My Salvation (24 page)

They sat together, their breathing labored,
slick with sweat. His body still felt on fire for her. “Holy
fucking shit,” she said. “I think this is my new favorite
room.”

Owen smiled and nipped along her neck. “Mine
too.”

She relaxed into him and he could tell
exhaustion was beginning to take over. He stood, placing her on the
floor for a moment to gather their clothes, then lifted her into
his arms. He carried her, naked, to the bedroom and placed her on
the edge of the bathtub.

After filling it with soapy, warm water, he
placed Cali into it and slid in behind her. She was the most
precious person in the world to him and he took care of her as
such. Resting her head on his collarbone, she sighed.

Once he had cleaned both of them, he stepped out
of the tub and grabbed a towel to dry off quickly. He helped her
from the tub and dried her off from head to toe.

Standing behind her, he gently caressed her body
while she dried her hair. Owen never had been so drawn to someone
sexually. They brushed their teeth and both crawled into bed. He
spooned her, his favorite way to sleep.

Putting his mouth to her ear, he said, “You are
my entire world. I love you with all of my heart and soul.”

She turned in his arms, facing him. Her thumb
smoothed over his cheek. “I love you so much. When I’m with you,
everything falls away. It’s only us, nothing else matters. You are
my one true love.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. She was tired and
he didn’t want to start something. She needed her rest. “Sleep,
beautiful." Cali’s eyes fluttered shut and within minutes her
breathing evened out.

The sound of music infiltrated his dream, waking
him. He reached over and smacked the snooze button on the alarm. It
was Friday and that meant Cali was coming to work with him. Any day
she was in the office put him in a better mood.

An hour later, they were in the car riding to
work. She turned to talk to him. “Oh, before I forget, Avery and I
are having lunch today.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Avery?”

“Yes,
Avery
. I’m really starting to
like her. She isn’t as bad as I first thought. We’re going to order
in and eat in her office.”

“Can I join you?”

“Nope. Girls only. Besides, you’ll have me to
yourself all weekend.”

He pointed at her and said, “Fine, but you owe
me.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Remember that this weekend.”

He was wrapped up in work and didn’t realize the
time. Cali entered his office from the side door to drop off a
container of Chinese food. Smiling, he thanked her for thinking of
him. She kissed him and left to go eat with Avery.

An hour later he heard a knock on his door.
“Come in.”

He was surprised to see who entered. The woman
who came in had on fitted jeans and a loose black blouse. She wore
black heels and walked very sensually. Her strawberry blonde hair
was pulled into a ponytail at the base of her neck.

Her makeup was light and blue eyes pierced him.
He saw Steven roll his eyes and shut the door behind her. She
stopped when she stood directly across from his desk.

“Hi Owen. I was hoping we could talk.”

“Mia. I’ve told you before, I have nothing to
say.”

She took a seat in front of him. “I haven’t been
able to move on from you. You still hold a piece of my heart. Sure
I date, but no one has been able to take care of me the way you
did.”

“I’m in a committed relationship, Mia. Cali
lives with me. You and I are over. We’ve been over for years. There
is no chance of you re-entering my life. I don’t even want you in
my office or in my building.”

“Oh yeah,
her
,” she sneered. “I don’t
know why she’s so special, but fine, if that’s the way you want it.
Can we at least sit and talk so I can put the past behind and get
some closure?”

“You had no problem fucking my brother when you
weren’t with me. You should have gotten your closure when I threw
your ass out of my house. I don’t know what I could have done to be
more direct.”

He was trying hard to contain his anger and knew
yelling wouldn’t get her out of his office any quicker. He thought
that if he talked maybe she would finally leave him alone for
good.

“Owen, please, can we at least talk for a few
minutes? I’ll go then, I promise.”

He sighed. “Fine. Do you want something to
drink? Coffee, tea, water?”

“Coffee would be nice, thank you. Please have
one with me. It will make me feel better.”

He stood and walked over to make a couple of
cups of coffee, not sure why he was agreeing to sit with her other
than trying to get her to leave. Owen remembered she liked her
coffee light, no sugar. Bringing two cups to the table, he motioned
for her to sit with him. She did and took a sip.

