The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(29)

Chapter Eight


Jake pulled his SUV up to the small bungalow-style house in a rundown neighborhood. Doyle Brooks hadn’t fared as well as his wife in the last few years.

“Do we have a workup on this guy?” Jake sighed as he steeled himself for meeting Serena’s ex-husband.

“Of course. It’s me reason for living,” Liam said, his accent thick. When Liam was alone, he preferred to let his Irish flow, but the minute they stepped outside the SUV, Jake knew his natural accent would be replaced with a flat, Midwestern cadence. It helped the Irishman blend in.

“Give it to me.” He should have done this himself last night, but no, he’d been reading Small Town Sweetheart and wanking off in the shower, all the while envisioning himself and Adam as the men of the book and sweet little Serena as the heroine, Gabby. He was a dumbass. And Adam had been f*cking her in the elevator. Damn him. He didn’t buy that it wasn’t Adam. Not for one minute. It had been there in the self-satisfied voice that had come over Ian’s speaker phone. So much for taking her down together.

But then he hadn’t given his partner a lot of hope that he would be amenable to taking her at all. And nothing that had happened today made him more likely to fall into bed with her. She was trouble. Sweet, sexy, hot as hell, submissive trouble.

“Am I talking for my own benefit here?”

Damn it. He had to get his head in the game. “Sorry. What did you say?”

“I could have said the sky was falling and my dick is the only thing holding it up and you wouldn’t have noticed.” Liam sat back, his deep green eyes narrowing. “Adam’s not the only one crazy about this girl.”

“Adam is the only one crazy enough to do anything about it. We don’t even know if she’s lying to us.” He didn’t think so, but he’d been wrong before.

“God, not again. I swear, just f*ck her and get a ring on her finger and spare the rest of us. Sean nearly killed me last year. I had to watch Gracie twenty-four seven because he couldn’t just get his shit together. You want my advice?”

“No.” Jake didn’t want anyone’s advice, especially not “love ‘em and leave ‘em before he really even knows their name” Liam O’Donnell. It was like taking ethics advice from a politician.

“Good,” Liam said, ignoring him entirely. “Here’s my advice. It don’t matter if the girl is a con or not. She’s cute and sweet and obviously submissive. If you want her, take her. Spank her ass, f*ck her until she can’t see straight, and lay down some ground rules. No more fake stalking and no more of that *-Dom, BDSM-romance shit that makes women think they can walk all over us. That second bit is important.”

Jake laughed a little. He could imagine what Serena would do if he told her to stop writing. His balls would need close-cover protection. But the rest of it was a bit intriguing. What if he could control Serena? They’d never tried a D/s relationship with any of the women he and Adam had lived with. What if he could come to trust her? “Stop with the love advice, man. Just give me the rundown on this *.”

Liam pulled his tablet out. “Well, he’s not the redneck * I suspected. It’s far worse.”

Jake knew a whole bunch of redneck *s. He’d grown up around them. Hell, he still was one half the time. It was only through Adam’s influence that he knew about shit like gourmet food and what constituted a good suit. He didn’t like the thought of Serena with a guy who spent all his time hunting. Serena seemed so delicate in some ways. “What is he then?”

Liam made a gagging sound. “He’s a college professor. God spare me from intellectuals. He teaches English, for god’s sake. Do college students really need a class in a f*cking language they already speak? Me mother would roll over in her grave if I spent good money on an English class.”

“Your mother probably would have been shocked that you could make it into college.” Jake liked f*cking with Liam.

“Me mother was pure IRA, boyo. Trust me, she wouldn’t pay for anything that included the word English. Now, Professor Doyle teaches at a community college. North Lake. Damn me. He couldn’t even hit the big leagues. No wonder he’s jealous of his wife. At least she’s doing something productive.”

Obviously Liam wasn’t big on higher education. “So he divorced Serena and moved out here?”

Liam shook his head. “Nope. This is the house they lived in. He kicked her out.”

Asshole. “Is he still alone?”

“Nope. A grad student moved in with him about six weeks after he’d filed for divorce. Professor Doyle likes them young.” Liam shoved the tablet back in his case. “He hurt her. You can understand that, right? From what I hear, she finally gets up the courage to do something she’s wanted all her life and her husband tries to drive her into the dirt. What did that other girl on the tape say? He can’t sell his own shit? What do you want to bet that * in there has a crap-ass novel he’s been trying to sell for years? Some shit he thinks will change the world. He probably writes about morose yuppies and their sad-sack lives. He was jealous of her. He tried to stop her the only way a bully knows how. I’m just saying that if a woman wanted a little revenge against a man like that, maybe it’s not so horrible.”