Page 53 of Sweet Sinners

Chapter forty-five

Connor

I 'm seconds from stepping in, ready to rip that knife from Anna’s grip, but Cali moves first.

She kicks Anna’s legs out from under her. Anna hits the floor hard, the knife skittering from her hand. Before Anna can recover, Cali pins her down, thumb digging mercilessly into her wrist until Anna lets out a hiss and drops the blade.

“You never see the bigger picture, do you?” Cali snarls, leaning in close. Her voice is dangerously soft, her breathing ragged. “Always blaming everyone else, always the victim.”

Anna thrashes wildly beneath her. “Shut up!”

My eyes flick to the security camera I set up in the study. The red light blinks steadily. Audio and video—everything recorded. Solid evidence.

Cali grabs the knife and throws it across the room, metal scraping sharply across hardwood. Anna tries to roll her off, but Cali holds firm.

“You just can’t handle seeing anyone else happy, can you?” Cali’s tone cuts deep, sharper than the knife itself. “If you can't have it, no one else can, right?”

Anna’s knee jerks up, catching Cali hard in the stomach. Cali gasps, and Anna flips them, straddling her, fingers closing tight around Cali’s throat.

“You don’t get to ruin my life,” Anna hisses, eyes wild with rage. Her grip tightens. Cali struggles beneath her, eyes wide, breath choking off. “You and Connor just couldn’t leave it alone, could you?”

I step closer, silently, every muscle tense.

Anna leans in, her voice venomous. “Enjoy joining your daddy, Cali. Maybe your boyfriend can finally get the life sentence he deserves.”

Enough.

I move fast, gripping Anna’s wrists and hauling her off Cali. Anna screams, twisting and kicking wildly, fighting me with every ounce of her strength. But I hold firm, pinning her arms behind her back.

Cali coughs violently, rubbing her throat. She sits up slowly, eyes blazing, fierce, determined. Almost wild.

For a second, I wonder why she didn’t fight back harder, sooner but then I see it.

Her phone is clutched tight in her trembling hand.

"I don't think so," Cali gasps out, voice ragged but fierce. She inches closer, too damn close for comfort. "Good luck convincing the police now. "

Anna moves fast. She drives her foot into Cali’s stomach, knocking the phone from her grip. It shatters against the hardwood floor.

Before I can lunge forward, Anna sinks her teeth into my arm. Pain erupts, hot and sharp. I grunt, barely registering it before her knee slams viciously into my groin. I collapse, fighting the urge to vomit, vision darkening at the edges.

"You don't get it, do you?" Anna screams, breathing hard, hair wild around her face. "Neither of you could just let this go!"

My heart stops when she pulls something from behind her back—a gun, black and gleaming, deadly in the dim light.

Fear paralyzes me. I watch her finger slide toward the trigger. Time slows. My breath catches, certain this is how it ends.

Then, movement, a blur. Cali tackles Anna, sending them both crashing to the floor.

A gunshot splits the room, ears ringing, gunpowder bitter on my tongue. White-hot pain slices into my shoulder. I scream, but adrenaline forces me up. I surge forward, ripping the weapon from Anna’s grip.

Another shot rings out, deafening. I wrench the barrel upward just in time. Anna screams, the sickening crunch of bone echoing through the room.

"You don’t get to take her life," I snarl, voice ragged with fury. My shoulder throbs violently, blood soaking my shirt. I barely feel it. "You'll fit right in at prison, Anna. They'll eat you alive."

Cali scrambles on top of her, knee pressing mercilessly into Anna’s spine. Anna thrashes wildly, but Cali's eyes blaze as she delivers a brutal punch its solid, ruthless. Our boxing lessons clearly paying off. Anna's head snaps sideways, and she goes limp.

Blood pools under her nose, fingers twisted unnaturally. She deserves worse. So much worse .

I step closer, rage pounding through my veins. My fists clench, muscles tight, ready to unleash every ounce of fury inside me. My foot hovers inches from Anna’s head—

Cali’s fingers curl softly around my thigh. "Connor," she whispers.

I don’t move, fighting against the savage urge to break Anna apart, to watch her suffer. But Cali’s grip tightens, her voice cuts through my storm.

"Connor," she breathed again, her voice softer now, almost pleading. "I want you. I want us. But if you do this, if you cross that line, there won't be anything left to save."

Her words are a knife, slicing straight to the core of me.

I close my eyes, breathing heavily through clenched teeth.

"She deserves it, Cali," I choke out, voice cracking.

