The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(58)

She finally turned to him, concern written all over her face. She really needed a keeper. “Why?”

“Because I was given a general discharge from the Army. Do you understand what that means?”

“It means they found some reason to force you out, but you didn’t do anything criminal. Who did you sleep with that you shouldn’t have?”

“A woman who one of the commanding officers was crazy about. She was also a couple of ranks up from us. Me and Jake were Special Forces, but she was intelligence. She was more important, and she knew it. We were sleeping with her, but when we got caught, the charges were that we were sleeping with each other. Back then, don’t ask, don’t tell meant don’t get caught.”

Her jaw dropped open. “Your father thinks you’re gay? Well, why don’t you tell him the truth?”

Na?ve little thing. “I tried, sweetheart. He was done with me the minute the story made the rounds. My family has a long and storied career of military service. A Miles has died in every war this country has fought since the War of 1812. He would rather I had taken a grenade to the gut in Afghanistan than get discharged. My brothers agree with him. They have their happy, vanilla lives, and they no longer acknowledge the pervert in the family.”

“What about your mom?”

He wasn’t sure his mom would have made a difference. He barely remembered her. She was a picture on a wall, a pretty woman who seemed so proud to be standing next to her officer husband. Would she have stood by him? He doubted it. “She died when I was five. Cancer. Dad remarried, but Justine didn’t want to have much to do with us kids. We were all sent to boarding school. I didn’t live at home after I was seven years old. I expected to have a long-term military career. Except I discovered I liked sharing. Apparently the Army isn’t hip to what’s hot in erotic romance.”

Her hands came up to cup his shoulders. “Adam, I’m so sorry to hear that.”

He took advantage. He pulled her in for a hug. He would take what he could get, and if her sympathy got his foot back in the door, he wouldn’t feel a moment’s remorse. “I never fit in, Serena. When I would go home, my dad would accuse me of being queer because I spent too much time on clothes or I liked to wear my hair longer than a buzz cut. Hell, the fact that I liked to read books made my father question my sexuality. Jake fit in better with my family than I did. I took him home with me on leave once and my dad asked why I couldn’t be more like Jake. I was a f*cking commando and I wasn’t masculine enough for my dad. He accused me of ruining Jake.”

“Your dad was an *.” Jake stood behind them, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt.

“Yeah, well, it looks like it runs in the family.” Adam took a deep breath and pulled away, looking down into Serena’s eyes. “I f*cked up. I can’t top you the way Jake does. I don’t want to. I prefer to do the small things. I’m not this badass Dom.”

She looked up at him, her eyes warm again. She pushed back his hair, her fingers running through it with affection. “I don’t want you to be. I want you to be Adam. I want you to plan my day and force me to eat something I didn’t microwave. I want you both for different reasons, but I’m scared now. I’m scared that jealousy is always going to be here.”

“I had a bad moment, Serena. I don’t have many of them.” He looked back at Jake. “Have I ever acted like this over a woman in the whole time we’ve been sharing? What would I have done if I’d found you screwing Grace?”

Jake moved behind Serena, trapping her between their bodies, proving that his instincts were always spot on. “You probably would have done a happy dance, but then I knew Grace wasn’t the one for us. I can’t say the same about this one. And I think that’s the problem. You know she’s right for us. You’re worried she’s going to choose between us and that you’ll come up on the losing end.”

“I won’t choose.” Serena’s mouth firmed into a stubborn line, but Adam noticed that she didn’t try to get away. She sort of snuggled in as though she knew it was exactly where she belonged. “I won’t come between you two. Adam, you better make the decision. I can’t handle another scene like that one. And I can’t spend all my time worried that I’m pissing one of you off.”

Jake leaned in, rubbing his cheek against her hair. “I think we can work it out. Now, can we take this home?”

Adam liked the sound of that. And he rather liked Serena’s pretty little house. He had a house of his own purchased with trust fund money his father hadn’t been able to touch, but Serena’s house had character. He should start slowly moving his and Jake’s things in. By the time the assignment was over, they would have firmly established themselves in Serena’s life and her home and she wouldn’t even realize it until it was too late and he’d put a ring on her finger and Jacob had put a collar around her neck.

Stealth. Stealth would win this particular battle. It had already worked with Jake. Adam looked down at Serena. He had some serious groveling to do. Luckily, he was good at it. He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, happy that she didn’t pull away. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

She sniffled a little, but her smile was bright. “Okay. Don’t do it again. I asked Jake to just be honest with me. I can handle a lot. I’m not fragile. I want honesty, and if you decide to leave, I want some kindness.”