Buttons and Blame (Buttons 5)

“But since I’ve been home, I’m been thinking a lot about it…”

I turned back to him, my guard back up.

“And he’s right, Button. This is going to be intense. Tristan and his men are ruthless. They won’t hesitate to shoot you between the eyes, or worse, take you as a prisoner. It’ll be too difficult for Crow and me to focus if we’re worried about you the whole time. I have to do my best to get Adelina out of there. If Crow is taken down because he’s too busy protecting you…it could jeopardize everything.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “What happened to me being a Barsetti?”

“You are a Barsetti.”

“Then I’m part of the team.”

“You don’t have enough experience. Trust me, I want all the help I can get. But this isn’t your fight.”

“You forget what I did to Bones. You forget I tricked him into loving me, that I survived the brutal way you beat me, that I escaped those bounty hunters, that I sowed a knife into my shoulder and ripped it out to kill Bones. Give me the credit I’ve earned.”

“I know you’re badass, Pearl. I never said otherwise. But this is way too dangerous. I’m on Crow’s side for this.”

“I think you’re only on his side because he agreed to help you.”

He shrugged. “He has my back. I have his.”

* * *

When I came back to the house, Crow was standing outside waiting for me. He must have watched my GPS signal the entire time I was gone. He knew I went to Cane’s, and he watched the dot head back to the house I shared with him.

He stood with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, his expression indifferent. He didn’t seem angry by my outburst, probably because I went to Cane’s instead of driving aimlessly across Tuscany.

I left his car in the roundabout and walked toward him, still irritated with the way he’d spoken to me.

He watched me with his cold eyes, his head not moving as he examined me. “We’re sleeping together tonight. If I’m going to die in a few days, we should enjoy every minute we have left.”

I stopped in my tracks and stared at him, my expression hardening with an outburst of pain. “Don’t say that to me again.”

“It’s the truth, Button. I won’t lie to you.”

I tore my gaze away, feeling my eyes water.

He continued to watch me.

I finally moved into his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist.

Like he’d been expecting it, he wrapped his powerful arms around my shoulders. He brought me close to him, brushing a kiss against my forehead.

“If you die, I should die too.”

“No, Button.”

“I don’t want to live without you…I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. You’re the strongest woman I know.”

I shook my head as I buried it in his chest.

“I’ll do everything I possibly can to make it out of there alive, Cane and Adelina with me. I’ve made it this far, and I’ve been in worse situations. There’s probably nothing to worry about at all. But if I don’t make it back…you know I love you.”

I nodded. “I love you too…so much.”

* * *

Crow was in his study late that night, talking on the phone and getting things prepared. He asked me to stay in the bedroom and give him space to get everything done. If I overheard everything, it would probably just make me upset.

Even though he intended to send me away, I wasn’t sure if I would go.

I would just refuse until I got what I wanted.

I understood the situation would be dangerous, but I wasn’t going to part from my only family in the world. I was far more afraid of living without them than dying. Carrying on when Crow was gone was a fate far worse—in my eyes.

Crow walked into the bedroom after midnight, his hair messy from running his fingers through it nonstop. He carried a slender folder and placed it on the coffee table. He didn’t look at me once.

I knew this would be a difficult conversation.

“You’re going to Santorini with Lars.”

“Where the hell is that?”

“An island in Southern Greece. It’s quiet, remote. I have a house there under a different name. It can’t be traced back to me.”

I sat on the edge of the bed, watching him with dread in my chest.

He nodded to the folder. “All the information you need is in there. All of my assets have been consolidated into an account that only you can access. We’ll lose this house and the money I have here in Italy, but that will throw them off the scent. A new identity has been made for you. You’ll be very wealthy and never have to worry about a single thing for the rest of your life.”

Was that supposed to make me feel better? “I don’t care about that, Crow.”