Buttons and Grace (Buttons 6)

“Yes.” I stared him down, disappointment burning in my eyes. “Feel like shit?”

“A bit.”

“Good.” I tossed a bottle of pain pills at him.

He barely caught it before he popped the lid off and dumped two pills in his mouth. He swallowed them dry even though Gerald already left a glass of water on the sofa table. Cane rubbed his temple again then leaned back against the cushions, looking exhausted even though he’d just slept twelve hours straight.

“What the fuck, Cane?” I wasn’t just pissed at him for his recklessness. I was disappointed. After everything we’d been through, how could be so careless with his own life? He was about to be an uncle. He had a brother who lived right down the road. None of that meant anything to him.

“Don’t be pissed at me, but…what happened last night?”

Wow. “You were arrested for driving drunk. I picked you up at the police station and brought you here.”

He rubbed his jaw and groaned. “Fuck.”

“I stayed here so you wouldn’t choke on your own puke, but I should have been at home with my family.”

He bowed his head, squinting his eyes in shame.

“What the fuck were you thinking?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked. “I wasn’t thinking at all.”

“Is that an excuse?” I asked incredulously. “You could have killed someone last night.”

“I know…”

“I don’t think you do, asshole. That was the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen you do, and I’ve seen you do a lot of stupid shit.”

“I went out with a few guys in Florence…had too much to drink…got carried away.”

“But why would you get that carried away?”

He stared at the floor. “You know why, Crow.”

Adelina. “Just because she’s gone doesn’t mean you have to sabotage your own life.”

“I haven’t spoken to her in a month. She hasn’t called. She said she missed me, and then I never heard from her…”

“Doesn’t matter. Be a man and carry on.”

“Would you carry on if this was Pearl?”

No. I would never get over losing her. “Not the same thing.”

“It is the same thing.”

“No, I would never get wasted then get behind the wheel. And I can say that with complete confidence.”

He dragged his hands down his face again. “I know it was stupid.”

“Fucking stupid.”

“I’ll never do it again.”

“Better not.”

“I’m surprised the police let me go.”

“They said they would give us a warning. But they won’t be so nice next time.”

He nodded. “That was good of them.”

“I don’t think so. I think they should have put you in prison for a few weeks to let the message sink in.”

He sighed. “Cut me some slack. I said I was sorry and I won’t do it again—”

“Cut you some slack?” I was on my feet instantly, ready for a fight even though guns weren’t drawn. “No, I’m not cutting you any goddamn slack. You’re all the family I have left in the world, Cane. It’s just you and me. We’re all that’s left. If I lost you…” I couldn’t even finish the thought. Cane meant more to me than anyone in the family ever did. He pissed me off, drove me insane, made me want to kill him sometimes, but at the end of the day, he was my brother. I could always rely on him no matter what. I knew if something bad happened to me, he would take my place and look after Button and my baby. It was the kind of loyalty that only existed in family.

Cane looked up at me, the devastation in his eyes.

“I’m sorry you’re upset about Adelina. Really, I am. I wish it had worked out. But nearly killing yourself isn’t the solution. If you want to get drunk like that again, do it here. Don’t ever make a mistake like that again. I mean it.”

“I won’t,” he whispered.

“I need your word, Cane.”

“You have my word…”

I walked out of the living room without looking at him again. “I don’t want to see you for a week. I can’t even look at you right now…”

Chapter 22

Adelina

I rented a house just a few blocks away from my parents.

My parents weren’t thrilled about me leaving and tried whatever they could to get me to stay, but I needed my own space. When I told them I found a nice little house just down the street, they finally accepted the situation since I’d be so close. When they went to work in the morning, they would drive past my house every single day.

I enrolled in school for my teaching credentials, going to the same college where I got my undergraduate degree. The attention of the media had finally started to disappear now that a month had come and gone. The news cycle changed, and they were more interested in the next election.

I was finally left in peace.

But there was no denying the fact that I was one of the most famous people in the country. When I went to the grocery store, people stared. When cars passed me on the road, drivers did a double take. If I went for a walk outside my house, people snapped pictures of me on their phones.