Buttons and Grace (Buttons 6)

“Hope you’re enjoying my whore as much as I did.”

The voice was unmistakable, and it didn’t take me longer than a nanosecond to figure out who it was.

“And I’m enjoying your brother. Not in the same way, of course.” He added a sarcastic chuckle, enjoying his revenge thoroughly. I hadn’t said a word, but he knew I was panicking in my silence. “Now that the tracker is gone, you’ll have a very difficult time finding us. If I were you, I’d save the gas money.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I wasn’t letting my brother die. I wasn’t letting him suffer when this was all my fault. I wasn’t letting Pearl become a widow and single mother. Not gonna happen.

“So, let me save you some time. Give me what I want, and I’ll hand him over.”

I knew he was going to ask for Adelina. I didn’t want to give her up, even if she didn’t love me. She was an innocent woman who deserved to be free. But Crow was my brother, my blood. I was a dick to him, but that didn’t change how much he meant to me. I loved him from the bottom of my heart. It made me sick to my stomach, but I’d have to hand over Adelina to get him back. He was family. I wouldn’t turn my back on him and Pearl like that. Adelina would understand.

“Give me Pearl.”

My hand gripped the steering wheel tighter, and I swerved slightly as I drove down the street. It was dark in the countryside, and I could see the lights from Florence up ahead. Pearl was the last person I expected him to ask for.

“I’ll give you twenty-four hours to think it over. But you better give me the answer I want to hear—or he dies.”

“Why do you want her?” I demanded. “I’m the one who killed your men. I’m the one who stole your woman. Let me take his place, and you can get the revenge that you deserve. Beat me, torture me, and kill me.”

He chuckled. “As tempting as that sounds, my idea is much better. I know how you Barsettis work. It’ll hurt you much more knowing all the horrible things I’m doing to him than anything I could physically do to you.”

Fuck.

“But I want Pearl so I can hurt both of you. Ever since I laid eyes on her, I’ve thought of all the things I want to do to her. That flawless skin, those bright eyes… I can’t wait to snuff the life out of her just the way I did to Adelina.”

I squeezed the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white.

“Give her to me, and Crow walks free. I’m a merciful man. I’ll allow you to save your brother—for a price.”

Chapter 2

Crow

I was in a warehouse in Rome. Even with my tracker ripped out of my arm, it was a foolish place to put me. Cane would have been hot on my trail when the connection was severed, so he must have confirmed I was staying in Italy. My brother was an idiot, but when it came to the important stuff, he was observant.

Ironically, I was just thirty minutes away from Bones’s old base. Tristan probably chose it because it was so close to home. Cane would never expect me to be sitting in his backyard. Once the tracker was gone, I knew this would become a more difficult situation. It would be much harder for me to escape. Even harder to be rescued.

But Cane was smart, and so were the men working for us. Cane wouldn’t sleep until he found me.

But Button…she was sobbing at this very minute.

She was more scared than she’d ever been in her life.

If she lost me, she would lose part of herself.

I couldn’t think about it too much because it would break my heart. I had to get out of here for her. I had to get out of here for the little Barsetti growing inside her. I wouldn’t deny my child the security of having a powerful man around to protect them. If I had a son, I would teach him how to love by the way I loved his mother. If I had a daughter, I would teach her what to expect from a man who wanted to be her suitor—if he was brave enough to shake my hand.

But in the event I didn’t make it out of there alive, I knew Button would be okay.

That woman was strong.

She would be devastated, but she would carry on without me. She would have my fortune and my brother to protect her. She would still raise my son to be a man, and my daughter to be stronger than I ever was.

She could do it.

But I didn’t want to make her.

I had to get out of here.

I was in a small warehouse by myself. The concrete was damp from a leak in one of the pipes. That told me I was inside an older compound, something that would be located on the outskirts. A few chains hung from the ceiling, telling me this place was initially used for heavy shipments. That meant we were near a road so large trucks could easily access the area. I probably wouldn’t get the opportunity to speak to Cane, but if I did, I needed to give him as much information as possible.