Page 259 of Redeemed

“Now,Haven,” I shout.

“Look at me.” She’s speaking so calmly that I wonder for a split second if she’s delusional.

Then I look up.

She’s holding a small black case in one hand and a syringe in the other. She mouths the wordsedative,and three realizations hit me at once.

First, it’s exactly what we need.

Second, Mark must’ve brought it, which means he was planning on using it on Haven.

And third, my wife is braver than I’ve given her credit for.

I nod. “Get the gun out of the way first.”

As Haven steps forward, I grip the pressure point on Mark’s wrist hard. He cries out in frustration as the gun clatters to the floor. Haven nudges it out of his reach with her foot.

“You can come closer. I’ve got him,” I tell her. “Now put that right in his neck. There we go. An inch to the left. Perfect. Not too deep.”

Haven follows my instructions perfectly, emptying the syringe into Mark. Hissing in pain, he claws at my arm, but weakness overtakes him within seconds, and his hands fall to the ground.

Once his eyes are closed, I look him over. His hair is messy from our fight, his face is bruised, and blood stains his white shirt.

He’s a shadow of the man I looked up to as a child. In a sense, I lost him just as much as I lost my mother. I’ve watched the strong, kind man I adored slowly descend into greed and selfishness. He abandoned his values long ago. Abandonedme.

The cars, the money, giving me this goddamn mansion—none of it came from a place of love. It was all to get me hooked on a specific way of life. He wants to turn me into a rapacious, slimy bastard, just like him.

But I won’t forget my roots.

And I’ll never forgive him for this.

“Colt.”

I jump at the soft hand on my arm, not able to look away from my father. Part of me is expecting him to jump back up and lunge for Haven again. I can’t let that happen. I can’t let him hurt her.

“Colt, he’s out. You can let go of him.”

Finally, I tear my gaze away from Mark. The warmth in Haven’s brown eyes pulls me back to reality.

My father is unconscious, and Haven is alive. That’s all that matters.

“Angel,” I whisper hoarsely. “Haven, you…”

The sight of my father on top of her flashes through my mind. He was strangling her.Killingher. If I hadn’t gotten here in time…

I crawl off Mark and pull Haven into my lap. While she throws her arms around me, I bury my face in her neck. I need her against me—need to have the physical, undeniable proof that she’s alive.

Ever since I realized the meeting was a setup to get me out of the house, I’ve been panicking. I had no idea if I was going to walk into my house to find Haven dead or not.

I should’ve known better.

“Are you hurt?” I ask, searching her over.

Haven shrugs. “I’ve been through worse.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re not hurt,” I grit out.

“Colt, I feel fine, really.”

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