“Oh, do you have any sugar? I like it sweet
now.”

He went back to grab a little square container
that held different kinds of sweetener. After placing it on the
table he took a seat across from her. Taking a few sips of his
coffee, he sat back, cup still in hand.

“All right, talk,” he said.

And she did. She went on and on about her life,
her family, what she had been doing since they split. It was too
much information. He wasn’t sure why she was telling him everything
or what it had to do with her getting closure. Owen kept sipping
his coffee to keep from laying into her about the nonsense she was
saying.

When he finally went to interrupt her, he
started to feel sick. The room spun and felt like he was going to
throw up. He leaned forward and somehow managed to put his cup on
the table. A sweat broke out all over his body.

“I don’t … I don’t feel good all of the
sudden.”

“Oh no,” he heard Mia say. “Sit back. You look
like you’re going to faint.”

He was vaguely aware that she came to stand near
him and felt her hand on his shoulder. Resting his head on the
chair, he closed his eyes and darkness consumed him.

~ 23 ~

Cali had a great time at lunch. She couldn’t
remember the last time she laughed so hard. Avery told embarrassing
stories about Owen and Cali told her stories from when they were
kids. She finally felt like she had a friend and couldn’t be
happier.

After thanking Avery for lunch she decided to
stop at Owen’s office before returning to work. She wanted to tease
him a little over what Avery had told her. She knew he’d be pissed
at some of the stories.

Erik trailed behind her as she walked to Owen’s
door. Steven was standing outside with an irritated look on his
face. She cocked her head at him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

She noticed his jaw clench and he didn’t
respond. “C’mon, spill. What’s going on?”

Nothing. “Fine, suit yourself, but I need to see
Owen. So move out of the way.”

“I don’t know if you want to go in there,
Cali.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to go in there? Is he in a
meeting?”

“No, not a scheduled one any way.”

She put her hands on her hips, getting angrier
by the second. She wanted to see Owen and couldn’t understand why
Steven wasn’t letting her in.

“Stop being vague, Steven. Move. If you don’t
you know I’ll just go into my office and go through the side
door.”

Steven sighed in defeat, moving aside. He
grabbed her arm before she could enter. “You’re not going to like
who is inside.”

She looked down to where he was holding her and
shook him off. “What the hell? I don’t know what your problem is,
but I’m going to find out what’s going on.”

Cali punched in the code to his office. She
heard the door click and pushed it open. She did not expect the
sight in front of her and for a moment was frozen in place. She
could feel Steven behind her.

Owen was sitting in one of the chairs in his
seating area with his eyes closed and his head tipped back.
Kneeling in front of him was a woman with strawberry blonde hair.
She could only see her back and her head, but immediately knew who
it was.

Mia’s head was in Owen’s lap, bobbing up and
down. Cali couldn’t believe what she was seeing. All of her old
memories from her last relationship came rushing forward. She had
been cheated on and felt her chest get tight at the idea he would
do that to her. She knew he loved her, but Mia was his
ex-girlfriend.
Did seeing Mia again bring back old
memories
, she wondered.

She could feel the tears forming in her eyes,
but quickly blinked them away. Deciding to move forward, she was
unable to stand still any longer. She was going to kick the bitch’s
ass and then confront Owen.

She didn’t say a word as she walked over to
them. Bringing her foot up, she used her high heel to kick Mia in
the side, knocking her over. Looking down, she was relieved to see
she wasn’t blowing Owen like she originally thought. Although, his
belt was undone.
That whore
, Cali thought. She blinked a
few times and noticed his pants were still buttoned and zipped
closed.
I’m really going to kick her ass now.

“What. The. Fuck?”

Mia quickly recovered and stood to face her.
Owen was unmoving in the chair between them. Mia smoothed her hair
and straightened her shirt. She had a smug smile on her face.

“What are you smiling at, bitch?” Cali said.

A knock was heard and she turned to see Steven
and Erik had entered the room, shutting the door behind them. He
must not have wanted the entire floor to hear her yelling at
Mia.

