Buttons and Shame (Buttons 4)

She thought I was a good man? I threatened to her return her to Tristan if she didn’t open her legs. I didn’t deserve such a compliment. “No, I’m not. But you make me less evil.”

“I’ve seen evil, Cane. You aren’t it.” She lifted her head and looked me in the eye, the moisture on the surface of her eyes reflecting the light from the room. She glanced at my lips then leaned in and kissed me, giving me a different kind of embrace than she ever had before. It was soft and full of gratitude, the kind of affection I didn’t deserve. She moved her lips to the corner of my mouth and gave me another kiss before she slipped from my arms and walked back inside.

I continued to stand there, feeling cold the second she left my embrace.

Then my phone started to ring.

I dug it out of my pocket and saw Crow’s name on the screen. He didn’t call me unless he had something important to say, and since he didn’t know I was out of the country, I shut the patio door behind me and took the call. “What’s up?”

Crow was quiet over the line. I knew he was there because I could hear him breathe.

“Crow?” Somehow, I knew he was mad. I could feel the tension through the silence.

“We need to talk about my wife. She did something really fucking stupid.”