Buttons and Grace (Buttons 6)

Then I heard an explosion.

Cane was here.

Tristan’s prediction was right on the nose. He knew Cane would come, but he was outnumbered. Even with all the resources we had, Cane didn’t have enough men to wield the right firepower.

Hopefully, Cane would flee and get out of there alive. I needed him to take care of Button and the little Barsetti since I wouldn’t be around to look after them. It wouldn’t take long for my brother to figure out there was no possibility he could win this war.

The gunshots started. Yells erupted. Commands were issued. The two men on either side of the door ran out to join the fight since I wasn’t going anywhere. It seemed like I was sitting in the middle of a war zone. Listening to the slaughter go on outside was worse than seeing it.

My imagination made it much worse.

Time seemed to slow down as I continued to listen to the bloodshed. I was surprised the battle wasn’t over yet. It should have ended within two minutes. Cane and our men didn’t stand a chance against everything Tristan had.

It was hopeless.

The door flew open, and Cane and Bran sprinted into the room.

What the hell?

“Watch the door.” Cane darted to me, gave me a quick glance over as he checked my injuries, and then pulled out a knife.

“Tristan is ambushing you,” I blurted. “He’s got a hundred men posted around the compound.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Cane cut the rope that bound my wrists together then moved to the chains around my ankles.

Bran remained at the door, covered in a bulletproof vest and a helmet. He wielded a large machine gun, ready to take down anyone who approached the entryway.

Cane couldn’t pick the lock, so he pulled out his pistol and shot the chain right next to my foot. It snapped in half like a piece of pasta. “Can you walk?”

“Yeah. What about Tristan?”

“The men will take care of him. I have to get you out of here.”

I yanked the rope off my hands and rose to my feet. I didn’t even make it to my full height before I stumbled, my body staggering to the right. I didn’t realize how weak I was, how much blood I lost, and what the dehydration had done to me.

“I got you.” Cane pushed his shoulder underneath mine and held me up with his arm. “The chopper is going to land in five. They’ll get you out of here.” He supported me as we headed to the back door that was bolted shut.

“No.” I stopped moving, gritting my teeth as I felt pain shooting up my leg. Tristan kicked me there this morning, and something had ripped. Every time I breathed, my broken ribs screamed in pain too. “I’m not leaving until I kill that fucker.”

“Trust me, he won’t make it out of this alive. We need to worry about you right now.”

I moved away from his hold, but I could barely stand on my own two feet. I felt dizzy, light-headed, and overwhelmingly weak. “That asshole threatened to rape my wife. I’m not leaving until I have at least ten bullets in his brain.” I felt my leg shake as I worked to support myself.

Cane wrapped my arm around his shoulder. “What’s more important, Crow? Getting back to your wife and kid or getting your revenge?”

My rage needed to be satisfied, but I knew Button was terrified right now. She wanted to hear my voice. She didn’t care how Tristan died. She just wanted me to be safe. I clenched my jaw as another jolt of pain ran up my body.

“I promise I’ll get him, Crow.” Cane escorted me to the door again, Bran still posted by the doorway.

“He knew,” I said as I felt my ribs scream.

“Yeah, I know. Adelina told me he would have figured out our plan.”

“Smart girl. Where did you get the men?”

“That’s a long story.” Cane got to the doorway and shot off the hinges so he could kick the door down. “I’ll tell you when we get into the chopper.” The door flew open with a heavy thud, and the sound of gunshots became louder. We were blocked by another warehouse, and men were positioned in the center of the opening, ducking behind cars and buildings.

Cane swept the area before he crossed and took me behind the power plant, which looked like it’d been abandoned for ten years. I leaned against the wall and breathed through the pain.

Cane kept his eyes trained on our surroundings, his gun ready to fire. He tapped his ear. “Send in the chopper. Come from the west. Drop a ladder and don’t land.” Cane remained sharply focused, no longer looking at me because he kept checking our surroundings.

I saw the chopper in the distance, bulletproof and jet black.

“You’re going to have to hold on to the ladder so they can get you out of here quicker. Once the men realize it’s here, they’ll probably try to shoot it down.”