"It's the only thing that could work. We could leak false information about our whereabouts and he'll take advantage of our vulnerability. Only he'll be the one who's vulnerable."

"Risky. Bones has ears everywhere."

"And so do we," Crow said darkly.

I was tired of holding my silence so the men could talk. "Couldn't I act like I ran away?"

They both turned to me, their stoic expressions identical.

"Cane just beat me and put me in the hospital." I gave him the coldest stare I could muster. "It would make sense why I tried to escape. We could leak information that I'm heading for the embassy. He'll definitely try to intercept me. You can count on it."

Crow watched me with intelligent eyes. He examined my face, looking at me in a new way. "That's not a bad idea."

"It leaves a lot to chance," Cane argued. "We have no idea where he'll wait for her."

"Probably right outside the embassy," Crow argued. "That's what I would do."

"I'll approach the building so he'll come out." I knew Bones on an intimate level. He wouldn't send one of his cronies to snatch me. He'd want to grab me himself, wanting me to think he was my savior before he turned into the devil once more. "He'll want to get me himself."

"You're sure about that?" Cane asked.

"Yes." I grabbed Crow's glass and took a drink. "I know him better than you do."

"No." Cane couldn't hide his distaste for me. He hated looking at me. "Are you sure you want to put yourself at risk like that? There's always a possibility of something going wrong."

"Crow would never let him take me." I slid the empty glass back across the table and felt Crow stare at me hard. His hand slowly moved to my thigh under the table, telling me more with a simple gesture than words could ever relay. "And I want to take this fucker down. If we don't kill him, he'll just continue hurting women. I'm not going to let that happen. I need revenge just as much as the two of you."

Cane's hard expression didn't change. He was just as stern as ever.

"She can handle it." Crow spoke on my behalf, vouching for my strength and ferocity. "We'll need to wait until she's back to full health. Once that happens, I think we should go for it."

"Don't you think it'll be a little difficult to pull that off in the middle of the city?" Cane switched his eyes to his brother. "We'll need at least fifty men for back up and the embassy is right in the center of town. This idea is foolish and you're only considering it because your dick is making all the decisions."

Crow didn't slap him across the table like I thought he might. He stared him down in silence, his expression doing the insulting. "Pearl is an exceptionally intelligent woman who can handle her own. Don't doubt her."

"So much can go wrong with this plan," Cane argued. "Bones may not even come out for her. We're relying on her opinion for something paramount. We might lose our only leverage and our enemy at the same time."

"He will." There was no doubt about it.

"He would expose himself to gunfire just to snatch you?" Cane asked incredulously. "I'm sure the guy was obsessed with you but no man would risk his life for pussy."

"He won't know there's gunfire," I argued. "Everyone stays out of sight until he's in my grasp. I'll stab him myself." All I had to do was hide it in my pocket and shove it right into his heart. "And then you guys can take down his men."

"Again," Cane repeated. "We're in the middle of the city. We pull off our criminal activities in the dead of night. Not smack during the day."

"Then let's do it at night," Crow argued.

"The embassy isn't open past five," Cane said. "So why would she go there in the evening?"

"Maybe I don't know they're closed," I argued.

"No." Cane rolled his eyes. "Anyone would know they're closed."

"Then let's do it in the afternoon," Crow argued. "We've done crazier shit."

Cane rubbed his temple and winced when he moved his arm too quickly. "I need to think about it."

"I can do this without you." Crow poured another glass of scotch and slid it toward me. "I'm just including you for Vanessa. If you don't want anything to do with it, then fine. I don't give a damn."

Cane lowered his hand to the table, the irritation coming into this eyes. "Don't start acting like a hero."

"I'm not," Crow said coldly. "I'm just the one actually trying to avenge Vanessa instead of making excuses."

"Shut the fuck up." Cane slammed his hand down on the table but didn't wince. "I would have been done with this already if you just let me do whatever the hell I wanted with this cunt."

Crow's shoulders tensed in threat. He was about to pounce across the table and shove his glass down his brother's throat. "Talk about her like that again and see what happens." He held his brother's gaze.

Cane didn't blink when he met his brother's look. A silent war raged between them. When he held his silence it was a declaration of surrender. He held his tongue and didn't utter another insult.

"Good call."

"Thank you for including me this afternoon." I sat across from at the table on the terrace. We ate dinner in the garden, the pool behind us and the setting sun in distant view.

He ate his food slowly, just as he always did. Most of the men in my life inhaled their food the second it was placed before them. But Crow took his time, selective in his choices. "You're a part of the team now."

I was grateful Crow didn't put me on the sidelines because he wanted to protect me. He knew I had a backbone of steel and I could hold my own in a fight. That kind of respect was hard to find.

"And I wanted Cane to see yours bruises." He didn't flinch while eating. "A reminder that I haven't forgotten what he's done to you. And that I'll never forget he laid a hand on you." The threat in his voice was subtle but powerful. The veins in his neck bulged with hatred. He loved his brother but seemed to equally hate him.

"I think you succeeded." Cane stared at me for most of the meeting. There was no remorse in his eyes and there never would be. He felt justified because of the person he lost. A part of me understood it completely.

He sipped his wine then returned it to the table. "Did he make you uncomfortable?"

"No." Even after putting me in the hospital I still wasn't afraid of him. If anything, I wanted another rematch. I wanted a steel bat in my hands so I could even the score. "It takes a lot more than a few glares across a table to frighten me."

