Buttons & Hate

by Penelope Sky

  A smile that looked more like a sneer formed on her lips. “You’re absolutely right.” She moved the gun to the center of my palm and held her forefinger over the trigger. “I’m sure you could survive a few shots.”

  I didn’t give into the fear. Showing weakness, even for a moment, would undoubtedly lead to my demise. “I hope you do shoot me. I’d rather bleed out and die than go back to that psychopath.”

  This time she smiled. “I understand his infatuation. You’re a toy that just won’t break.” She grabbed my and spun me around with lightning speed. She pressed the gun to my right shoulder blade. “Hands behind your back.”

  I didn’t move.

  She kicked in the back of the knee.

  I bit my lip and fell to the knees in the middle of the road. My body automatically reacted to the hit and I couldn’t stop myself from falling. My bones ached when they hit the concrete.

  She tied a string of rope around my wrists then yanked me to my feet. “Get your ass in the car.” She opened the back door and continued to hold the gun to my shoulder.

  “Do you understand what you’re doing? You’re returning me to a madman who will beat me and rape me. As a woman, you’re okay with that?” I had to believe that the world didn’t solely function around money. There had to be some good people—even just one.

  Her expression was as cold as ever. “Are you done whining?”

  “Not whining. Just hoping for some good in this world.”

  “Bones has a ten million dollar award for your return. I don’t give a damn if he’s going to rip off each limb one by one and feed it to a gang of dogs. I don’t give a damn if you’re a man or a woman. All I care about is that cash. Now shut up.” She slammed the gun into the back of my head.

  My body winced at the collision and I felt the air leave my lungs. The metal was heavy and brutal against my scalp. My legs felt weak and I fell into the seat near the window.

  She shot me a glare before she slammed the door shut.

  I leaned my back against the seat and felt the migraine start to emerge. My hands were pressed against my back so I had to arch my spine in the seat to be slightly comfortable.

  The woman got into the backseat beside me, her hand still on her gun. “Go.” She ordered the driver with a quick flick of her wrist.

  The car pulled onto the road as the man mounted their motorcycles. When their engines roared to life they took off in the opposite direction.

  I looked out the window and tried to figure out where we were and where we were going. The woman and the driver were the only two people in the car. Two against one weren’t good odds, but it was better than four against one.

  The woman eyed me in my seat, watching me suffer before she turned her gaze out the window. “We’re taking you to his headquarter. We’ll drop you off and be on the way.”

  “And far away is that?”

  “Thirty minutes,” she answered. “I suggest you get some rest.”

  The idea of returning to the man who got off to torturing me sent chills down my spine. Now that I had a taste of freedom I never wanted to go back. I hoped Crow would track me down and come to my rescue but I knew that was impossible. The men drove straight through the hills and now I was in a different vehicle in the middle of nowhere.

  He would never find me.

  ***

  We entered a major city twenty minutes later. Few cars were on the street because of the late hour and most of the stores were closed. But the streetlights were on and a few bums sat on the sidewalks.

  We were almost there.

  I eyed the gun sitting on her thigh and cast a glance at the driver. He didn’t seem like a military man, just a chauffeur. I could probably take him down if I had to. The woman was my only concern.

  Without moving my head I eyed her body in the hope of finding another gun on her belt. If she there were one, I could snatch it and put a bullet right in her head. But I didn’t see one.

  But I did notice a wallet. It was slowly falling out of her pocket when we hit bumps in the road. It was black and made of leather, looking like it belonged to man. She probably had cash and an ID inside. If I could take her out and get away, I’d have money to travel.

  But how did I get it?

  The rope around my wrists had softened from the sweat against my back. It leaked through my t-shirt and absorbed into the rope, making it more brittle. I never put on my safety belt when I entered the car, and the buckle lay beside my right arm. It wasn’t sharp but it did have an edge.

  That gave me an idea.

  I kept my gaze out the window and shifted my weight closer to the door. I managed to grab the strap and pull it closer to me, getting the buckle closer to my fingertips. When I felt the metal in my hands I rubbed it against the rope, serrating it with as much pressure as possible. It slipped a few times and didn’t make a dent. But when I took my time and slowly grinded the metal against the deteriorating rope it started to loosen.

  It was actually working.

  I slowly cut through the strap until it came loose. Once the rope weak enough I felt it snap in two.

  My hands were free.

  I released the buckle and sat still, feeling my heart slam into my chest. I was excited and terrified. All I had to do was wait for the right amount and I would make my move. With lightning speed I would snatch the gun and get the hell out of there.

  The car slowed to a stop when we reached a red light. A pedestrian walked across the intersection with a bottle of booze in a paper bag. He took his time, already drunk.

  Now was the time.

  I took a deep breath before I moved with lightning speed. I jumped on the woman and tore the gun away from her grasp before she could even react.

  “You fucking bitch!”

  I slammed the gun hard into her scalp and made her collapse against the window. Blood oozed from her skull and dripped into her hair.

  My hand snatched her wallet before I pointed the gun at the driver. “Move and you die.”

  He held both hands up.

  I jabbed the butt of the gun into the back of his neck, making him go limp instantly.

  I jumped out of the car and ran as fast as I could. I ran down a dark alleyway without looking behind me. All I did was run. There was no looking back and no second-guessing. The woman probably already informed Bones I was on the way, so if I didn’t show up on time he would send men to look for me in the city.

