Buttons and Blame (Buttons 5)

“I do.”

“I’d rather die with you than live in luxury without you.”

He stared at me with a heartless gaze. “I don’t care what you want. I only care what’s best for you.”

“What’s best for me is you.”

“And everything will probably work out that way. But we have to prepare for the worst.” He pulled his shirt over his head then got ready for bed.

I wanted to save Adelina, but I didn’t want to endure this. Just talking about an existence where he wasn’t around was something I couldn’t tolerate. It was far too painful. I hoped death came for me before it came for him. Or better yet, it came for us at the exact same time.

Crow came to the bed when he saw the tears in my eyes. “Button…”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You can’t stay.”

“No.”

He grabbed my hand.

I yanked it away. “I’m a good shot, and I’m smart. I can help you.”

“Cane and I both don’t want you there.”

“You’re making him say those things.”

“I’m not,” he said calmly. “He loves you too. Doesn’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Crow, please don’t do this…”

He kissed my temple and wrapped his strong arms around me. “I’m sorry, Button. I have to do the right thing here. If I have to drug you, I will.”

“You promised you would never do that to me again…”

“And I promised I would always take care of you.”

* * *

I didn’t sleep well that night. I kept waking up from a nightmare. Horrible things came to my mind when I wished they wouldn’t. I kept losing Crow over and over again. He was taken from me, shot in the chest or in the skull.

So when morning came, Crow went to work and I slept in. I was in bed until ten, which was the latest I’d ever slept. I woke up with a migraine and downed the water at my bedside, hoping the ache was due to dehydration.

Lars knocked on my door. “Mrs. Barsetti?”

I pulled on Crow’s sweatpants before I answered the door. “Yes, Lars?”

“Just wanted to check on you. You’ve usually finished your breakfast by nine.” The sweet old man didn’t smile at me like he usually did. Instead, there was fatherly concern in his eyes.

“I just had a bad night of sleep….”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He lifted up a brown paper bag. “I thought I would bring this up. I’ll get breakfast started and send that up straight away. Please don’t hesitate to ask for anything else.”

“What is this, Lars?” I opened the bag and peeked inside. There were tampons.

“I apologize if I’ve made you uncomfortable. I just know it’s that time of the month, and you’re running low on these…” He blushed in discomfort and walked down the hallway, his back as straight as ever despite the awkward conversation.

I walked back inside the bedroom and stared at the tampons, thinking about what Lars said. Whenever my period came, I was usually in agony. For a few nights, I hardly slept because the pain was so excruciating. Those were the mornings I woke late, like today. It wasn’t surprising that Lars thought it was that time of the month.

But then I realized…it was that time of the month.

I opened my nightstand and found my pack of pills. I counted them, making sure I took them exactly when I should have.

They were all accounted for.

But my period was late.

It was really late.

13

Crow

Cane and I met at the base. The winery would function without me for the time being. My assistant knew exactly what to do in my absence. Honestly, I was just a figurehead at the compound. The only reason why I was there was because I enjoyed the view, the scent, and getting out of the house.

We stood in the warehouse where no one would overhear us, surrounded by weapons of destruction. One explosive in this place could result in a bomb that was nearly atomic. There were crates of grenades everywhere. They would create the most damage.

I slowly paced the area, rubbing my fingers along my jawline. “How many men do we have?”

“Sixty. But I think I can get twenty more.”

“What are you paying them?”

“A lot,” Cane answered. “But I got the best men on the job.”

“What’s our plan?”

“Pretty straightforward. We ambush them straight on.”

“How do we know Tristan is even there?” I challenged.

“A source of mine said he just returned from a meeting in Croatia.” Cane leaned against the table with his arms over his chest. He still looked sickly, getting progressively worse every day Adelina was a prisoner.

“You need to eat something. You look like shit.”

“And I feel like shit,” he said darkly.

“What about Lizzie?” I questioned. “She’s the biggest problem here. The whole reason Adelina didn’t run in the first place was to protect her.”

“She’s either dead or being held somewhere else,” Cane said. “Tristan said she was ugly and no one wanted her. Maybe she’s in a different part of the house. Or maybe they killed her because she wasn’t useful.”