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I didn’t want another woman.
Bellissima was all I wanted. I would do anything for her, do anything to make her happy. I never wanted to be with anyone else. She made me a better man. She made me do the right thing when it was easy to do the wrong thing. She made me want more out of life. Her innocence made me less callous.
She felt my endless expression on her face. “I like it when you look at me like that. I don’t know what it means…but I like it.”
My hand moved to hers on the table, and I squeezed it. “It means I love you.”
Her smile slowly faded away like the setting sun. Her eyes were lit up by the glow over the horizon. Instead of pure happiness coming into her gaze, she looked at me like she hadn’t been expecting me to say that.
I felt her pulse quicken under my fingertips. I felt my own pick up in pace as I waited for a reaction. I’d never said those words to another woman, other than my mother. But I meant these words in a whole other context.
Still, nothing came out of her mouth.
I started to worry. Maybe she didn’t feel the same way.
“I…I don’t know what—”
“It’s okay, Bellissima.” I had to swallow the hurt in my throat and push forward. I was so certain she felt the same way that I would have gambled my life on it. But she didn’t, and letting the tense moment linger would only make her uncomfortable. I’d just gotten her back. The last thing I wanted to do was push her away. “You don’t need to say it back. I just wanted you to know how I felt.” I pulled my hand away so I could grab my glass and take a drink of the wine. I only did it to cover up my disappointment, the painful burn inside my chest. I’d never put myself out there like that, and it hurt like hell to get shot down.
I’d given up so much for this woman.
And she still didn’t feel the same way.
18
Crow
I searched through the kitchen until I found something to eat.
A frozen lasagna.
Lars always prepared for the worst.
I popped it into the oven then called Button.
She answered before the first ring could even finish. “Please tell me you found him.”
This separation was hurting her a lot more than it was hurting me, even though I was pretty miserable. I knew it was because she was pregnant. She was scared I would never come back to her, and our child would never know his father. She wasn’t usually this emotional, but I understood that she was alone and sad.
“I’m sorry.”
She growled into the phone. “I hate this.”
“I know, Button. But it’ll be over.”
“When?” she pressed.
“Soon. Just be patient.”
“How can I be patient when I spend all day reading pregnancy books?”
“You know you’re in Greece, right?” I challenged. “One of the most beautiful places in the world?”
“It’s not beautiful without you, Crow. I would love to be here with you, to make love all day and then look at the ocean over dinner. But this isn’t a vacation when you aren’t here. I’ve been spending all my time with Lars, and that’s driving me nuts.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing. He just constantly waits on me all the time.”
“That’s his job, Button.”
“Well, he can take a break. I’m just sitting around and getting fat.”
“Pregnant, not fat.” I eyed the oven and the timer that was ticking down. “At least you have someone to cook for you. Thankfully, Lars froze a lot of meals for me. But they aren’t as good as fresh.”
“I’m glad Lars did that for you.”
“He’s always prepared for a catastrophe.” A sound erupted in the house, like a locked door being yanked.
“Now if only Lars could hunt down Tristan and kill him.”
I kept the phone pressed to my ear as I walked out of the kitchen. I flicked off the light then stuck my head out into the entryway. Just when I got a view of the windows, gunshots fired.
Fuck.
I dived down with the phone still at my ear.
I’d never heard Button scream like that. “Crow!” She heard the gunshots as loud as I did. They were unmistakable, nearly blowing out my eardrums.
“I don’t have time to say anything else, so listen to me.”
She held her breath.
“Call Cane. Tell him I’m at the house. Follow my tracker.”
“Okay—”
“I love you.”
She was already crying. “I love you too—”
I hung up and pulled my pistol out of the back of my jeans. Button was the last thing on my mind right now. All I could think about was survival, how I was going to take out at least a dozen men alone. There were no guns stored in the kitchen because this was Lars’s fortress.