  I stopped when I was five blocks away because I couldn’t run anymore. I was out of breath and exhausted. My wrists ached from the harsh rope that had bound them together for the past thirty minutes.

  A sound of a roaring engine played on my ears. It thudded within the air, causing vibrations against my skin. When I looked up I saw the commercial airliner aimed for the sky. It slowly ascended into the air, the lights of the wings shining from the blackness.

  An airport.

  There was an airport nearby.

  My first instinct was to call Crow and tell him where I was. But then I realized I didn’t have a number. He never gave me a phone or told me how to contact him. None of the stores were open so I couldn’t ask about the Barsetti winery. I was on my own. Soon, Bones’ men would come for me.

  I had to move now.

  I kept walking and pulled out the wallet I stole. Inside was a passport, an Italian ID, a credit card and some cash. When I looked at her picture I noticed our similarities. I could pass off for her if the inspector didn’t pay too much attention.

  I tossed the gun into the nearby garbage can and waved down a cab. When I was in the backseat I told him to take me to the airport as quickly as possible. He didn’t understand my English, so I had to stay it again in Italian. Good thing Crow taught me a few things.

  When I made it to the airport I walked to the counter and purchased the first ticket to America. Luckily for me, it was leaving in half an hour. I didn’t have any luggage so I would be able to make it if I hauled ass.

  I went through security an
d had to hand over my passport and ID when I reached the end of the line. The security officer took my ticket and ID and examined it closely. His eyes checked the name and the ticket number before he looked into my eyes.

  I held my stance and didn’t react, praying this man didn’t notice how different I looked from that woman. He eyed it again before he handed it back to me. “Have a safe flight.”

  I took it with a shaky hand and tried not to fall apart. The last hurdle to get out of here had been passed. No one could get to me now. Not even Bones. I walked to the terminal and reached the desk. Everyone was already on board and they just issued the last call.

  I handed over my ticket just as they were about to close the doors.

  “Just in time.” She ripped off the stub of my ticket before she opened the door for me. “Enjoy your flight.”

  I looked down the corridor and almost cried. The path was right before me and all I had to do was walk. No one would detain me. No one would hold me down and stop this from happening.

  I was finally going home.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Crow

  When they first took her I panicked.

  I had no idea where they went or how they tracked her down. They snatched her like professionals and disappeared into the night. I could only assume Bones was behind the attack but that wasn’t possible. If it were him, he would have blown up the house and murdered me in my sleep.

  Someone else was responsible for this.

  When I finally took a breath I was calm enough to fall into my solider mentality. There was a solution to this and I would find it. I would find Button if it was the last thing I did.

  No one would take her away from me.

  And that’s when I remembered the GPS I installed in her ankle.

  I hadn’t look at it once since she arrived here. She didn’t try to run and she didn’t try to remove it on her own. It was still implanted under the skin. When she was admitted to the hospital the doctors asked about it but I told them to leave it in.

  Now I could trace her location.

  She was in Rome. Her coordinate moved at a steady pace, which told me she was in a car. Bones lived in the area so she was dangerously close to being swept away forever.

  I had to move fast.

  ***

  I hauled ass in my sports car and made it to Rome in record time. On the way, I called Cane and told him what happened.

  “They just broke in?” he shouted over the line.

  “Took her and ran.”

  “Fuck.”

  “I’m almost to Rome. Gather the men and meet me.”

  “I’m on it. Where is she exactly?”

  “Not sure. Last time I looked she was about to enter the city.”

  “Keep me posted.” He hung up and the line went dead.

  I broke every speeding law and cut off a lot of people to get there as quickly as possible. All I had were two pistols and my rifle but that would enough. I could take out a hundred men if I had to.

  I had to get her back.

  When I reached Rome I checked her coordinates again. She was probably heading south where Bones had a few headquarters. Once they got here there they would transfer her into a helicopter and fly her out of there before I could intervene. It would only be a few minutes before they found the tracking device and removed it.

  The dot was nowhere on the map.

  I searched through the grid of Rome but didn’t see her dot anywhere. Her location was non-existent even though the transmitter still sent a single.

  Where the fuck was she?

  I pulled over and kept searching, not understand what was malfunctioning. She wasn’t in Rome. In fact, she wasn’t in Italy at all. When I zoomed out of the map I finally found the dot. It was over the Atlantic Ocean, slowly moving over the water.

  What the hell?

  It took me a moment to figure it out. There was no other explanation for her flying west out of Italy. There was no other explanation for her being on a plane.

  She escaped.

  As I watched her fly away a smile formed on my lips. “Go, Button.” A moment of pride flooded through my body. She refused to be captured again, and when I wasn’t there to save her she saved herself. She used that smart brain of her and found a solution to her problem.

  I’d never meet another woman like her.

  I watched the dot fly further away as the devastation sank into my body. She left Italy without a backward glance. She didn’t try to contact me and tell me she was safe. The second her freedom was available she left.

  She left me behind.

  My instinct was to go after her but that wouldn’t accomplish anything. She didn’t want me anymore. I refused to give her what she wanted so we couldn’t reach common ground.

  Maybe this was for the best.

  But when I pictured returning to my mansion in Tuscany I was filled with depression. Her smell wouldn’t sink into my sheets every again. The buttons would remain in the jar on her table, untouched and forgotten. I wouldn’t see her face first thing in the morning. All the little things that made my life enjoyable were now gone.

  But she took them with her.

  Want more?

  The story continues in Buttons and Pain.

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