Buttons & Hate (Buttons 2)

I walked inside and set my gun on the table near the door. The safety was gone and it wasn’t even loaded.

She turned her eyes on me and the relief spread across her face. “You’re back...thank goodness.”

“I would never leave you unprotected. There are guards outside.”

“I don’t care about that. I was worried about you.”

I kept my hands from her sight so she wouldn’t see the dried blood caked into the skin. “You never have to worry about me.”

She grabbed my arm and pulled me to the bed the second I was close enough. She wasn’t strong enough to force me to do anything, but once she touched me I complied. “Where were you?”

I didn’t like being questioned. It went against my authority. “I’m not a fan of interrogation.”

“Answer me. You snuck out in the middle of the night for a reason.”

“No. Sometimes business must be done during the night.”

“Or you didn’t want me to know what you were doing.”

“Maybe.” I held my tongue and stared at the fire.

“Crow.” She commanded me with just her voice. She was broken and weak, but she still retained the authority of a general. “Tell me.” Her hair was a mess from tossing and turning, and the t-shirt was a several sizes too big. If her lips were red and puckered it would look like she’d just been fucked hard.

I had to focus. “I went to see Cane.”

“Oh...” Hatred filled her eyes but she didn’t speak of it. It was a fine line she didn’t cross. She wanted to insult him but she held her tongue because he was my brother. She had too much respect for me.

And I didn’t deserve it. “I straightened things out with him. He won’t bother you.”

Her eyes glowed from the flames in the fire.

“And then I gave him what he deserved.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and opened the pictures.

She didn’t look at them. “What happened to your hands?”

I held the phone out to her. “You’ll see.”

She stared at the phone and navigated through the different pictures, seeing Cane just as messed up as she was. Blood was everywhere and he was beaten until he passed out. “You didn’t have to do that...”

“Yes, I did.” I didn’t have any regrets. “He trespassed on my property and violated my guest. I don’t care if he’s family. I couldn’t let him get away with that. I couldn’t let him hurt you and do nothing about it. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him.”

“I wouldn’t have wanted you to kill him.”

I couldn’t hold back my surprise. I turned to her, unable to believe what I just heard. “You shouldn’t feel pity for him.”

“He’s your brother. I wouldn’t want you to lose your last family member.”

How could she say that after he tried to rape her twice and then beat her senseless? “He doesn’t deserve your compassion.”

“No. But you do.”

I turned away because I couldn’t hold her look anymore.

“I just wish I understood why. Why is he so intent on hurting me? He ripped me apart like I’d wronged him in some way. That kind of brutality doesn’t come from nowhere. It comes with a reason.”

I didn’t want to tell her the truth. Not because I had something to hide or wanted to keep it a secret. It was just painful to talk about. I’d avoided my emotions since the night it happened. I refused to grieve or even think about it because it was enough to kill me.

“Crow...tell me.”

When she lowered her words to a beautiful whisper I couldn’t refuse her. “Cane does have a reason for wanting to cause you insufferable pain. And if I didn’t care about you, I’d say he was justified. My brother and I aren’t good men. We have very closed minds and will eliminate anyone who gets in our way—even if they are innocent. Unfortunately, you’re the innocent bystander in this case.”

She remained silent and waited for more of the story.

“I told you about my sister...” I didn’t want to say her name. I could say it to Cane but it was difficult to speak it to her. “That she passed away recently.”

She nodded. “Of course, I remember.”

“Bones kidnapped her three months before you got off that ship. He kept her as his prisoner and raped her, mutilated her, and destroyed her. He did it to make Cane and I suffer. We did everything we could to find her. Bones kept moving, staying at different safe houses so we could never track him down. But he would always send us images...things he did to her.” I swallowed the lump in my throat because the pain was about to drag me under. Knowing she was suffering while I lived in my mansion was the worst feeling in the world. I slept in a safe place while she fought to live another day. “Cane and I finally made contact. We offered a great deal of money in exchange. To our surprise, he agreed.”