Buttons and Blame Read online

  “Would I bother you at home unless it was important, asshole?”

  Crow grabbed the decanter and poured himself a drink. “Then what’s so important, Cane? If it really were a potential disaster, you would just call me and spit everything out.”

  “Not really something I want to say over the phone. Bran told me there’s been stuff going down in Rome.”

  When Crow heard that, he straightened noticeably. “What stuff?”

  “One of the men working for Bones took over the warehouses. He had all the weapons, so he was in the process of filling Bones’s shoes. But then some group cleaned them out in the middle of the night—slit all their throats.”

  Crow was about to grab his drink but chose to steady his hand.

  I could read his mind just by looking at him.

  “The Skull Kings.”

  I gave a slight nod. “I thought they stuck to Greece, but they’ve obviously expanded their borders.”

  “Maybe the assassin business is taking a hit.”

  “Probably because everyone buys all the protection they need from us—and Bones.”

  “So they’re cutting out the middleman…”

  “And taking on both roles—the supplier and the militia.”

  Crow sat back against the cushions of the couch and widened his knees apart. His eyes moved to the fire as his mind was overrun with endless thoughts. “That’s not good, Cane.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  “This is exactly what I warned you about.”

  “How was I supposed to know they would turn into our competitors?” I asked incredulously. “I haven’t heard from them in seven years.”

  “Have you spoken to Constantine in that time?”

  “Not once.” Constantine was the leader of the Skull Kings. A ruthless leader with a strong appetite, he killed men without mercy. He took his commission and did exactly as his client ordered. If he were told to torture a woman to death for cheating on her husband, he would do it in a heartbeat. Murder had no meaning when the right amount of money was thrown on the table.

  “What do you think his attitude about us will be?”

  “No idea. He may not see us as a threat.”

  “But he might be ambitious—just like you.”

  Constantine was a very ambitious man. He obviously moved into this sector because he saw an opportunity and decided to take it.

  “If he turns on us, I’m walking away.”

  “Like hell, you are,” I snapped. “We aren’t pussies.”

  “It’s not about my pride. I have a wife, in case you’ve forgotten. They know the best way to get me to cooperate is by taking her—unless you forgot what happened to our sister.”

  “This business is ours. Our family left it to us.”

  “Regimes rise and fall every single day,” Crow countered. “We have more than enough money for the rest of our lives.”

  “But nothing to do with our time. You have a winery. This is all I have.”

  “Then find a hobby,” Crow snapped. “Find a woman.”

  I already had a woman.

  “I’m not going to war with Constantine. If Pearl weren’t around, it would be different.”

  “She can handle herself.”

  He squeezed his glass like he was about to throw it at my face. “Don’t tell me what’s best for her. I’m her husband. I’ll make that decision.”

  I couldn’t reason with Crow when he was like this. “You know me. I don’t bow to anyone. I’ll die fighting—always.”

  “I’m the same way—if it’s worth dying for. You and Pearl are the only two things I would ever make that sacrifice for.”

  I knew he would do anything for me, but I was touched to hear the confession anyway. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves here. For all we know, Constantine just wants Bones’s old business—and nothing more. We ended on good terms. He shouldn’t have any anger toward me.”

  “That’s what you think. But you piss off a lot of people, Cane.”

  “That’s just you, asshole.”

  “No,” he said coldly. “It’s everyone.”

  The door cracked open, and Pearl stepped inside. She was dressed in Crow’s clothes, an oversized black t-shirt that reached her knees and gray sweatpants that also belonged to him. They were at least five sizes too big. “I could hear your voices across the hall.” Her hair was tangled from the way Crow must have gripped it earlier. She moved to the couch beside Crow and sat next to him. “What are you talking about?”

  Crow shook his head, signaling to me more than to his wife. “Business.”

  “Anything I can help with?”

  “Not unless you know how to construct weapons,” I said. “We got a shipment in, but everything is defective.”

  Crow’s eyes shone in surprise at how easily I lied. But he shouldn’t be surprised. I was a criminal, after all. I lied for a living. I’d even killed people for a living at one point.

  “Then why are you here?” she asked. “That sounds like something that could be handled over the phone.”

  Despite Crow’s annoyance, he slightly smiled at her intuition.

  “Don’t be a brat,” I snapped. “Crow and I have private things to discuss. You don’t need to know everything.” I drank from my glass then set it down.

  “I’m a Barsetti. So your discussion includes me.” She poured her own glass and took a long drink, proving she could down liquor like the two of us. “So spit it out.”

  “I just did,” I said.

  She narrowed her eyes in an infuriating way, but it was a pathetic attempt to intimidate me. “How stupid do you think I am?”

  “Pretty stupid.”

  She didn’t hesitate before she grabbed the glass and prepared to chuck it at my head.

  “Whoa, Button.” Crow snatched the glass away and put it at the other end of the table. “What Cane and I were discussing doesn’t concern you, so drop it.”

  Now she flashed her look of hatred on him. “You want me to throw that glass at your head instead?”

  “I’d like to see you try.” He said it with a straight face, daring her to defy him.

  Pearl was smart and didn’t make a move. She dropped the subject, probably deciding to interrogate him when they were alone. “You seem to like Adelina a lot.”