“Mia! I asked you two questions and you have yet
to answer either. What in the hell are you doing?”

Mia’s hand went behind her like she was
scratching her back, but when she brought it back around she was
holding a small handgun. Her finger was on the trigger and she was
pointing the gun straight at Cali.

Cali instinctively put her hands in the air and
retreated a few steps. She felt both Steven and Erik come to flank
her on either side. Glancing at them, she noticed they both had
their guns drawn and aimed at Mia.

“What’s going on Mia?” she asked.

Mia’s voice was cold when she spoke. “Well,
Caliana
, Owen is mine. And before you, there was no one
else since I was with him. Then you enter the picture and ruin
everything.”

Just then she remembered Owen was in the chair.
Looking toward him she noticed he still hadn’t moved. “What did you
do to him?”

“Nothing he won’t wake from in a few hours.
You,” she said shaking her gun at Cali, “ruined everything! You
were supposed to come in, see me in front of him, think I was
sucking his cock, get upset thinking your man was cheating on you
and leave. But, nooo, you had to drag your ass into the room and
make a fucking mess of everything!”

Cali’s voice was laced with venom. “What the
fuck did you do? He better be alive you crazy bitch.”

“Oh, please, like I’d kill him. I just gave him
something to knock him out. You, on the other hand, have bigger
problems. You have been fucking up my plans since you walked back
into his life. You don’t scare easily, do you? Instead of driving
you away, everything I did pushed you further into his arms, but
that’s going to stop. Now.”

She saw Steven start to move next to her and
shook her head. She wanted to know what Mia was talking about
before they disarmed her, knowing Mia didn’t stand a chance with
the two men next to her.

“What plans? What are you talking about?” And
then it clicked. “It was you! You’re the one who destroyed my cabin
and house! You’re the one who set Owen’s cabin on fire!”

Mia laughed, a crazy, loud laugh and said, “It’s
always been me, but if you think I’d get my hands dirty, you’re
wrong. I have people to do that stuff for me.”

She stared at her for a few seconds, thinking.
“You mean the two guys who were with you at the diner? And what was
with the red X on everything?”

“Yes, yes, good for you for figuring it out.
Bravo,” she said in a bored tone. “My guys do all of the shit for
me I don’t wish to handle and they do anything I want. Every one of
those X’s was me moving you out of Owen’s life. I’ve slowly tried
cutting you off from your ever so comfy life and you won’t fucking
leave, but I’m about to rectify that.”

Steven growled low next to Cali. “The fuck you
are.”

“Oh Steven, please. We both know you are all
bite. You won’t shoot a woman.”

“You don’t know a thing of what I will and will
not do. Drop the gun, Mia,” Steven said.

Mia brought her other hand to her chin, rubbing
it, pretending to be deep in thought. “I don’t think so, Steven.
I’m not done with her. I need this bitch out of Owen’s life.”

Cali’s voice lowered, trying to calm Mia down.
“Owen and I are in love. We live together. I’m not going anywhere,
Mia.”

“He doesn’t love you! He can’t, he’s mine!”

Cali could hear sirens and knew someone must
have alerted the police. Internally, she sighed in relief knowing
help was on the way, but the immediate threat was still in front of
her with a gun in hand. On the outside her body was rigid with
fear.

“Mia, put the gun down. Please.” She needed to
try something else. “Owen needs to go to a hospital. Look at him,
he needs medical help. If you love him, you would get him
help.”

Mia took a step forward so she was standing in
between his stretched out legs. She held the gun in one hand, still
pointed at Cali and used the other to reach for his wrist. Her eyes
never left Cali’s.

“He’s got a pulse, he’s fine.”

Steven voice interrupted them. His whole body
was tight, poised to jump. “Give me the gun, Mia. Hand it over and
you won’t get hurt.”

This needs to end
, Cali thought. She
was really worried about Owen and needed to get him out of there.
She wasn’t the only one who thought so. Erik and Steven must have
had the same idea, because what happened next felt like it did in
slow motion.