A small smile crept into his lips. He took another drink of his wine before he set the glass down. "When the time comes, you're certain you'll be prepared?"

"Yes." I wasn't afraid to go through with the plan. I didn't want to be anywhere near Bones. He still haunted my dreams. But I was eager to finish what he started. I wanted to end his life, get justice for all the women who weren't as lucky as me.

He nodded in approval. "I think it'll work. And the world will be a better place."

It would be an entirely new place. "I don't think I could stop there."

He pulled his gaze away from his plate. He watched me closely, and without saying a word asked me to elaborate. The months we spent together allowed us to understand one another at a basic level. We could communicate silently. Words had no use for us.

"When I was sold at the auction, someone pocketed three million dollars off my captivity. Three million." I still couldn't wrap my mind around that. That was so much money for someone who did nothing to earn it. "I want it back. I've been through hell and deserve to be compensated. I was the one who was a slave so I should be paid for my work."

He examined me in silence, his entire focus directed on me.

"I want to find out who that man is. And I'm going to hunt him down."

"I could be of assistance."

I knew he would offer. "Thanks. I could use the help."

"And what do you plan on doing to him?"

"Taking the cash."

"And murdering him?"

I didn't know about that. When I was in the situation I would make the right decision. "We'll see."

"I hate to dampen your vendetta but trafficking is something that occurs all over the world. It's one of the biggest sectors of the black market. Billions of dollars are made every single year."

"Things are about to change."

Affection burned in his eyes. "And you think you can change it?"

"Anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it."

"I think you'll need a lot of money and manpower to get anywhere." He didn't try to dismay me, but he was obligated to be honest.

"True..." I didn't have a penny to my name at the moment.

"But you can always use my resources."

"In exchange for what?"

A ghostly smile spread on his lips. He held my gaze with a sinister intention, answering the question without saying a single word. "You."

"You already have me."

"Yeah. But I could keep you as long as I wanted. I could be your silent backer who gets excellent compensation. Your fidelity. Your loyalty. And everything else."

He didn't need to do anything to keep me around. I had the freedom to leave whenever I wanted. The only reason why I was still there was because I wanted to be. We no longer needed a currency like buttons. "That's a fair deal."

"Then we have an agreement." He poured more wine into both of our glasses.

Our relationship started off under tense terms but it was different now. We were similar to any other relationship. He wanted me to be in his life and his bed indefinitely, and I felt the same way. I didn't think I could trust anyone ever again, but my heart was already softening for him. When it came to Crow, I felt safe. And I felt cherished. He wanted me and I wanted him-for the rest of time.

Maybe I was meant to come here. Maybe I was meant to leave New York and Jacob because I was destined for something more. Perhaps I had to push through all the darkness to finally reach the light. What if I was meant for someone just as dark and broken?

What if I was meant for the man sitting right across from me?

Crow finished his dinner and entertained himself with my appearance. He stared at the features of my face, entranced by the bruises as well as the unmarked skin. Despite my appearance he wanted to keep staring, thinking there was something worth seeing. "What are you thinking?"

I could never admit the thoughts that just entered my mind. If they scared me they were bound to scare him. At one point I hated this man but now I felt something more. The realization was disturbing. "I'm thinking about you."

"Be specific."

"I'm thinking about going to bed with you between my legs."

His eyes shined with approval. "When we're finished with dinner I'll make that thought a reality."

"Well, I'm finished. How about you?"

He chuckled in amusement. "Impatient, aren't we?"

"You're the best sex I've ever had. How can I not be?"

Instead of being aroused by the statement he was irritated. "I'm the only sex you've ever had. There has never been anyone before me. There will be no one after me." His clenched jaw dared me to disagree with him, to remind him of the other two men I'd taken to bed.

His possessiveness turned me on rather than warned me. "I really enjoy it and I want more of it. I want all you can give. I used to despise you until you were inside me. Your cock changed everything I believed in."

His jaw unclenched and the veins in his neck stopped bulging.

I leaned over the table, my elbows resting on the surface. "Fuck me. Now."

He took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring in response. His aroused look was the same as his angry one. He gripped the edge of the table to steady himself, those words sending him into a frenzy.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Stop. Tempting. Me."

I loved to play this game with him. I loved pushing to the edge and making him cripple. When he was weak he was just as sexy as he was when he was strong. The fact I could manipulate him with just words made me feel powerful.

It made me feel like a queen.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"I'll be fine." When we moved together I ignored the pain altogether. His cock felt so good between my legs that I didn't care about anything else. I pushed my dinner plate aside and leaned forward, my cleavage on display for him to see.

He immediately eyed it, his eyes turning into storm clouds. He was about to explode in a thundershower, lighting following soon after.

"When I tell you to do something, you do it."

His eyes narrowed, equally angry and aroused. He was the only man I knew who enjoyed being dominated. He responded to my bossy attitude and loved being defied-usually because he got to punish me.

"Now." I loved pushing him as far as he would go. I could stretch him until his breaking point and ignite a man full of rage and arousal. He fucked me like he hated me.

"You're playing with fire, Button."

"I am the fire."

That finally got him to his feet. He stormed around the table and grabbed me by the arm, the one place where I didn't receive an injury. He pulled me to my feet and threw me into his arms.