Buttons and Shame (Buttons 4)

“So I can never see Pearl?” he asked incredulously.

“You can see her all you want—when I’m around.” Crow grabbed his fork and cut into his lasagna. “I wouldn’t hang out with your wife alone.”

“I wouldn’t care if you did,” Cane argued. “After being with me, she definitely wouldn’t look for lovin’ anywhere else.” He waggled his eyebrows then took a bite of his lunch.

Now Crow wore a permanent glare on his face. “I’ll beat her until she’s nearly dead and see if that changes how you feel.”

I elbowed Crow in the side. “Don’t say things like that.”

“No, that was fair,” Cane said. “I’ll let that one slide.”

We focused on our lunches and ate in silence. The tension was worse now that we weren’t speaking to each other. The conversation Cane and I engaged in just moments ago was easy, like two friends chatting. But the second Crow walked inside, he brought in a foul mood with him.

“Cane was just telling me that the business has changed since—” I stumbled before I said his name, knowing Crow didn’t want that man ever to be mentioned again. “The chain of command has been mixed up.”

“It’ll go back to normal in no time,” Crow said. “When one villain falls, there’s another one to replace him. If that weren’t the case, we wouldn’t have much of a business anymore.”

“There’ll always be business when it comes to arms dealership,” Cane said before he shoved another piece of lasagna into his mouth. “Do you come home for lunch often?”

“When I miss my wife.” Crow didn’t give me as much affection as he normally did, and I suspected that was because he was in a bad mood due to his brother’s presence.

I didn’t want it to stay that way. We were all Barsettis now. “Crow, you need to bury the hatchet with Cane. I enjoy spending time with him, and frankly, your discomfort isn’t going to change anything. We need to move on.”

“I almost lost you twice because of him.” Crow took another drink, downing his glass of wine like it was scotch.

“Twice?” Cane asked. “When’s the second time?”

“When you were stupid enough to get captured, and my wife took your place,” he snarled. “That’s when.”

“That’s not fair,” Cane argued. “That was her decision. I had nothing to do with that—”

“Shut up.” Crow didn’t take his eyes off his food. Insulting his brother was second nature to him.

Cane threw his napkin down. “I know when I’m not welcome. Call me when your period ends.” Cane stormed off and left the dining room.

As if nothing happened, Crow kept eating.

That was the first lunch Cane and I ever had. “Crow, what the hell was that?”

“Are my feelings unclear?” He devoured half of his lasagna in a few bites. When his glass was empty, he poured more wine.

“You need to let this go.”

“Never.”

Crow really had a lot of nerve to say that. “You made me work for my freedom by sleeping with you.” Just because we fell in love and got married didn’t mean his actions were justified. “You should have just let me go, but you didn’t. So don’t act like you’re the most innocent man on earth.”

He swirled his wine before he took a drink. “Did I hurt you?”

My only response was a stare.

“Did I lay a hand on you without your permission?”

My reaction was silence.

“Didn’t think so.” He returned to eating.

“I still think you’re being ridiculous. The three of us have been through a lot together. In case you haven’t noticed, Cane cares about me. He would walk through fire for me. You need to tone it down.”

Crow dropped his fork and repositioned himself in the chair so he was facing me. “If someone had done to me what Cane did to you, would you let it go? I’m not disowning the guy. I just don’t want him to be alone with you.”

“If the situations were identical, yes.”

He stared at me like he didn’t believe me.

“I’m comfortable around Cane. If I weren’t, I would tell you.”

“Your comfort isn’t what concerns me. It’s mine.” He grabbed my glass and drank it before he rose to his feet. “I should go.”

I knew he was mad because he’d only been there for ten minutes. “Apologize to Lars.”

Crow didn’t respond to orders—ever. He adjusted his tie as he ignored me.

“And since you’re in a bad mood, I may as well tell you I made some changes to our bedroom. You aren’t gonna like them, but I do. Get that out of your system while you’re at work so I don’t have to deal with it when you get home.”

He leaned down and hovered, his lips just inches from mine. “This is what’s gonna happen when I get home.” His eyes were trained on mine like a gun on a target. “I’m gonna walk into the bedroom and see you naked on the bed—your ass in the air. I’m gonna fuck that mouth of yours until I’m soaking wet, and then you’re gonna turn around and get fucked so hard you’ll scream. I’m gonna fuck you in the mouth, the pussy—and the ass.” Without waiting for my agreement, he gave me a hard kiss on the mouth and left.