The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(5)

It was brutally unfair, but she’d be judged and sentenced and no one would even have read what she wrote. They would take one look at the covers and call her work smut. She’d seen it time and time again.

“Honey, I’m sorry.” Chris’s arm slid around her shoulder. He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

Her gay husband had proven so much more loving and affectionate than her real husband. She leaned into him, grateful for his strength.

“I want to know what happened in there. Do I need to go talk to someone?” Bridget asked.

Bridget was the sister she’d never had. The scourge of lazy retail clerks, snooty waiters, and bad drivers everywhere, Bridget was always the first one to kick a little ass.

Serena doubted Bridget could handle Jake Dean. Adam Miles was another story.

“No. It just didn’t work out. It’s not a big deal.” She brushed away a stray tear as the elevator opened. “None of this is a big deal.”

It couldn’t be. It was someone’s idea of a sick joke, and when she refused to respond, they would give up. Nothing physical had happened. She would be fine.

Chris followed her into the elevator, a frown on his handsome face. Chris Roberts was six feet two with a crown of blond hair and an angelic face. It was a crime to women everywhere that he preferred men. “It’s not nothing. I’m moving in.”

She had to avoid that at all costs. “No, you’re not. You just moved in with Jeremy. You can’t leave him. You’re happy. And before you say anything, you’re not coming over, either. Your boyfriend already hates my guts, Bridge.”

“Only because he’s an *.” Bridget’s pretty face screwed up in a look of pain. “I don’t know why I’m still with him.”

Because she’d been with him so long she wasn’t sure how to not be with him. Serena knew the feeling. She was over her ex in every way imaginable, and yet she still woke up at night feeling alone. It couldn’t help that Bridget had watched how amazing Serena’s dating life was. Nonexistent. Nothing. A big fat zero. She had no time to even think about dating. She only had her work.

The door to the elevator opened, and she walked out, forcing her feet to move. She let her friends lead her to Bridget’s Nissan, and she snapped her seatbelt on like a zombie. They started talking, but she felt far away.

She hadn’t loved Doyle in a long time. She kind of actively hated him now. Their marriage had been over forever and yet the man could still make her feel like she was nothing.

And so could Jake Dean. When she’d first walked into his office, she’d felt an instant connection to the man. His eyes had been warm, and she’d sized him up immediately. She did that a lot. She’d seen big, strong Jake and immediately started building a character around him. And then he’d shoved her at Adam, and her brain had gone on overload.

Two gorgeous men. Partners. Jake would be the deadly predator and Adam the tender warrior. They would function as a team, as halves of a whole. They just needed the right heroine to bring them both to life.

Yeah, that was going to happen.

You’re sick, Serena. You’re perverted. It’s just wrong what you wrote. It would be wrong if you wanted one man to tie you up and spank you, but no, Serena Brooks has to go for two. I never would have married you if I had known just how depraved you are. No smart man is going to want a woman like you.

She still could hear her husband’s words as he’d blown up six years of marriage. She’d made the horrible mistake of showing him one of her stories. She’d written in private for so long. But he’d utterly rejected her when he’d read one of her books. She’d supported him as he’d tried to write, but he’d dumped her because her work wasn’t intellectual. Because her work was embarrassing.

Of course, once he’d figured out how much money she was making, the * had changed his tune.

Her cell phone rang. She looked down. Her agent. She let her eyes close. She didn’t really want to talk to Lara, but she owed her. “Hello.”

Lara’s voice came across the line with the force of a bullet. Several bullets. Lara spoke in a rapid-fire manner, peppering her with questions. “Are you out? Is everything done? How do you feel now? So, who did Ian assign to you? I know he wouldn’t take it himself, but I expect someone good.”

Lara had been the one to send her to McKay-Taggart. She would not be pleased that Serena had been turned down. Serena ignored the first questions. Lara would only really be interested in the answer to her last question. “Sorry. I don’t think they’re going to take the case.”

She was silent for a moment. Lara Anderson was a bitch and a half. It worked for her as an agent. It sometimes scared the crap out of Serena.

“I will handle this.” The phone clicked off.

“Is über-bitch on the case? Goddamn it! What are you doing in the fast lane, idiot? Seriously? Do more than twenty miles a f*cking hour!” The horn blared, and the small vehicle in front of them obediently moved to the right lane. Bridget was the very definition of road rage.

“She’s going to try, but I don’t think these guys go down easy. And, honestly, I don’t think I want them on the case. If Lara forces them to take it, they won’t be serious about it.” And they would charge her out the ass. A pissed-off guardian probably wasn’t the best guardian.