"She murdered my mother. My mom was innocent. Anna destroyed my fucking life. Three years in prison, I killed someone in there! What’s one more? She deserves worse than this!"

"You’re better than this," Cali says, voice steady despite her trembling body. Her eyes hold mine fiercely, unafraid. "Don’t prove everyone else right. Don't prove her right. Please don't prove me wrong."

"What?" My breath catches.

She takes a shaky inhale, gaze locked on mine. "If you kill her, you lose everything, freedom, your dreams, me . Do you really want revenge more than you want us? Is it worth trading a lifetime together for one moment?"

Her words slam into me harder than any punch I've taken. My chest tightens painfully, breath coming short and ragged. My body trembles, torn between rage and desperation.

"I killed someone, Cali," I whisper, broken, raw. "You heard me. I did exactly what everyone said. How can you still want me after knowing that? "

"Connor," she breathes, eyes blazing, desperate. "I don't care what you had to do to survive. What matters is now. You're here, with me. We bleed the same, baby."

Something inside me snaps. The rage loosens its grip, leaving behind exhaustion and relief. My fists slowly unclench. My heart pounds in my chest, aching from more than just the wound.

"Connor," she urges softly, grounding me again. "Get something to tie her hands. The police are on their way. We've worked too hard, fought too long. I'm choosing you right now. Are you choosing revenge, or are you choosing me?"

My throat closes, emotion choking me. Cali’s gaze holds me steady, the only clarity I've had in years.

I exhale shakily, nodding, the decision settling like steel inside me.

"I'm choosing you," I whisper.

Her eyes soften, relief and love shining in their depths. It's time we end this, once and for all.

Without another word, I stride quickly to the kitchen. I grab an old, ragged towel—thin, worn from years of use—and return, binding Anna’s wrists tightly. Cali scrambles off Anna, backing away quickly before standing.

Her eyes suddenly widen. "Shit, Connor, you're shot."

I glance down, noticing for the first time how the blood soaks through my shirt. I flex my fingers, feeling them cold, numb. "Yeah," I say quietly. "Kind of sucks."

"Give me your phone," she blurts, urgency making her voice shake. "We need to check if—"

Sirens cut through the air, drowning her words.

She exhales sharply, relief visibly washing over her.

She closes the distance, pressing her forehead against my chest, her fingers twisting in the fabric of my shirt.

Her body trembles violently as the fear and adrenaline finally break through her defenses.

Her shoulders shake with sobs she's clearly been holding in.

"She was going to kill me," Cali whispers, voice raw with emotion.

I rub her back gently with my good hand, pressing a slow kiss to the top of her head. "I wasn't gonna let that happen, Angel," I promise roughly. "You're gonna live a long, beautiful life."

Her tear-filled eyes find mine, wide with lingering terror. She rises on tiptoe, and I lean down instinctively, kissing her softly, tenderly, then deeper, needing to feel her alive and safe in my arms. Her warmth seeps into me, melting away some of the sharpness of pain.

"Calliope," I breathe against her lips, her name a quiet promise.

She brushes her fingers through my hair, her gaze softening as she whispers, "I already see it, Connor. We'll finally go to the lake. Visit every restaurant you've dreamed about. I'll take a long vacation, we'll be normal and finally free."

She makes it sound so simple, as if the only thing holding us back was everyone thinking I'm guilty. It won't be that easy—I know it won't—but right now, holding her, it feels possible. With Cali, surviving anything feels possible.

I draw her closer, wrapping my injured arm around her despite the ache, holding her tighter. Resting my cheek on her hair, I sigh deeply. "Thank you."

Two sharp knocks echo from the front door, breaking us apart. I grip her hand firmly as I open it, and officers rush inside.

One cop steps forward, glancing warily at me, but Cali points toward the study, speaking quickly, clearly. "Anna attacked us. She tried to kill us both. There’s a gun and a knife. I think she's still unconscious but I’m afraid she might wake up."

The officers finally move, taking control as they should’ve from the beginning. They question me, and I answer without hesitation. Cali does the same. We hand over all the footage, all the evidence we’ve carefully gathered against Anna.

They load me onto the stretcher, and Cali refuses to release my hand.

Even as the paramedics tell her to step back, she ignores them, gripping me tighter, her knuckles white.

Her whole body trembles, the adrenaline crashing now.

I don't look away from her, not until they wheel me into surgery at the hospital and force her to let go.

I'm not afraid, not of surgery, recovery, or even the inevitable media chaos. None of it matters, because I have Cali. She'll be there when I wake, and she’ll stay beside me every step after that.

And soon, she’ll realize she loves me exactly the way I love her.