  “She gives me sex,” I said dryly. “Of course I like her.”

  Pearl leaned forward with her elbows resting on her knees, giving me a straight look that I couldn’t shy away from. “She said you made her breakfast in bed this morning.”

  Crow’s accusatory look was back on me.

  “Yeah, so?” I demanded. “I made food and brought her the leftovers.”

  “You made her pancakes, potatoes, bacon, eggs, coffee, and freshly squeezed orange juice,” Pearl snapped. “You made all of that for yourself? Bullshit. You don’t even eat breakfast usually.”

  I wanted to snap that slender neck of hers. “I fucked her in the ass last night. I was just trying to make it up to her.”

  Pearl didn’t buy that either. “She said you made love in front of the fireplace all night.”

  Crow’s eyes narrowed even further.

  Fuck. This didn’t make me look good.

  “There was no ass-fucking mentioned,” Pearl said. “And that’s because there wasn’t any.”

  I’d love to fuck Adelina in the ass, but knowing all the horrible things Tristan did to her made me second-guess all my darker fantasies. She was a virgin before she was raped, and I wanted to show her sex could be good. It could be the most amazing feeling in the world. To use her for my own sick pleasures…was wrong. But if I admitted any of that, I would sound like a fucking pussy. Crow was already suspicious I wouldn’t return her to Tristan. I didn’t want to give him any reason to pressure me.

  “Why are you lying, Cane?” Pearl pressed.

  “I’m not lying,” I countered. “Why don’t you just mind your own goddamn business?”

  “Adelina is my friend. She is m
y business.”

  “No. She’s my slave—not yours.”

  If Pearl had a gun, she would have shot me. “She’s not a slave. She’s a person. I would be angrier about this if I didn’t know you were bending over backward to make her happy.”

  “I’m not doing anything to make her happy. I don’t give a damn if she’s happy.”

  “Then why are you taking her sight-seeing all over Italy?” Pearl asked. “Huh? Why did you take her to Siena the other day? Why did you show her Rome?”

  Why the hell was Adelina blurting out every little detail? “I had to run errands there anyway.”

  Pearl rolled her eyes. “I’m not buying it.”

  Crow rested his fingertips against his temple. “I don’t think I’m buying it either.”

  Standing right in the spotlight, I was on display. Crow and Pearl were both looking at me with incriminating gazes. It was getting difficult to hide my affection for Adelina, and not just from them, but from myself as well. “Give me more credit than that. You know I’m not evil. So what if I want to show Adelina a good time? So what if I want to make her happy before she kicks the bucket?”

  “I’ve never seen you care about giving someone a good time,” Pearl said.

  “You aren’t even nice to Lars when you come over,” Crow said. “And he serves you food.”

  “That’s because he doesn’t like me,” I said bitterly.

  “Because you tied him up and nearly killed me,” Pearl said. “I was cold and blue on the floor, and you were going to let me die that way. So don’t sit there and say you’re a nice guy who just wants to show her a good time. It’s not in your nature—we both know it.”

  Once the shame washed over me, I looked away. I couldn’t look my sister-in-law in the eye when she reminded me of what I did. I’d kicked her around like a dog, stomped on her head, and punched her in the face. She’d forgiven me for it, but I would never forgive myself for the mistake I made.

  “The only reason why you’re acting this way is because you actually like this girl,” Pearl said. “Only explanation.”

  “She’s been living with me for three weeks,” I said. “It’s kinda hard not to like someone when you’re around them all the time. I think she’s a pretty incredible woman with an amazing spirit. She deserves more than the shitty hand she was dealt. But that’s all…”

  Judging from the cold expression Pearl gave me, she didn’t buy it.

  My brother didn’t either.

  But I shouldn’t care about their opinion. “In a week, I’m returning her to Tristan. And that will be the end of it.”

  “You’re really going to hand her over?” Pearl asked incredulously. “You just said she’s an incredible woman.”

  “Lots of incredible women die every day.”

  “So you’re gonna drop her off, go home, and just go to bed? Sleep all night?” Pearl asked. “You’re gonna be able to live with the guilt of walking away?”

  I stared at my palms as I rubbed them together, refusing to meet her look. “We’ve talked about this dozens of times… There’s nothing we can do.”

  “But—”

  “Crow.” I was already dealing with a million emotions at the moment, and I didn’t need Pearl to remind me of the difficult task I had to face. To not return Adelina would result in a war that we couldn’t win. Now that the Skull Kings could be a potential problem, there was even less I could do for Adelina—other than slip her the cyanide pills.

  My brother knew exactly what I was asking for. “Button, drop it.”

  Pearl would normally defy him, but she must have decided not to question his tone.

  I gave him a slight nod in gratitude. “I should get going. Sorry for disturbing your night.” I finished my drink before I walked to the office door.

  Crow followed me out, walking me all the way down the stairs and to the front door. Pearl didn’t come with us, probably because she knew she wasn’t welcome. We stepped outside the front door and to the gravel driveway. My car was still parked exactly where I left it, the valet knowing he wasn’t supposed to touch my things.

