Buttons and Blame (Buttons 5)

Some of the men were mine.

One of Tristan’s dead men was wearing a sweater. “Take it off him and put it on.” I kept my eyes trained around us, prepared for unexpected company.

Adelina did exactly as I commanded and yanked it off him. She pulled it over her body and zipped up the front. The fabric stopped just above her knees.

“Let’s go.” I guided her out the front door, the sound of gunshots still going off upstairs. “Come on.”

The men in the cars covered both of us as we made it back to the bulletproof SUV’s. I opened the back door to one and pushed her inside.

“Cane—”

“I don’t have time to talk.” I shut the door and ran back into the house. My primary goal had been completed, but the job wasn’t done yet. I had to kill every single asshole in there. “Crow, what’s your status?”

“Killing these assholes. What the fuck are you doing?”

I ran to the second floor and helped my men, but I didn’t see Crow.

“Cane.” Crow’s voice came over the line. “Tristan jumped out the window. He was on the second story.”

“I’m on it.” I darted back downstairs, knowing Tristan was heading for the ground floor. He was probably trying to get to the cars left on the side of the compound. I rushed into the night and scanned for him everywhere.

That’s when I heard the sound of an engine.

A boat.

Tristan was inside a speedboat parked in the harbor. He must have jumped to the bottom floor and kept going.

“No!” I sprinted down the dock then took aim as he sped off. I fired all my ammunition, determined to sink that asshole into the deep ocean. It was too dark, and I ran out of bullets. I had no idea if I hit my mark or missed it. He was too far away for me to hear the engine. “Fuck.” Even if I sank his boat, there was no guarantee he was dead. He could have missed the bullets, and he could swim to safety once we were gone.

Crow’s voice returned. “All clear. Did you get him?”

“I don’t know.”

“How do you not know? What the fuck, Cane?”

“He drove off in a boat, and I fired all my rounds. It’s pitch black, and I can’t see a damn thing.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, fuck.”

Crow and some of the men ran out onto the deck with me. The black waves were choppy as the wind picked up. If it weren’t for that, we might actually be able to hear something. We scanned the horizon left to right, as if we might see something jump out at us.

Crow released a frustrated sigh beside me. “All of his men are dead. Where would he go?”

“He probably has his phone on him. Could call someone.”

“What’s the likelihood that you hit him?”

“I don’t know. I fired off until I was empty. Chances are, I hit my mark.”

“And even if you did, the asshole can probably swim…”

“Yeah.”

“I say we leave a team behind until morning. All of his stuff is here, and the rest of the coast is mostly cliffs. This is probably where he would swim back to.”

“Agreed.”

“Then let’s head out. You got Adelina?”

“Yeah, she’s in the car.”

He clapped my shoulder. “Good. I’m glad this wasn’t for nothing.”

I didn’t have a single second to contemplate the fact that Adelina was safe and in my custody. I’d barely had a chance to speak to her, to think about her condition when I walked into that room.

“Cane?”

“Hmm?”

“I have some bad news.”

He was alive, and Adelina was safe. There was nothing he could say that would ruin my victory. “What?”

“Lizzie is dead.”

I looked into his dark face and didn’t see an ounce of sadness.

“She was wrapped in a bag downstairs. Looks like they were about to toss her into the ocean.”

“How do you know it’s her?”

“Fits the description. And there were no other women in the building.”

I’d suspected she would already be dead. I figured they’d killed her a long time ago. “Adelina will take the news hard.”

“Or it might give her peace.”

* * *

Before I reached the back door to the vehicle, she pushed it open and slid to the asphalt. In her oversized sweater with messy hair and bruises all over her face, she jumped into my arms and locked her arms around my neck.

I scooped her from the ground and held her to me, letting her rest against me. The rest of the team packed up and prepared to leave. Everything had been swept clean, and the perimeter had been checked. We should leave now before the sun rose, but I knew Adelina wanted to be held—by me.

“It’s alright, Bellissima.” My lips brushed against her hairline as I felt her breathe heavily against me. She was safe in my arms, but she still felt terrorized. She’d suffered worse now than she did the first time. She couldn’t just brush that off. “I’m here. It’s over.”