Buttons & Hate (Buttons 2)

I wouldn’t be able to keep my anger back for a moment longer. After what he did to her, I didn’t look at him as my brother. I saw him as my enemy. “We need to work together to take him down, Cane. Once and for all.”

“Take down one of the biggest criminal masterminds in Europe?” he asked incredulously.

“Yes.”

He walked to the table and poured himself another glass of scotch. He downed the entire thing before he turned back to me. Drops of the gold liquid hung from his bottom lip before he wiped them away with his sleeve. “If that were possible we would have done that a long time ago.”

“It is possible.”

“The original plan is better. It’s working. He’s writhing right now.”

Button wouldn’t suffer again. She was off limits—to everyone. “No.”

He slammed his empty glass down, almost shattering it. “If you were in love with this woman I would be more understanding. Is that the case?”

Love wasn’t in my vocabulary. I hadn’t said the words to anyone for fifteen years. It was a miracle that I formed some attachment to Button at all. But love was out of the question. “No.”

“Then I don’t understand.”

I didn’t understand it either. “Bones thinks we’re mutilating her as we speak thanks to your pictures. So we don’t need to do much more anyway. When he makes a move to steal her back, we’ll take him out.”

“Or we could hand her over and watch her die in his arms.”

She wasn’t dying in anyone’s arms. “Cane, I said no.”

“And I said yes.”

I was going to shoot him right between the eyes. “Get on board or you’re out.”

“Out of what?”

“Out of my life.” He could take the weapon business. It didn’t mean much to me. If he was going to work against me then I couldn’t trust him. And if I couldn’t trust him then we would get nowhere. “Work with me or walk away.”

He leaned against the back of the couch, his arms still across his chest.

“I loved Vanessa too. I want to destroy Bones for what he’s done to our family. My devotion is the same as it’s always been. But I don’t want to sacrifice Pearl for it. That’s a compromise you should be willing to take.”

His look was as cold as ever.

“Cane.”

He refused to look at me, keeping his thoughts hidden.

“Do we have an understanding or not?”

His resentful increased by the second. His cold nature filled the room, making it fill like winter rather than summer. He was childish by nature and immature by stature, hating the fact he always lived in my shadow. Our father picked on me more than Cane, but that was because I was the first son. Cane never appreciated that. “I guess.”

“That’s not a sufficient answer.”

“What the hell do you want me to say?” he snapped. “Do you want me to bow? Do you want me to get on my knees and kiss your feet?”

“I just want you to have my back—like I have yours.”

He gave me a sneer. “You stopped having my back the second that cunt came into the picture.”

“No. You stopped having mine.”

“Fine. Whatever.” He uncrossed his arms and stopped leaning against the couch. “But I want Bones to buried six feet under. I want him to have a death so painful he’ll suffer in the next life. Got it?”

That was something we could finally agree on. “Got it.”

“Alright. Now let’s take him down.”

I pulled my gun out of my jeans and set it on the counter.

Cane watched my movements. “What are you doing?”

I cracked my knuckles and stretched my arms. “Our deal still stands. But I have to get retribution for what you did to me. You broke into my house and beat her to an inch from life. I’ll never forgive you for that. I’ll never forget how much you hurt her.”

Cane’s surprise vanished. He even seemed a little bored. “I suspected this was coming...”

“An eye for an eye.” This wouldn’t make Button feel better but she deserved justice. She was just an innocent woman caught in a firestorm of testosterone. But she would be represented just like everyone else. “I’m going to take pictures of my handiwork and show them to her.” Just as he did with Bones.

“She asked you to do this?” he asked incredulously.

“No.” I pulled my arm back and slugged him hard across the face, making blood fly from his nose and mouth. “I’m doing this just for me.”

***

When I entered the bedroom I was disappointed to see that she was sitting up in bed with her knees pulled to her chest. The fire had dimmed to hot coals and the room was hardly lit by the flames. But there was enough light to see the expression on her face. She was worried, having no idea where I went or when I would return.