The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(82)

But she couldn’t do it. Even if they would let her, she wasn’t sure it wouldn’t simply lead to more heartache.

Tears formed in Bridget’s eyes. “Why? Why is this happening? I don’t understand.”

At least she had Bridget. It was easy to hug her, to put her arms around her best friend and bring their heads close together. This woman was so dear to her. Bridget was brutally misunderstood because she didn’t quite know how to filter her words. But deep down, Bridget was loyal to the core. She knew how to be a friend. She knew how to love. If everything fell down around her, Serena was one hundred percent sure that Bridget would still be beside her. “I’m going to be okay.”

Bridget sniffled. Not many people understood just how emotional she could be. “You have to be. I don’t know what I would do without you. I love you, Serena. I really do. I know they hurt you, but you have to listen to them. You can’t take chances. You’re too important. To me. To Chris. And no matter what this * is saying, you have a ton of readers who think you’re important, too. Remember the signing we did where that woman thanked you because she read your books while she was going through chemo? You were important to her. He’s just sick. You can’t listen to him.”

“I know,” she said, though the tears just wouldn’t come. She loved Bridget, too, but she felt horribly bottled up as though she simply couldn’t let go. The tears were right there, but she blinked them back. Maybe one day she would be able to cry again. But not today. Today she would be strong. She would hold it all in until Jake and Adam were gone, and then she could wail all she wanted.

But now she would be strong.

Bridget released her, wiping her eyes. “Sorry. I’m just worried.”

“I know. I would be worried about you, too, sweetie.” She crossed to the sink and ran some cold water. “Can we just hide here for a while?”

Bridget chuckled. “Well, I’m sure they’ll come charging in when we’ve taken too long. I’ll be right back.”

Bridget disappeared into the larger of the two stalls. Serena stared at herself in the mirror. She looked tired and hollow. Just last night she’d sipped wine while Adam had brushed her hair. She’d felt like a princess. Was she being dumb? Should she just go out there and ask them if they could start all over again? Maybe it wouldn’t work, but maybe it would.

“Dumbass,” she said under her breath to the girl in the mirror. Not three hours after they’d ripped her heart out, she was looking for a reason to throw herself right back in the deep end of the pool.

The door to the stall was thrown open, and Bridget walked back out, her eyes wide and an envelope in her hand. “It was on the back of the door. I guess Adam just opened the door and made sure no one was inside. I didn’t want to open it. I still don’t want to. Oh, god. I touched it. I shouldn’t have touched it.”

Serena felt her heart flutter. Bridget held a plain white envelope in her hands, a piece of tape still sticking from the top. Whore was written on the front. Yep. That was probably meant for her. Without really thinking about it, Serena grabbed it. It was like pulling a bandage off. She wanted to just know. If she called Jake and Adam in, she might never actually see what the man who wanted to kill her had to say.

A couple of clipped news articles were attached to the single sheet of the computer-generated letter.

Please read the articles I have attached. You are ruining marriages with your disgusting words. You are tempting good men to do bad things. I love my wife, but I’m going to f*ck you. You want it rough, bitch, then I’ll give it to you good. You’re a whore. You prove it with your words.

As you can see, I know your habits, so don’t think you can hide away with your hired guards. I’ll be patient. I’ll wait and I will find you.

Whores don’t deserve nice things. I’ve read your filth. You say it’s your fantasy. I’m going to make your fantasies come true. All of them. Especially the nasty ones.

Serena felt her stomach turn.

The door to the bathroom opened, and Jake barged in. “Serena, we have to go.”

She held up the letter. “He left this.”

Jake’s jaw firmed, and he grabbed her hand. “He did more than leave you a note, baby. I think he just burned down your house.”





Chapter Seventeen


Jake tried to listen to the cops, but his mind was still on the ruined husk of Serena’s house. The security cameras they had placed around the house hadn’t helped. Jake had looked at the feed he’d received before the whole system had gone down and all he had was a vague shot of the back of a non-descript man in a dark hoodie and jeans moving outside the backyard camera. And then the feed had gone dead.

“Ms. Brooks,” Edward Chitwood was saying, “obviously, this person is escalating.”

“You admit this person exists?” Adam said, his bitterness showing through. He had paced the halls of the police station until the detectives had called them in. Adam had been the one who had hustled them all away from the crime scene. Jake had just stood there watching Serena’s house burn, his whole soul in turmoil. Everything she had was in that house except for the small suitcase Alex had brought her the night before. Her whole world was burning down around her, and she wouldn’t let him hold her.

At least Adam had been thinking. He’d gotten them out of there as quickly as possible since there was a crowd gathered around watching as the firefighters put out the blaze. Any one of them could have been the man who had started the fire. Adam had been smart enough to roll video from his phone of the crowd. They would analyze it later.