Buttons and Blame (Buttons 5)

“I need to think about it…” He looked out the window again, working his jaw hard. “Maybe that’s where the conversation will end. Maybe he’ll understand there’s enough business for the both of us. There doesn’t have to be a conflict of interest unless we make one.”

“Maybe.”

He got out of the chair and purposely avoided coming close to my desk. “Don’t want to go near that…” With both hands in the air, he walked to the door. “You know, you should try locking the door sometime.”

“And you should try knocking.”

* * *

“Thanks for giving me a ride.” Like every other day, Adelina said the same words before she got out of the car.

“No problem, Adelina.” I didn’t go out of my way to be particularly nice to the woman, but I did show her my respect any chance I got. I always said her name, giving her the attention she deserved. She was about to return to a living nightmare, a destiny my wife had escaped from.

It would have been so easy for them to trade places. Just the thought made me sick.

Button waved as we pulled away.

Adelina used the key Cane had given her and walked inside the house.

I pulled out of the roundabout and drove back to our estate that was positioned a few miles away. Cane and I had always been close together, even when he was in Florence. And even though we disliked each other most of the time, we always had to be near each other. It had saved both of our lives a few times.

Button looked out the window with her sunglasses perched on her nose. “What did Cane want to talk about?”

“Work.” I wasn’t going to tell her anything. It would only scare her.

“Why wouldn’t he just call you, then?”

I hated it when she analyzed everything. She was smart, and I liked that most of the time, but not during times like these. “He wanted to check on Adelina.”

“He never stopped by.”

“Maybe you just didn’t see. You were naked on my desk, remember?”

“Like I could forget. I had to go commando for the rest of the day because my panties were soiled…”

I grinned like the arrogant asshole I was.

Button smacked my arm playfully. “If I hadn’t had to rush out of there like a hooker, that wouldn’t have happened.”

“Maybe Cane should interrupt us more often, then.”

She smacked my arm again. “You know you’re going to have to tell me what’s going on eventually. Why do you keep procrastinating?”

“Why do I have to tell you anything?” I challenged. “It doesn’t concern you.”

“Doesn’t concern me, huh?” she asked. “So my financial stability and my safety aren’t my concern?”

“What makes you think it has to do with either of those things?”

“Because Cane looks as pale as a ghost,” she argued. “You’re hiding something big. I can tell.”

She was practically a detective.

“So you may as well just tell me. I’ll have Adelina pull it out of Cane if I have to.”

And he’d definitely crack for pussy.

She looked at me through her dark sunglasses. “Crow.”

I sped through the fields, driving twenty miles an hour over the speed limit, like usual. “Remember when I mentioned that someone would eventually take over for that piece of shit?”

“Yes…”

“Well, someone has. Cane knows the crew. The Skull Kings.”

“That’s what people actually call them?” she asked incredulously.

“And for good reason. They skin the heads of their victims and keep the skulls.”

Her cheeks immediately turned pale as milk.

“They’re a group of assassins that are trained to kill for commission. They don’t have a refund policy because they never miss their target. They’re known for their brutality. They’ll take on any job—even if the person is innocent. In their eyes, there’s no such thing as good or evil. There’s just living and dead.”

Button’s flare had died away, understanding how serious of an enemy they were. “How do you know this?”

“Cane used to be their twelfth man.”

Her glasses blocked her reaction, but it was obvious her face had fallen. “Cane?”

I nodded. “It was almost ten years ago. He needed the money. The gigs pay well.”

“So he killed people?”

“Yeah. A lot of people.”

“He skinned people’s heads?” she asked incredulously.

“Well, not that part. Constantine prefers to do it…”

She looked out the window with her fingertips resting against her mouth. She turned even whiter, as if she might faint.

“Cane told me they’ve taken over, and they aren’t happy about sharing business with us.”

“What does that mean?” she whispered.

Unlike most wives, she didn’t want to live in peaceful bliss. “Constantine may want us to step down from the arms dealership.”

“And what if he does?”

“Then we’ll be forced to.”

“We won’t fight?” she asked.

“No. Not worth it.”

“Cane agrees?”

I thought about my answer before I gave it. “He’s undecided.”

“Undecided?” she asked. “That doesn’t sound like him. He has a strong opinion about everything.”

I kept my eyes on the road and spotted our home in the distance.