Buttons and Blame (Buttons 5)

“Yeah. I thought I could figure out a way to free you.”

She was overcome with emotion, and her eyes immediately watered. “Pearl…I don’t know what to say.”

“But he wouldn’t work with me. I offered to buy you, but he said you weren’t for sale.”

“I hope he didn’t hurt you.”

“No, he didn’t touch me. He wouldn’t cross Crow.”

“That was so dangerous, Pearl. You shouldn’t have done that.”

Now she was the third person to tell me that. “Crow thinks the same thing. That’s why he’s pissed at me. He’s upset that I risked myself like that.”

“I can’t blame him. When a man loves a woman, he’ll do everything he possibly can to protect her.”

“I guess. He’s just so angry…” I wouldn’t tell her the details of the fights we had. The poor girl didn’t need to hear about it.

“And passionate. It’s better to have a man obsessed with you than be indifferent.”

I’d recently learned that.

“And Tristan is a psychopath. I’m so glad he didn’t do anything to you. I know you understand what it’s like to be…you know…but he’s foul. He’s an absolute monster. No woman should be subjected to that.”

“Exactly, which is why I want to save you.”

She reached across the table and took my hand in hers. “I appreciate it, Pearl. Really, I do. You and Crow are so sweet…Cane is too. I’m so lucky that I met all of you, that I’ve been given these thirty days to be at peace…”

She was still a prisoner, but she considered herself lucky. Perhaps Cane really did treat her well.

“But don’t let this upset you. Don’t let the weight crush your shoulders. You’ve tried your hardest to help me, but there’s nothing that can be done. If Lizzie weren’t still a prisoner, things could be different…but I can’t turn my back on her.” Adelina gave my hand a squeeze before she pulled away. “The three of you have done enough…truly.”

She was the one consoling me when I should be consoling her. No wonder why Cane was so infatuated with her. “I’ll try to remember that.”

She pulled her hand away and leaned back against the chair. “Cane has done so much for me. He’s rough around the edges and he comes with a bite, but he’s a great man underneath all that armor. He’s been taking me sight-seeing, stuffing me with more food than I can eat, and…” She took a deep breath as her eyes watered.

I waited on the edge of my seat.

“He took me to my parents…so I could say goodbye.”

He did what? “Where do your parents live?”

“In South Carolina.”

Cane took her all the way to America so she could see her family? When did he do this? Why did he do this?

“He said I couldn’t call them. Phones are tapped, and it’s too dangerous. But he brought me to their house in the middle of the night so I could see them for a while…so I could tell them what happened to me. I didn’t want them to live the rest of their lives not knowing…and Cane gave that to me.”

I couldn’t form anything remotely coherent to say. Cane flew her all the way back to America, risked getting caught by the police, just to give her something she asked for. Her parents could have called the cops instead. He really risked his neck for this woman. “At least you got to see them…”

“Yeah. I’ll never be able to thank Cane for his kindness.”

“Even though he’s a criminal and he’s using you for thirty days?” It wasn’t tactful or polite, but I didn’t think Cane should get more credit than he deserved.

She considered her response for a long time before she said it. “I’m not saying Cane is a saint. But he’s never made me do anything I didn’t want to do. He doesn’t hurt me. He talks to me. He says he would free me if he could…it’s the most luxurious way of being a prisoner.”

3

Adelina

Crow dropped me off at the house, and I walked inside.

Cane was at the stove, working the hot pans as steam rose to the vent. He was in a black t-shirt and black jeans, looking exactly the way I pictured a criminal would look—just without all the scars.

“What’s this?” Cane and I hadn’t slept together since we’d returned from South Carolina. I’d been too emotional for sex, and Cane must have picked up on that because he didn’t try to make anything happen.

I was lucky that he even cared.

Cane turned the fire down low then wiped his hands on a towel. “Dinner.”

“You cooked?”

“Now that you’re a working girl, I had to step up.” He wore a playful smile when he looked at me, telling me it was perfectly okay that I was gone all day while he was working.

“What a nice surprise.”

He placed everything on two plates and left the pans in the sink. We sat in the dining room, in front of the large redwood window that looked over the vineyards in the distance. The sun was almost gone, and the birds were chirping outside. We drank a bottle of Barsetti wine as we ate.