Buttons and Pain (Buttons 3)

“So you don’t know where he is?”

“Not at the moment.” But I would find out.

“Do you think he’s in Italy?”

“Not right now.” As soon as we took out his men he must have retreated to France of Russia to recuperate. We had the upper hand and he knew it. It was pure chaos in the street, and if he didn’t hear about it from his own men he heard it from the police.

She stirred her wine then looked into her glass. “So…should we have that conversation neither one of us want to have?”

I stared at her face and waited for her to meet my gaze. She continued to look at her wine so she could avoid eye contact. It was unlike her to hide away behind something and I didn’t like it. “Look at me when you speak to me.”

It took her a moment to comply. She raised her head slowly, irritated by the command but also aroused by it. She hated it when I bossed her around like I owned her, but she also loved it at the same time. She was a strong woman and needed a stronger man.

“What conversation?”

“About us.” She moved her glass to the side.

“I thought our relationship was pretty defined.” When I told her those three little words I assumed that encompassed everything that needed to be said.

“I mean, in terms of Bones. What are we going to do?”

“I’m going to kill him. I told you that.”

“What if you don’t? What if you can’t?”

My eyes narrowed at the insult. “If I said I’m going to kill him, I will.”

“And I don’t doubt you,” she said with forced calmness. “But what if he’s impossible to track down? What if he’s always on the move? Should we leave Tuscany? Should we move somewhere else?”

“No.” I wasn’t the kind of man to run from a fight.

“How does he not know where you live? He must know you make wine so he can figure out where your house is.”

“Yes, he knows I make wine. But just because my vineyard is here doesn’t mean I have anything to do with. According to paperwork, it’s owned by a family who bought it from mine. The paperwork is false but he won’t know that. And in regards to my home, this estate isn’t even on a map. It’s not registered to anyone or anything. All my mail is sent to a PO Box in Florence, and even then, it’s under a fake name. He won’t trace us back here. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Like a queen, she held herself with refined posture and elegance. Her hair was pulled back from her face, and the lipstick on her mouth made her lips look fuller and even more kissable. But her confidence and strength gave her the greatest qualities of majesty. I’d always felt like a king of my world. And she certainly was my queen. “So, we’re going to continue to live here?”

“Yes.”

“And I can live here as long as I want?”

My eyes narrowed. “Button, you’re living here forever.” Even if I killed Bones she wasn’t going anywhere. She wouldn’t rent a house somewhere in Florence and visit me during sleep overs and dinners. I told her I loved her, and that confession carried more weight than she understood. “This is your home now.”

She quickly looked away but she wasn’t fast enough. Just a glimpse of moisture built up in her eyes. She blinked it away like it was never there at all.

I pretended I hadn’t noticed. “But it will be dangerous for a while. Until I kill Bones, you need to stay at the estate and never leave.”

“Okay.” Instead of arguing for her freedom and independence she let it be. “Can I have a gun?”

“You want one?” I knew she knew how to use one but I’d never seen her in action.

“No. I need one.”

“Consider it done.”

She sipped her wine again. “There’s something else I want…”

I’d already given my queen the world. What more could she want? “What?”

“I want to kill him myself.” She held my gaze as she made the demand. “I know you and Cane both need revenge for Vanessa…but I’d really like to be the one to pull the trigger.”

After what he did to her, I couldn’t deny her request. She deserved it. “If the situation permits itself, yes.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. “It means more than I can say.”

I’d never forget the first time I saw her in that opera. From a distance away I could detect her rapid breathing and flushed cheeks. She was scared sitting next to the most ruthless man the world had ever seen. Instead of succumbing to the grief she tried to find a way to escape—but she was still scared. At the time her beauty had no hold over me. I’d seen countless beautiful women across Italy. She wasn’t special. But when I saw the fire burn in her eyes, I was lost. “You deserve it more than I do.”