Buttons and Pain (Buttons 3)

Button wasn’t in the bedroom. Pissed off, she left and probably went outside to get away from me. I would apologize to her when I woke up. I set an alarm on my phone, and the second my head hit the pillow I was out cold.

I didn’t even have a dream.

***

My alarm didn’t wake me up.

It was supposed to go off in two hours but the annoying beeping never came. I opened and realized it was dark outside. Instead of taking a short nap I slept for most of the day. My hand reached for my phone to see the time but I couldn’t find it on my nightstand. I kept groping in the dark but couldn’t find it. Irritated, I turned on the lamp.

My phone was nowhere in sight. Instead there was a note.

And Button’s wedding ring.

I nearly jumped out of bed as I grabbed the note and read the words in her beautiful handwriting.

Crow,

I’m sorry. He’s your only family in the world and I can’t let this happen. I know you hate me right now, but please understand I did this for you.

I love you for always,

Button.

My hand shook as I read the note and a loud scream issued from my throat. I grabbed the nightstand and threw it across the room until it shattered against the wall. Her wedding ring fell to the floor with a distinct clank. That wasn’t enough to satisfy my rage so I destroyed everything in the bedroom, everything that was hers and mine.

I couldn’t believe this.

I couldn’t.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Pearl

I drove down the road in one of Crow’s cars and was thankful they drove on the right side of the road. Otherwise, I would be completely clueless. The tears were still pouring from my eyes after I left Crow sleeping in the bed we shared every single night. I kissed him on the brow and told him I loved him even though he couldn’t hear a word I said.

Then I took off my wedding ring and set it on the nightstand.

If I took it with me, Bones would just destroy it. He would decimate it and burn it. I loved that ring as much as Crow and I couldn’t stand the sight of its destruction. I would much rather leave it behind.

I completely understood my actions, and while I was scared, I knew it had to be done. Crow picked me over his brother, but I understood how much he needed Cane. He pretended to be indifferent but I knew he was a wreck deep down inside. He loved his brother as much as he loved me—he just showed it differently.

I wouldn’t be the reason he lost the last Barsetti.

I wiped my tears and kept driving, pained at the feeling of leaving my husband behind. Crow would do everything he could to find me again, but I had to figure out an escape myself. I wouldn’t stop until I found a knife or a bat. I wouldn’t stop until I was free again. And I wouldn’t stop until I killed Bones myself.

Crow’s phone rang and I answered it. “Pearl.” I kept my voice steady and refused to give into my tears when that fiend could listen.

“On the road?”

I hated speaking to him. My intestines tied up in knots and made me sick. “Yes.”

“Alright. You know where the meeting point is?”

“Yes.”

“This is what we’re going to do—”

He spoke like he controlled the situation but he was wrong. I controlled the situation. “No. This is what we’re doing.” I silenced him with a single sentence. “You’re going to meet in front of the Church on Plaza street. It’s old and abandoned. When I see Cane released and inside the car, I’ll come out to you.”

“No. We do this my way.”

“I don’t trust you,” I snapped. “If you want me, we do this my way.”

“And why should I trust you?”

I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. “Because a Barsetti’s words are law. And I’m a Barsetti.” I tried not to cry again.

Bones paused over the phone. “Fine. We’ll do it your way. When will you be there?”

“Ten minutes.”

He hung up.

I set the phone down and felt the tears flood all over again. By the time Crow woke up and realized what happened it would be too late. The exchange would be over and done with. I would never the chance to tell him I loved him again. And the last time we spoke, we fought. It wasn’t the way I wanted to say goodbye.

My phone rang a moment later from a number I didn’t recognize. My gut told me who it was. With a shaky hand I answered it. “Pearl.”

Crow’s voice came over the phone with restrained ferocity. He didn’t yell but he his tone was just as terrifying. “Turn. The. Fuck. Around.”

I kept my foot on the gas and the wheel straight.