The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(31)

Brooks sat up a little straighter. “Not everything was made clear to me at the time. My lawyer says this is a long shot, but I’m going to stand up for myself. I supported her while she wrote those…books, if you can call them that.”

“That’s what we usually call a collection of words forming a coherent story.” Yeah, the professor was a pompous *.

“I don’t know about coherent. What my ex-wife writes is pure pornography. It’s clogging up the publishers so the real writers can’t get through.”

Liam cleared his throat. It was a clear “I told you so.”

And he had. “Serena explains to us that you divorced her over her first book.”

He took a long breath and sat back. “Well, what did she expect me to do? I had just gotten on at the college.”

“Junior college.” Liam seemed to feel a desperate need to keep poking the professor.

Brooks didn’t acknowledge him. “A professor’s wife is an important asset. She reflects on the professor. If I wanted to move up in my profession, I certainly couldn’t be that man whose wife writes porn. And the acts she described.” His nose wrinkled in distaste. “The book was filth. It shouldn’t be out there. It made me sick and, quite frankly, some of it is demeaning to women.”

That was ridiculous. Jake had read the same book. She used some rough language. She called a cock a cock. She hadn’t used the phrase “honey pot” or “center” to describe a vagina. She’d called it a *. Jake had found it refreshing. It had made the whole thing hot. He didn’t see how a woman choosing to explore her sexuality demeaned her. But this wasn’t the time to defend Serena’s work. “Where were you last night, Professor?”

The man seemed a bit startled. “I don’t know that’s any of your business.”

“If you were at my client’s home running a key across her car, it is most definitely my business.” It was time to let this * know that someone was looking out for his ex. She wasn’t on her own anymore.

The professor’s fists clenched. “I was here grading papers. And no one was with me. Ginny was at class. The bus dropped her off after ten.”

Liam gasped. “You let that little bit of fluff walk the streets alone? What kind of a man are you?”

“I’m a man who respects women. She isn’t a child. She has a brain, and she can take care of herself.”

Jake sat forward. He understood the man now. “I know men like you. You take and take and give nothing back and call yourself modern or some shit. You won’t open a door for a woman because, according to you, it’s insulting. I’m sure little Ginny in there is responsible for her own orgasm because you can’t be bothered to give her one. You use every excuse in the book so you don’t have to take responsibility.”

He shrugged. “Well, I wouldn’t want to piss off the feminists.”

Jake stood. It was time to end this interview. It wouldn’t go anywhere, and he knew at least one thing about the man. Jake didn’t trust him. He would give Adam the go ahead to hack into every account the man had. It might take weeks to go through everything, but if this f*cker had even written a nasty e-mail to her, Jake would take it to the cops. Brooks thought he could annoy Serena. Well, Jake had irritated some of the world’s most deadly men in his time. Professor Brooks would be a breeze. Liam could keep an eye on the * for a few days, but talking to him was just pissing Jake off. “Serena Brooks is under my protection now. Do you understand?”

“I understand you sound like a meathead caveman.”

Jake leaned over, using every bit of his military training to intimidate. A wave of pure predatory pleasure overtook him as the professor seemed to shrink right before his eyes. “Remember that. If you call her house again, I’ll be back here, and we’ll have a chat. I don’t think you’ll like how I chat. I don’t use big words.”

“You’re threatening me.”

He smiled, but Jake was pretty sure it wasn’t a happy thing. “Look, Liam. All those degrees really made him smart.” He backed off. “And as for Serena’s books, they’re good. I like them. I can see where you would want to divorce her. She made you look bad.”

The professor’s eyes narrowed. “Fuck. You’re f*cking my wife.”

There was the voice Jake had heard on the answering machine. Yep. The professor had a dark side.

“Not yet, he isn’t. But he’ll come around.” Liam stood, gathering his things. He put a card on the professor’s desk. “I want to make it easy for you to call and complain. Ask for Ian Taggart. He owns the company.”

Doyle Brooks’ face was a mottled red. He reached for the card. “Oh, Mr. Taggart will hear from me. Now, I believe I would like for you to leave my home.”

Jake nodded. He had nothing left to say. He wished he could be there when Brooks tried to pull his shit on Ian. Liam was a bastard. Jake was happy to not be on the Irishman’s bad side. He followed Liam out, wondering how hard it had been on Serena to live in this house. She wouldn’t have been able to write in her underwear. She wouldn’t have been able to dance around. She would have felt hemmed in. She had a deeply submissive nature. It didn’t mean she would just let anyone walk on her. She’d proven that. She’d come out fighting. She’d followed her path. But it did mean she would more than likely attempt to please the people around her. Especially her husband. That shit bag in the office had taken advantage of her for as long as he could and then ground her under his overly pretentious loafer when he no longer had a use for her.