The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(102)

Jake wasn’t so sure about that, but Adam hadn’t found anything on either man just yet. He’d already known Hernandez was separated and living at the Y, which could make any man cranky, and Chitwood’s wife was fighting cancer. Still, Chitwood was described as deeply religious, his church’s website posting some strong warnings against what they called the pornography of the world.

He would keep an eye on both. He felt much better about the plainclothes officer they had brought with them. She was a young woman with a bright smile who didn’t seem at all offended that she was working in a toy store. She’d laughed with Grace about something before she’d started doing perimeter sweeps.

“Where’s the agent?” Adam asked, coming in from outside. There was a line of readers, almost all women with stacks of books. It was a bit of a madhouse outside. Ian himself was handling the security, and surreptitiously taking pictures of everyone for later research. If the stalker was here, they would at least have a picture to go from.

“She’s in the back.” Jake pointed to the door that led to the owner’s office and the large room which she used for storage. Jake had walked through the room, making sure the one door to the outside was locked up tight. There was a DPD officer standing guard outside. The officer had been very helpful, opening the door for Lara and Brian as they carted in books and boxes. Lara was in the quiet back room, unpacking books and merchandise. “I saw Chris helping her out, though he stated he was doing it under protest and that Lara was still on probation. And the other guy was down there, too, though he mostly seems to just be frowning at his wife.”

“Brian Anderson?” Adam frowned. “I was told he ran the mainstream arm of the business and didn’t particularly like having to deal with the lower-end clients.”

Chris stopped in front of them, a large stack of Their Sweetheart Slave in his arms. “Are you talking about Brian? He kind of hates us. Oh, he tries to hide it, but I overheard him saying that Lara ruined their reputation as an agency when she brought us in as clients. You know we erotic romance authors are responsible for the fall of Western civilization.”

“Then why’s he here?” Jake asked. “He wasn’t on the list, but Serena cleared him.”

“Well, even a snob likes cash. I think Brian finally realized that genre fiction pays the bills, Jake. Can I call you Jake now that you’re back in our girl’s good graces? By the way, I meant the whole ‘cutting your balls off’ thing if you hurt her again. I’ll just be mentioning that right up to your not wholly legal wedding day, which I assume is coming soon or I’ll have to do the whole ‘cutting your balls off’ thing and I really don’t like that. It’s messy.”

Jake rather liked the man Serena called her gay husband. “You’re preaching to the choir, man. We’ve told her how we feel.”

Chris’s eyes narrowed. “All right then. It’s just a matter of time.” He sighed. “Back to the salt mines for me. I have to drop these books off and then help him in the back room. When is the champagne coming out?”

It seemed to be a rhetorical question because Chris walked toward the signing table.

Jake didn’t like last minute changes. Not one bit. “Keep an eye on both the Andersons.”

She’d burned Serena once. Jake intended to make sure she didn’t get a second chance.

“Okay,” Adam agreed. “And we haven’t, you know.”

“Haven’t what?”

Adam looked toward Serena, his eyes softening. “We haven’t told her how we feel. We’ve told her we want her. We’ve spanked her ass red and made her come, but we haven’t said those three little words.”

I love you.

God, he hadn’t told her he loved her.

“But we do,” Jake said solemnly, looking to Adam.

A bright smile crossed Adam’s face. “Fuck yeah, we do.”

Jake looked across the room where Serena sat at her little table. The table was for the signing that would begin after the cocktail reception. She looked so damn pretty. Despite the fact that he would prefer those lovely breasts of hers weren’t on display in this type of a gathering, he had to admit that Adam had done a spectacular job of dressing her. “So, what do we do? Take her out to dinner after this thing and explain something she should have figured out awhile back?”

Adam leaned against the wall and watched her. “She’s not deeply self-aware. And she’s completely gun shy. I think we’ll have to tell her more than once before it sinks in. We just have to make sure she doesn’t run once this case is over.”

“Well, I have some ideas on that front.” Jake was good with handcuffs. He would just lock Serena up.

He knew one thing. He wasn’t going to let her go. He would try everything he had to if it meant keeping her close.

Jake looked out the front windows. There was a crowd waiting. Mostly women, although a few seemed to have dragged husbands along. And there were a few men who seemed to be alone. Yeah, he wanted to check those men out.

“Not long now,” Adam said, checking his watch.

Not long at all. Jake was going to count down the minutes until he could get Serena home and safe and they could start telling her exactly how they felt.





Chapter Twenty-One