The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(73)

“Serena, don’t make this hard. You know you want to forgive us. We were wrong. We were complete *s, but you saw that evidence. Come on, baby, let’s get through this meeting with Ian and then we’ll take you out to breakfast, which is exactly what we should have done in the first place. It’s what Adam wanted to do.”

“It doesn’t matter what Adam wanted. All that matters is what happened, and I won’t ever trust either one of you again. So give me my arm back, and let’s get this little farce out of the way so we can get on with our lives.” After today, she might never trust anyone again.

Jake brought her hand up, kissing her palm. “I’m not going away, Serena.”

“Great, so now I can have two stalkers. Oh, wait. One was a fake, so you can be my first.”

He let go of her hand, but his eyes heated up in that dark, Dom, sultry, get-her-panties-wet way he had. Damn him. “I was your first in other ways, too.”

He’d been her first real man-given orgasm, and it didn’t seem like he would let her forget it.

The doors opened, and Serena walked out. At least Adam seemed to have given up the game. He didn’t look her way or say anything that didn’t need to be said.

Grace looked up from her place at the front desk, a bright smile on her face which disappeared when no one returned it. “Oh crap. They f*cked up, didn’t they? I knew something was wrong when Ian called us all in on a Saturday. He’s in the back with your agent. Is everyone all right?”

Serena liked Grace, but she didn’t need to plaster her problems across the walls for everyone to see. She gave Grace what she hoped was her best smile. “We’re fine. I think the case is wrapping up, and that’s a good thing.”

Jake wouldn’t let up. “We’re not fine. We did f*ck up. We accused Serena of lying and using us, and we were complete *s and now she’s not talking to us and it’s shut Adam down emotionally.”

Adam turned cold eyes on his partner. “Really? You want to go there?”

Jake shrugged. “We have to go somewhere, buddy. If you don’t like how I’m handling this scene, then feel free to come out of your shell and take over. Trust me. I will be deeply relieved. You’re supposed to handle the emotional shit.”

Grace’s eyes went from Adam to Jake and back again. “Do ya’ll need to see Eve first? She does group rate therapy, I think.”

Jake smiled at the thought. “Not a bad idea. Can she schedule us in for this morning?”

Serena rounded on Jake. He wasn’t giving her the option of keeping her humiliation private. “What the hell are you doing?”

He took her by the elbow and led her away from Grace. Adam stayed in his place, the only one who seemed to be behaving as he should. Jake kept his voice low. “I am trying to salvage what was a complete cluster f*ck of a morning.”

“Why? You’re out, Jake. You don’t have to worry about me. You don’t have to protect me. Just leave it where it is, and we can both move on.”

His eyes were steady on her. “I have zero intentions of moving on without you.”

“That’s not what you said this morning. I believe you said you couldn’t stand the sight of me.”

He softened a little, his voice lowering. “And after all that evidence, I was already trying to justify in my mind why I should keep you. I was already trying to figure out how to fix it or how to punish you so I could be okay with staying with you.”

He was so frustrating. “Why?”

He started to say something and then his whole face closed off. “Because we’re good together.”

Not the answer she’d wanted. Not the answer she would accept. She’d hoped, just for a second, he would say the one thing that her stupid heart wouldn’t be able to handle. I love you. She would have thrown herself into his arms and forgiven him with those three little words, but she was just convenient. He was Dominant. She was submissive. She was interested in a ménage. She probably looked like a pretty good deal to Jake now that he was sure she wasn’t a lying, gold-digging whore.

“Let it alone, Jake. You want me to forgive you. Fine. I forgive you, but I can’t forget that the first time you had the slightest doubt about me, you were ready to toss me to the wolves. I asked for one thing, Jake. A little kindness when you were done.”

His face became as hard as granite. “I’m not done, Serena. And I’m sorry to shatter your illusions, but I’m not particularly kind, either. And you know what, you gave as good as you got, sister.”

“What are you talking about?” She’d held it together.

He pointed back at Adam. “What was that crack about Adam shoving something up my ass? Do you know what that did to him? I know he’s a big boy and he should be able to handle it, but god, Serena, you opened about a thousand wounds in that man that have never healed.”

She glanced over. Adam wasn’t talking to Grace. He stood there, his arms crossed as though he was just waiting for it all to be over. “I meant you two protect each other, and you were both pushing me out. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“I don’t care how you meant it, Serena. It’s how he took it. So can’t we all just acknowledge that we said some stupid shit and move on?”

And what would happen the next time she screwed up? The next time she upset Adam? That seemed to happen a lot. It was too much. She couldn’t handle the drama. “I don’t want this anymore. I think I’m saying my safeword.”