The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(4)

“Ms. Brooks, what Adam is trying to say is that we’ll bring this case in front of the group. We don’t have the authority to take the case. It has to go up for review.” Jake stared down at them, a forbidding presence.

Adam wondered what the hell had put that look on his face.

Serena pulled her hand back, retreating as effectively as if she’d walked across the room. Her face went blank and polite. “Of course. I appreciate you listening to me. I suppose you have the police reports?”

Jake nodded, but there was a coldness to his stance that Adam didn’t like. “I do. I think we have everything we need. We’ll get back to you.”

She stood, careful to avoid touching Adam. “I’m sure you will.”

There was a defeated slant to her shoulders as though she was sure everything Jake was saying was mere lip service.

“We’ll be in touch very soon, Serena.” Adam barely restrained himself from reaching for her. “I promise. I will call you tonight.”

“Sure.” She turned her head, not making eye contact. “Thank you both for your time.”

She walked out of the room without looking back. The door closed with a quiet click.

“What the f*ck was that about?” Adam turned on his partner.

Jake’s face shut down. “It’s about putting the horse way before the cart here. I just talked to Brighton. Everyone at the DPD thinks this is a marital squabble. Her ex-husband recently decided to sue her for a portion of her income. This could really help her case.”

“She told us it couldn’t be him.” Adam could already see Jake’s brain turning. Jake had been hurt before—on a fundamental level. The scars on Jake’s soul ran deep, and no one had been able to make a dent in them yet.

“And yet she gave the cops clues that led them straight to her ex’s door. This is an angry woman, Adam. I get that she’s beautiful, but we need to take a look at this before we get involved. I can already see that you’re in way too deep. Even if we decide to take her case, I think it would be best if we passed it off to Liam or Alex or someone who isn’t going to get emotional.”

Maybe he’d read Jake wrong. For the last ten years, he’d shared everything with Jacob Dean, including women. Jake was the brother he wished he’d had and the friend he couldn’t imagine living without. He couldn’t believe that Jake wasn’t attracted to the woman who had just walked out the door.

“I want to see those reports. And even then I don’t think I can turn her away. She was scared. If you can’t see that then you weren’t looking at her and you’re not who I thought you were.”

Jake shook his head. “Look at that. She’s already causing problems. I knew that woman was trouble the minute Grace walked her into the room. I knew you would react this way. And this is precisely why we’re not taking this case. I left the file with Grace. You can review it. We present to the group in the morning.”

Adam felt his fists clench. “And if this * kills her before then?”

“You know the likelihood of that happening is next to none.” Jake leaned in. “Buddy, you have to learn to protect yourself.”

“And you have to learn that not every woman is Jennifer.” There. He’d said it. The name dropped like a lodestone between them. Adam could practically feel the room’s temperature drop.

Jake turned on his heels. “I’m heading out. I’m going to the club tonight. Are you coming with me?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, simply left Adam standing there wondering if Jennifer Kelly was going to haunt them forever.





Chapter Two


Serena forced herself not to run out of the office. Tears blurred her eyes as she rushed past the pregnant receptionist. The woman had been very kind. There was something about Grace Taggart that made Serena want to confide in her.

Unfortunately, Grace wasn’t an investigator, and the men of the company didn’t want to have anything to do with her case. Maybe she needed to find a female private investigator. She would feel more comfortable. And she probably wouldn’t make an idiot of herself by drooling over a female PI.

She should never have come. It had been a stupid idea.

“What happened? We expected you to take a little longer.” Chris stood in the middle of the elegantly decorated hallway with a cup of coffee in his hand.

“They were *s, weren’t they?” Bridget asked. She had a diet soda. She was almost never without a diet soda. She pointed a finger at Chris. “I told you. No one takes this shit seriously. I’m buying a gun.”

Chris’s light blue eyes went wide. “Oh, no you’re not, sweetness. You would have one hormonal day and the lives of anyone who annoyed you would be over. As a person who annoys you on a regular basis, I claim the right to live.”

Serena ignored her best friends’ banter and strode to the elevator. She pressed the button, praying it would get here soon and she could put this whole thing behind her.

She had no illusions that they would actually take her case. She’d seen it in Jake Dean’s dark eyes. He didn’t believe her any more than the police had. The police had actually asked if she was making it up as a publicity stunt. At least the investigators at McKay-Taggart had been more polite.

She would have to tell the freaking press for that ploy to work. She’d done her best to keep it quiet. And besides, she wasn’t big enough to make the news. Given the nature of her work, she likely would be told by everyone that she had asked for it.