsh laugh and his hand is wrapped around her throat within the blink of an eye. “You think I’m going to hurt you, baby?” he chuckles, squeezing her throat tighter as he places both hands on her neck now.

The woman struggles against him, fighting for oxygen as she claws at his hands. Dexter’s face dips down to hers as her face begins to change colors.

Dahlia smacks my back as I watch the monster inside of Dexter rear its ugly head in fascination.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Dexter breathes in the woman’s face. “I’m going to kill you.”

With his last words, he quickly lifts her off her feet and holds her in the air by her throat. Her body jerks as she flails her legs around, failing to make any contact with her feet to his body.

“Kai,” Dahlia whispers harshly behind me. “We have to do something.”

She’s right.

Her words draw me out of the trance that I was caught up in. Looking back at her, my eyes meet hers and I know what I must do.

With a swift nod, I step out of the hallway and quietly walk into the dining room. The woman continues to struggle and choke as Dexter laughs loudly while holding her in the air. Neither of them hear me or see me coming.

Dexter has no idea what hits him as I drive the butt of my gun into the back of his skull. His body goes rigid and his hands open, releasing the woman as they both collapse onto the floor.

The woman clutches at her throat and her chest, coughing and choking as she struggles to catch her breath. Dexter is out cold, passed out on the floor.

Leaving Dexter on the ground, I move over to his mistress as Dahlia walks up. The woman jumps and gasps loudly as I reach out, grabbing her arm. She glances up at me with a terrified look in her eyes.

“Dahlia,” I say quietly as I keep my eyes on the battered woman. “Find something in this house that we can use to tie this man up with.” I hear Dahlia’s footsteps behind me as she leaves without a single word.

“Please don’t hurt me,” the woman pleads with me as her eyes fill with tears. “Please. I’ll do whatever you need.”

“I need you to leave and don’t look back,” I tell her sternly, staring her down as the tears spill from her eyes.

“You’re going to just let me go?”

Taking a deep breath, I sigh and run my hands through my hair. “You need to leave.”

Her eyes rapidly search mine as she rises to her feet, waiting for me to pull some shit like Dexter. “Okay.” She nods, slowly walking backward toward the front door.

“I suggest you forget any of this happened or you will pay gravely for that.”

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