The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(74)

He shook his head, disappointment clear on his face. “We aren’t in the dungeon, so it doesn’t count. I’m not giving up on this, Serena.”

Ian walked in, his face stern and unforgiving. “Serena, will you please come on back to my office? We need to talk about something. Jake, Adam?”

The men nodded, and everyone started the walk to Ian’s office.

Ian opened the door, and the first thing she saw was Lara standing at the window. She turned, and Serena almost took a step back. Her always perfectly polished agent was red faced from crying. She’d obviously scrubbed her face clean at some point, and Lara Anderson without makeup looked younger and much more vulnerable than Serena had imagined she could look.

Looks were almost always deceiving.

“Serena, I am so sorry.” She started to take a step forward, but stopped when Jake moved slightly in front of Serena, his gesture clear. He would protect her. Oh, he would casually rip her heart out, stomp on it, and then decide, hey, he didn’t mean it after all, but he would protect her.

Serena noticed Brian leaning against the back wall of the office. His arms were crossed, and he was practically vibrating with discomfort. Still, he gave her a tight smile when he noticed her looking his way. “Serena, hello. I would like you to know that this wasn’t a publicity stunt the firm itself had anything to do with.”

“Shut up, Brian. Can we talk about this like friends? Do we have to start in with the legal crap?” Lara asked, her eyes narrowing.

Brian flushed. His hair was conservatively cut, and he was dressed in a full suit, looking every inch the successful literary agent. According to Bridget, he wasn’t particularly happy with his wife’s new romance clients, but he liked the money they were bringing in. And now he seemed to be worried about a lawsuit. “You’ll wish we’d brought our lawyer into this when Serena uses every f*cking thing you say in this office to sue us for everything we have. She needs to know you did this, not the firm.”

“I think we’ve established that Mr. Anderson doesn’t like his wife’s business practices.” Ian took a long breath as he sat behind his desk. He looked right there, a king on his throne, deciding what to do about the peasants. “I take it Jake and Adam filled you in on what they discovered?”

Jake held out the nearest chair to Ian’s desk. He sent her a look that said he would make a big deal out of it if she didn’t sit down. Serena believed him. He seemed utterly willing to humiliate her at every turn. She sank into the chair and looked Ian Taggart squarely in the eyes. “Yes. I understand that this was all a publicity stunt cooked up by my agent. I know you probably won’t believe this, but I had nothing to do with it. I deeply apologize for wasting your time and resources. If you would just send me the bill for the last week, I’ll pay it.”

She stood to go. She didn’t need any explanations. Now it was all out in the open, and she would pay the piper and Adam and Jake could be out of her life. And she didn’t need an agent. She would go independent. That way she wouldn’t be forced to rely on anyone.

Ian’s hands came out, steepling in front of his chest as he considered her. He let a long moment of deeply uncomfortable silence pass. Finally, Serena couldn’t take another minute of it.

“So I should go now?” Damn it. That hadn’t sounded sure of herself. Ian was staring through her, and for the briefest of moments, she wanted to drop to her knees and find a submissive position and hope the big bad Dom was satisfied with it.

“No, Serena. You should not go now. You should sit back down until such time as this meeting is complete.”

She swallowed, but decided to make her stand. Independent meant she couldn’t afford to be submissive to anyone. She had to be her own woman, able to stand up to someone like Ian Taggart. “I believe my business is through here. Like I said, send me a bill.”

“Fine. The bill will be for half a million dollars.” Ian’s smile was a chillingly polite thing. “And some change. I’ll get you an itemized list. You can leave a check with Grace.”

“Fuck me,” Brian said under his breath. “She’s going to sue us for that, too. Goddamn it, Lara. I should never have let you bring in clients on your own.”

“Shut up, Brian. I didn’t ask you to be here,” Lara hissed back.

Serena stared at Ian for a moment and decided he was serious. She’d had top-notch bodyguards around the clock for a week, and another agent had been pouring over her case. Yes. It could be half a million dollars. She didn’t have it. Everything was in her house and her car and her business. If she drained her accounts, she might be able to come up with a little over two hundred thousand, but she also had to fight her ex in court. Her advances were small compared to the big New York authors. She made her money in volume. She would have to up her writing schedule. She would need to put out more books.

She would need a payment plan.

“Damn it, Ian. Let her off the hook,” Adam said, frowning at his boss.

“But she’s wriggling so nicely.” Ian’s expression didn’t change.

“Sit down, baby.” Jake nodded toward the chair again. “He’s not going to charge you. He’s being a prick.”

It seemed to be a condition that was going around today.

Ian eyed his employee. “I am merely trying to set parameters, Jacob. And you know how I deal with bratty, impolite subs.”