The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(68)

She looked at herself in the mirror. Sex hair. She finally had sex hair, and she was going to leave it that way.

Whatever had put Adam in a crappy mood, she would just have to deal with it. That’s what people in love did.

Oh, crap. She was in love with them. It was stupid. It was such a dumb mistake because it could never work, but she’d fallen for them both, and she would hate herself if she didn’t try.

She took a deep breath. She was ready to find out who was trying to hurt her so she could move on with Adam and Jake.

Serena opened the door and wished she’d decided to be brazen some other time. Adam stood staring at her, not a hint of emotion on his face. His eyebrow quirked up.

“This is how you’re going to play it?” Adam asked.

“Play what?” She was starting to get the really bad feeling that he knew something she didn’t. “Is everyone else out there? I’m sorry. I thought it was just us. I’ll put on actual clothes.”

“It’s too late for that.” He reached out and grasped her wrist, pulling her forward. “Come on then, sweetheart. It’s time to pay the piper for this little game you’ve been playing.”

She dug her heels in and slipped a little, landing on her ass. Her wrist twisted in Adam’s hand. Pain flared. “What are you talking about?”

His eyes, always so warm, held not a hint of heat. “Get up. I want to get this over with so you can leave.”

Heat flashed through her body, humiliation making her skin flush. This wasn’t about some small misunderstanding or his insecurities. He meant what he was saying. He meant every harsh word of it. He’d made love to her the night before. He’d treated her like a princess, and now that he’d had his fun, she was getting kicked out of the castle. He was the one who had played a game, and Serena was the loser.

“I’ll grab my things. I need my phone so I can call Bridget to come pick me up. Is there somewhere I can wait?” She wasn’t about to sit in the living room with them. She wanted to be alone. She still couldn’t quite process what had happened, but the last thing she wanted was some big scene where they told her everything she’d done wrong and why she wasn’t good enough for them.

His smile seemed brutally cruel. “That would be the easy way out, wouldn’t it, sweetheart? I’m not inclined to give you an easy out.”

He reached for her again, and she tried backing away. “Stop it.”

“Stop what? Stop trying to do my job when all you can do is lie? Are you kidding me?”

“Is she giving you trouble?” Jake stood at the end of the hall, his handsome face frowning down at her. “Don’t touch her, Adam. She’ll probably sue us. Imagine the publicity she could get out of that. Poor little writer gets abused by her bodyguards.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” She was sick of this. “Just tell me. Stop all this bullshit.”

Adam started to reach for her again, but Jake’s bark stopped him. “I meant what I said, Adam. You know what’s going on. Don’t touch her. She’ll use it against you. Treat her like that snake last night. She bites and she’s venomous. Now, Ms. Brooks, if you would care to follow me, I’ll show you how I figured out your little scam. It might help for the next time you decide to run it. You’ll be better prepared. If you don’t care to know, then feel free to leave. I really don’t care anymore.”

He turned and walked away like he’d never held her and told her she was his. Being Jacob Dean’s didn’t mean much, apparently. He certainly hadn’t cared enough to keep her for very long. One night. It appeared to be all she was good for.

“Would you mind telling me what I’m being accused of?” She struggled to her feet, trying to keep some small bit of dignity around her. She wasn’t wearing any underwear because they hadn’t given her any. She’d been playing by their rules, but she hadn’t really realized it was all just a game. It had seemed so real. The words they had said had meant something to her. She’d been out of the dating scene for far too long, living in a world that only existed inside her head. Now she remembered why she’d retreated. The real world was brutal and unkind.

Adam didn’t lift a hand to help her up, simply stood there as if her gracelessness was a burden. “You know what you did, Serena. You can stop pretending. We caught it all on tape.”

Frustration welled. “Pretend like I’m an idiot.”

He wouldn’t have to pretend. She was an idiot who had fallen for their every kind word and probably well-practiced moves. How many women had they pulled the “woe is me, the world doesn’t understand our needs” act on?

Finally there was a spark of emotion on his face. Unfortunately, it looked an awful lot like rage. “You set this whole thing up. God, I don’t even want to look at you. I can’t stand the sight of you. I can handle you pulling this shit with me. You know, if it were just me, I’d probably even forgive you, but you knew how Jake felt and you still played him.”

Ah. They were back to the money and attention-grabbing fame-whore argument. Her hands shaking, she wiped at the stupid tears that kept falling. “I’d like to see this tape.”

It wouldn’t change anything. She knew she wasn’t responsible, but she’d like to see what had caused this change. Maybe they had doctored it themselves in order to get out of a messy relationship. Maybe Adam had rolled out of bed with her and gone and exchanged notes with Jake, and they had decided she wasn’t good enough in the sack to be their magical “one.”