Buttons and Shame (Buttons 4)

I walked into the main entryway and headed for the bar. “Yes. That was part of the deal.” I poured him a glass without asking because I knew he never turned down a drink.

“And that’s it?” He swirled the glass before he took a drink. “You send that poor girl back to the devil?”

My eyes narrowed. “You’re one to talk. You kept Pearl as a prisoner for months.”

He shrugged. “This isn’t about me. This is about you. And the situations aren’t comparable. I never borrowed her from Bones. I took her.”

“Yes, I’m sending her back.” She would take the cyanide pills shortly after she returned, and she would die in the middle of the night when no one was paying attention to her. Her death would be violent and painful, but at least her misery would be over. I would never tell Crow what her plans were since he would tell Pearl.

Crow eyed me with his dark gaze, studying my expression like my thoughts were written across my face. He took another drink before he spoke his mind. “You seem fond of her.”

“How so?”

“You comforted her pretty well.”

I didn’t do much. “I’m not as evil as you think I am. I have some compassion…”

“You showed her more than compassion. I saw it.”

I was sleeping with her, so we shared a lot of affection. All of our embraces had become natural, like we’d been a committed couple for years. “The woman broke down after talking about being raped. If you think I’m gonna stand by and do nothing, then you don’t know me very well.”

He shook his glass then finished it off. “Did you ever ask Tristan if you could buy her?”

I wasn’t going to waste my time. “No.”

“You don’t want to pay for her? Or you just don’t care?”

Neither. After being with that woman every night, I knew she was priceless. Like the rarest and most beautiful diamond in the world, she was one-of-a-kind. Tristan would never let her go, no matter what I offered. It was a shame he didn’t treat her better, keep her healthy. She would waste away quickly under the conditions. “She’s not for sale.”

Crow shook his head. “I wish you’d never accepted the exchange. Adelina is all Pearl can talk about anymore.”

I wanted to say I regretted the decision too, especially since I had to give her back. But I knew I didn’t. I enjoyed every morning and every night of having that woman in my bed, of being between her legs. “It is what it is.”

“I feel sorry for you,” he said suddenly, his words out of nowhere.

“Why?”

“You act like you don’t care, but I know giving her back is gonna be hard. I’d feel like shit.”

I already did feel like shit. “None of this is my fault, so I don’t feel bad about it.”

“Everything that happened to Pearl wasn’t my fault either, but that shit still haunts me.”

“That’s your wife. It’s different.”

He tossed the leftover ice into the sink then set the glass on the counter. “Even before she was my wife, it still haunted me.”

21

Adelina

I woke up that morning with the sun right in my face. The curtains were already open even though it was early, but it was a nice way to wake up. My hand moved across the sheet beside me but only came into contact with the bedding.

Cane was gone.

I opened my eyes and sat up. I stretched my arms over my head and released a yawn just as the door opened.

Cane walked inside with a breakfast tray in his hands. On the surface sat two plates of pancakes, bacon, and eggs with a shared side of toast and two coffees. “Just in time.”

I watched the steam rise to the ceiling in the morning light and felt my stomach tighten in hunger. I’d had plenty to eat the night before because Cane and I had a big dinner, but all the food looked delicious, and the fact that he was serving it to me made it better. “You made that for me?”

He set it on the bed then moved beside me. “For both of us.” Like he hadn’t just done something incredibly sweet and out of character, he opened the newspaper and took a bite of his bacon.

I watched him read before I helped myself to the buffet he’d just presented to me, unsure why he went out of his way to do something so thoughtful. No man had ever cooked for me before, let alone brought me breakfast in bed.

I eyed his newspaper and read the front. “The New York Times?” I didn’t think he would read something American when he didn’t even live there.

“I like to keep up-to-date with international events. This paper does a good job covering that. Locals newspapers usually focus on the capital and other cities. Most of my business takes place beyond our borders.”