  “Pearl hit a sore spot, huh?” my brother said. “She tends to do that.”

  “I don’t have sore spots.” I unlocked the car with the press of a button.

  He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me like he had more to say, but he refused to speak.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” I massaged the keys in my hand, needing something to do with my fingers.

  “Now that we have the Skull Kings to potentially deal with, you know we have too much on our plate.”

  “I said I would return her, Crow.”

  “And you better do it, Cane. We can’t fight a war on two fronts.”

  “Are you even listening to me?” I snapped. “I said I would take her back like a dozen times.”

  “I heard what you said, but it contradicts everything you’re doing. Pearl is right on the money, Cane. You know it.”

  “I’m not in love with the woman.”

  “Sure seems that way.”

  I turned my back on him, sick of the conversation. “I’ll talk to you later, Crow.”

  “How about I return her?”

  After I opened the car door, I turned around to look at him. “What?”

  “If I drop her off, we both know the job will get done. And you don’t need to feel like the bad guy.”

  The option was almost tempting. I wouldn’t have to get my hands dirty or see the way Tristian punched her the second she was back in his captivity. But that would do a disservice to Adelina. I could comfort her during the travel. I could embrace her before she had to walk back into the devil’s arms. She felt comfortable with me—trusted me. It was the least I could do. “It has to be me. It’ll be a lot harder for her to go back if I’m not there. Plus, I’m not a coward.”

  Crow finally abandoned the argument and walked back into the house. He didn’t say goodbye, dismissing the conversation with his silence. When the door was shut, the bolt clicked into the lock.

  I got into my car and drove home.

  Adelina had already eaten dinner and cleaned up the kitchen. Now she was in the living room on the couch, watching one of the English channels I got off my satellite. It was a rerun of a comedy that was popular in America. She was reading at the same time, the sound of the show just background noise. She looked up when she heard my shoes against the hardwood floor. “How was work?”

  After the conversation I’d had with my brother, it really did seem like we were a couple. I didn’t want his words to get to my head, but they already had. “Good. How was your day?”

  “Good. I had dinner a few hours ago. But I wrapped up a plate for you and put it in the fridge.”

  “Thanks.” I was used to coming home to an empty house without anyone to care about my meals. Having a beautiful woman take the time to consider me felt nice. The last time I had that experience, it was with my mom and Vanessa. When Mom passed away, Vanessa quickly became the matriarch of the family. She made sure Crow and I ate well and took care of ourselves.

  We never paid her back for her kindness.

  I set my bag on the counter then loosened my gun from the holster. I set it on the table like it was a watch.

  Adelina eyed it before she quickly looked away.

  “Does it make you uncomfortable?” I opened one of the drawers and placed the gun inside so she wouldn’t have to look at it.

  “No…” She turned back to her book. She was in one of my long t-shirts and her panties, lying around the house because she knew I was the only company she would ever have. Her hair was done and so was her makeup, stuff she’d picked up when we went shopping.

  “Have you ever handled a gun?”

  When she didn’t look up from her magazine, I knew she didn’t want to discuss it. “No.”

  I dropped the subject and moved to the couch beside her. She had a glass of wine on the table, so I took a quick drink before I set it down again.
I moved into her next, placing a soft kiss on her lips.

  She was unresponsive at first, but after the initial contact, she kissed me back. Her soft, plump lips moved with mine, and within no time, her embraces were passionate. She gave me her tongue before I had a chance to give her mine.

  It was something I loved coming home to.

  My hand moved into the back of her hair, feeling the soft strands that were so nice to touch. I loved pulling on the curtain, but for now, I enjoyed caressing it. I pulled away first then rubbed my nose against hers. The affection was lame, but it came naturally with her.

  She looked at me with affection in her gaze, all thoughts of that gun gone. “Why are you home so late?”

  “Had a long day. Then I had to stop by Crow’s and talk to him.”

  “Hope everything is alright.”

  “It’s always alright.” I grabbed her glass again and took another drink. “What did my little chef make me?”

  “Nothing fancy. Chicken and vegetables.”

  “Sounds fancy to me.” I kissed her on the cheek before I left the couch.

  Her eyes followed me as I walked into the kitchen. Even when the door was shut, I could feel her penetrating gaze. I reheated the food in the microwave before I stood at the counter and took a few bites. Home-cooked meals tasted so much better when that beautiful woman made them for me.

  I was just about to carry the food into the living room when Adelina walked inside. The light in her eyes had been extinguished, and her soft mouth had dropped into a heavy frown. Even her eyes were slightly glossy.

  I knew her better than anyone now, and I knew something was wrong. “Bellissima, what is it?”

  She stood at the counter across from me and bowed her head, lowering her gaze to the granite countertop.

  I set my fork down as I waited. “Tell me.”

  “It’s hard to explain…”

  “I’m a pretty smart guy, despite what Crow says. I’ll understand.”

  She lifted her gaze again, her eyes shiny. “It’s really nice here. I just realized how much I’ll miss it…”

  My heart began to sink.

  “Something about you coming home while I’m on the couch…and then I left dinner for you in the fridge. It’s so mundane and meaningless, but it’s so nice at the same time. So comfortable.”