Page 97 of Sweet Sinners
“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?"
