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“Are you insane?” He gave me a look I’d never seen before. He stared at me like he didn’t know me, like we hadn’t been brothers our entire lives. “Are you in love with this woman or something?”
I kept my voice steady. “No.”
“Then what the fuck? Do you hear yourself talk?”
“I’m no handing her over and that’s final. Do we have a deal or not?”
He shook his head and looked away, drops of blood falling on the table. “Are you making her black and blue?”
I wanted to lie and claim she was hanging from the ceiling right at the very moment. “I don’t have to answer to you. I’m compensating you for your time. Take the money and shut the fuck up.”
“What about Vanessa?”
“Killing this woman isn’t going to bring her back. Let’s leave it in the past.”
“Easy for you to say,” he snapped. “You didn’t even go to her funeral.”
My hands formed fists. “Cane, don’t even go there.”
“No, I’m going to.” He rose to his feet. “Maybe you didn’t give a shit about Vanessa, but I did. I’m not letting Bones gets away with this. You’re a piece-of-shit for caring more about your cock than avenging her. I loved Vanessa and it’s clear you never did.”
I was on my feet in an instant. “Don’t tell me how I feel.”
“I don’t need to. It’s fucking obvious.”
I flipped the table over, channeling my rage in the only way I could. “I can’t sleep because her face is in my nightmares. I can’t breathe because the guilt suffocates me. I can’t feel anything but agony because of what happened to her. So say I didn’t give a shit about her. If anything, I care more about her. I can’t function because it still feels like she just passed away. Every day I have to start over and feel the loss. Don’t sit there and act like you loved her more than me. We both know I was closer to her than you ever were.”
“I thought the same thing—until this.” He didn’t care about anything I said. His mind was made up. With repulsion still on his face he stepped away. “Dad would be so disappointed in you.”
He cut me right where it hurt. “He was always disappointed in me.”
He grabbed the bottle of scotch and his blood ran down the glass. It dripped onto the floor, making a small puddle of drops. Without looking at me he headed to the door. “That makes two of us.”
***
I ate dinner in my study that night.
My thoughts circled with my predicament. My brother, the only family I had left in the world, despised me. And the one woman I couldn’t live without hated me even more.
I officially hit rock bottom.
The easiest solution to my problem with Cane was handing Button over—and killing her. Cane would forgive me and this would all be a distant memory. We would be close again, back to normal.
But I couldn’t give her up.
Not only could I not let that man hurt her again, but I couldn’t share her with anyone. I wasn’t even sure how I was going to release her when the time came. There was no right answer. If I could go back in time I never would have spared her. I would have steered clear and let Cane have his way with her. My life would be exactly as it was before.
But also meaningless.
The door opened and Button stepped inside. She was covered in a thick brown blanket, everything below her neck obscured from view. She approached my desk with the fire burning behind her. Heavy make up was on her face, her eyes smokey just the way I liked. Her hair was big and curled, and she looked ready for a rough fuck.
Despite my pain, I got hard.
She stared at me with an expression mixed with both fire and ice. She wanted me but she also hated me.
The feeling was mutual.
She dropped the blanket and let it fall to her feet. She stood completely naked before me, the light from the flames making her skin glow. Her tiny hourglass waist led to voluptuous tits. There were no scars on her front—at least from me. Every inch of her was perfect.
I wanted her—but I couldn’t have her.
I was dangerously low on buttons. I couldn’t afford to hand over anymore. My brother just turned his back on me and I wasn’t prepared to lose the one person who gave me satisfaction.
I rose to my feet and came around the desk. My hands immediately gripped her tits and massaged them fiercely. She moaned quietly for me, loving my touch but also hating it.
My hands gripped her small waist and I placed my forehead against hers. I wanted to kiss her but refrained. Once I placed a kiss on her mouth I would be lost. I would lose myself and give up more buttons than I could afford. “I make love to you.” The fire roared in the heart and the soft rug on the floor would cushion my knees. I could give her exactly what she needed all night long. Then tomorrow I would take her somewhere nice. I wouldn’t even go to work just so I could spend the entire day with her. Whatever she wanted to do, I would give it to her. She was dangerously close to slipping from my grasp.
