The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(30)

Maybe not. And still, he needed to know the truth before he started anything with her. He couldn’t walk in blind again. But he knew what it felt like to have everything he wanted dissected under a cruel microscope of so-called morality. He wasn’t going to get to the bottom of anything if he stayed here. “Let’s go. He seems to be home.”

The car was in the driveway. Just one, like Serena had said. It seemed the good professor still made his woman take the bus.

Jake knocked on the door, Liam behind him.

A pretty blonde opened the door. She couldn’t be past twenty-three. She was dressed in a sweatshirt and shorts that rode up her ass. “Hello.”

“We’re looking for Professor Brooks. We called earlier. My name is Jacob Dean. I’m with a firm called McKay-Taggart.”

Her blue eyes went wide. “You’re here about his ex-wife. Amber Rose?”

That was her pen name. Jake felt a deep need to correct the young woman. Amber Rose was a front. Serena was a woman. “Serena Brooks.”

She turned her head as though watching for someone. When she turned back to them, her voice was hushed. “Don’t tell Doyle about it, but I just love her books. I read all kinds of romance, but I just love erotic romance. Do you think she knows Eliza Gayle? That would be so cool. Amber Rose is good, but Eliza rocks, if you know what I mean.”

Dear god, he’d found a groupie. “I don’t miss.”

She chattered on. “I think it’s horrible that someone is trying to hurt her. You should find this guy. It would be sad if she didn’t write anymore. I have all her books on my e-reader. Doyle doesn’t believe in e-books—like they don’t exist or something. He’s a little behind the times. But I read one because I was curious. He talks about those books all the time. I mean, he hates them. Doyle is just jealous because he can’t get anyone in New York to buy his two thousand page book about single people in Manhattan. He has the grossest descriptions of venereal diseases. What’s with that?”

Liam put an elbow in his side.

“Ginny, who is it?” A deep voice called out from the back of the house.

“It’s the dudes who called earlier,” Ginny screamed back. She scrunched up her nose. “Don’t you tell him I read his ex’s books. He thinks I’m all about the American masters. I need my thesis to pass muster. He’s really good friends with my professor.”

She opened the door and let them in.

Unlike Serena’s place, Professor Brooks’ home was a pin-perfect model of efficiency. Jake’s heart clenched a little at the thought of messy, fun Serena being forced to keep everything perfect. There wasn’t a book out of place or piles of notes scattered around. The home didn’t look lived in. Though it was inexpensive, it was obvious the man who lived here aspired to much more.

Doyle Brooks walked into the living room. He looked the part of the upwardly mobile intellectual, dressed in slacks, a dress shirt, and a blazer. “Gentlemen, please join me in my office.”

His office was a renovated extra bedroom refitted with dark panels and an enormous desk that looked about as full of itself as the man who sat behind it. There were numerous degrees and plaques hung neatly on the walls proclaiming just how smart and educated Doyle Brooks was. The man was only thirty. That meant he’d achieved many of those degrees while married to Serena. Serena, who had supported his ass while he went to school. Serena, who he’d dumped the moment she became difficult.

Poor little sub.

Introductions were made, and the professor seemed to take everything with a cool calm.

“So, Serena is still attempting to malign me.” Doyle sat back with a sad sigh as though he didn’t want to believe it, but knew it to be true.

“She’s attempting to figure out who’s stalking her, Professor Brooks.” Liam’s Midwestern accent was in full force. The Irishman stared at Serena’s ex-husband with dark eyes, sizing the man up. Liam didn’t have Eve’s profiling credentials, but he’d spent years learning to read men and women. He’d had to. He’d had to learn who was going to try to kill him and who wouldn’t. Just like Jake.

A little laugh puffed out Brooks’ mouth. “No one is trying to kill her. I hate this. I really do. Serena used to be such a sweetheart, but she’s playing some kind of game. We’re in a little legal trouble, Serena and I, and she’s decided to play dirty. Have you read the police reports?”

Yes, but now that he was sitting in front of Serena’s ex, he could see what the cops had seen. A perfectly dressed, perfectly calm and reasonable man who could make his point in a manner they would understand. And Serena had most likely been a bit messy, a little mousy, and altogether awkward.

“I have,” Jake replied. “I also know that Serena’s been receiving some phone calls from you.”

He’d listened to the one on her answering machine the night before. It had been filled with bile and vitriol. The harsh voice on the machine the night before bore little resemblance to the cultured, smooth tones of the man in front of him. Professor Brooks seemed to have two different personalities.

Brooks had the good sense to flush a little. “I shouldn’t have left that message. It was wrong of me. I should have allowed our lawyers to handle things. Look, Serena and I have some matters to settle, obviously.”

“Your divorce was finalized a couple of years ago,” Liam noted. He had a notepad in his hand, looking to the casual watcher like an assistant.