Buttons & Hate (Buttons 2)

Button hung onto every word I said. She didn’t even breathe.

“We made the swap in an alleyway. My sister left his arms and walked toward me. She could barely move because she was so beaten. The last time I saw her she was strong and full of life. She could hold her own in a fight and she had the kind of spirit that couldn’t be crushed. But when I saw that night I knew she was dead. She wasn’t the same person at all. Bones broke her—crushed her spirit.”

Tears formed in her eyes and slowly fell down her cheeks.

“Just when she was about to fall into my arms Bones shot her in the head. Her eyes made contact with mine and she gave me a silent goodbye. She was dead before she hit the pavement. And that was it.”

She couldn’t hold back the sob that came from deep in her chest. She covered her mouth to muffle the sound but it escaped anyway. The tears cascaded down her cheeks like a waterfall.

“Cane and I have always been at war with Bones. He killed my father then my mother. And then he took Vanessa. His purpose is to eradicate us altogether. He won’t stop until the Barsetti’s are no more. And that’s why Cane is obsessed with you. You’re his only way of causing the same kind of pain Bones has called us. Because up until this point, you’re the only thing that Bones has ever cared about.”

She kept her hand over her mouth as she silently cried. The sound was excruciating on the ears, painful. She cried for someone she never knew. She cried for the pain heavy in my chest. She felt the exact agony I carried every single day. “Crow...” She moved into my chest and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I’m so sorry.” Her face was buried into my chest, soaking the fabric of my shirt with her tears.

I wrapped my arms around her. “I know.”

“He’s a monster. He came from hell.”

I knew that too.

“You deserve justice for what he did. He deserves to die.”

“Cane and I will get him—eventually.” If I didn’t take him out soon he would track Button down and try to steal her. I wasn’t just fighting for my sister anymore. I was fighting for this woman who got under my skin. “When I saw you fight off my men and do anything necessary to survive...I felt a connection. You reminded me of my sister. But I also resented you because I wished she were as strong as you are. You were both captured for the same amount of time but you didn’t break. You didn’t crack. But she did.”

“That doesn’t mean she was weak.”

“I know...but she still wasn’t strong enough.”

She cupped my face and rested her forehead against mine. The tears still fell and dripped off her chin.

It was the exact same position as before, the one that made me shut her out for weeks. The intimacy and vulnerability was too difficult. My body couldn’t handle the hole in my chest. It made everything hurt. I was letting her in when I shouldn’t. Every time I cared for someone they wound up dead. If I fell too much further I would never recover.

I had to pull back.

“I hope you understand now.”

She nodded. “I do.”

“It doesn’t justify what Cane did. But I hope it makes sense now.”

“It does.”

“We’ve butted heads over you since you arrived. He wants to return you to Bones with a transmitter that will kill you the moment you’re in his possession. But I refused to let that happen.”

She took a deep breath like just the thought was too much for her.

“We’ll kill him. And then you’ll be safe for good.”

“Does he still want me? I’ve been gone for six months.”

I didn’t want to scare her but I didn’t want her to be unprepared. “He does. I met him a few nights ago and tried to buy him off. But he wouldn’t take the money.”

“What?” She pulled away and looked into my face, stunned.

“You were asleep.” I answered her unspoken question.

“You offered him money?”

“He offered Cane and I forty million to return you. When I said no Cane became upset. So I thought if I offered the same amount to him he would forget about you and move on. But it didn’t change anything.”

“Forty million dollars?” Her mouth dropped and her tears still stuck to her cheeks.

I nodded.

“You were willing to pay that much just to save me?”

I didn’t realize how crazy it sounded until she put it into words. “I’d do anything to protect you.”

Her eyes softened in a way they never had before. She cupped my face and pressed her forehead against mine. She cried quietly against me, forcing me to feel the profound moment with her. Our hearts were in sync and our minds worked as one.