Buttons and Grace (Buttons 6)

“You’re right.”

“So, we’re going to do this?”

“Yeah,” Cane said. “I think it’s our best option. I’m gonna take the men to Rome because I think that’s where Tristan is hiding. That way, we can move in quickly if Crow gives us any information.”

“Okay.” God, I hoped this worked. This was the only ploy we had up our sleeves. If it didn’t work, I would lose Crow forever. I would raise our child alone, a widow who would be lost. It didn’t matter that Crow prepared everything for me to be taken care of. All the money made no difference without him beside me. I would never get remarried because I believed in one love per lifetime—and he was mine.

“Pearl, I promise I’ll do everything I can to get him back—even if that means taking a bullet for him.”

I knew Cane loved Crow as much as I did, just in a different way.

“And if I can’t, you know I’ll be there for both of you until my last breath.”

I knew that too. “Let’s not talk that way. I can barely breathe as it is.”

Chapter 4

Cane

I still hadn’t spoken to Adelina since I left the house yesterday.

There hadn’t been any time.

Now I was on my way to Rome, driving in one of the black Hummers that was completely bulletproof. I was alone for the drive with endless thoughts swirling in my brain. I had to get my brother out of there. Failure wasn’t an option this time.

My phone rang through the car, and one of my other cell phone numbers popped up.

I knew who it was. “Hey.” I hadn’t had much time to think about the uncomfortable conversation we had the other day. I’d put my heart on the table, making it vulnerable by pulling it out of my body. I’d sacrificed everything for this woman. At that very moment, my brother was a prisoner because he risked his neck to save the woman I loved…while his own wife and child were in hiding. Now I felt like an idiot for putting him in danger.

“Hey, are you okay?” Adelina spoke with a beautiful voice, the kind that filled my dreams as I slept beside her. I loved the concern in her tone, the way she was affectionate with me while saying so little. I just wished it meant more.

“I’m in the middle of a nightmare. Crow has been captured. I’m on my way to Rome right now to break him out… I’m just not sure if I can pull this off.”

“No…”

“Tristan took him.”

“Pearl is still safe, right?”

“Yeah. She’s not coming home yet.”

“What are you going to do?” Adelina asked. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No.” Just talking to her now was messing with my brain. A part of me resented her for not telling me she loved me. After everything I’d done for her, how could she not feel the same way? I wasn’t Prince Charming, but I obviously cared for her. I knew I was a criminal and I took her as payment, but that didn’t make me a bad guy. “I can’t talk right now. I’ll call when everything is over.”

“Okay…please save him. He’s a good man.”

The best, actually. “I’ll do everything I can. I can’t let Pearl be a widow. Crow is more scared of that than actually dying.”

“I know how much he loves her. I see it on his face every day.”

And I thought I saw how much she loved me. “I’ve gotta go.”

“Please be careful, Cane. I need you to come back too.”

“I’ll try.” I wanted to tell her I loved her just in case I didn’t return. I wanted her to know how much she’d changed my life for the better. She humanized me, made me realize I was capable of being more than just a monster. But none of those confessions emerged, either because I was too proud to say them or I was scared I would only be met with her silence. “Bye, Adelina.”

“Cane…”

I listened to the silence over the line, hoping she would say something I wanted to hear.

“Please come back.”

I felt stupid for hoping she’d say more. I shouldn’t have expected anything else. “Okay.” I hung up so I didn’t have to say goodbye again.

* * *

Tristan answered with his usual arrogance. “I hope I’m not going to have to kill Crow today. Seems like a waste of potential.”

The second our lines were connected, the threats came spilling out. It wasn’t something I wanted to think about, the light gone from my brother’s eyes as he lay like a corpse on the floor. “I’ve thought a lot about it. Crow is the only family I have left. After our war with Bones, I don’t have anything left.”

“Family is everything. I’m glad you see it that way.”

“Crow won’t want to trade his wife for his freedom.”