The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(85)

“After what he said to you, how could I not?” Adam asked.

Jake let his whole body sag. “I deserved it. I didn’t even punch him back. I’m sorry.”

Serena went a little pink. “There is no call for violence. We need to get him home. I think you’re going to have a black eye.”

Jake smiled at Adam as Serena moved around him. She put her hands on him for the first time since she’d slapped him. Her fingers smoothed across his arm as though she couldn’t quite withhold comfort.

He followed her to the car, listening to her lecture on how friends shouldn’t fight.

But he was going to fight. He was just glad he had his partner back. Now all they had to do was figure out who was trying to kill her.





Two days later, Adam was ready to tear his own hair out.

“Do you want another cup of coffee?” Adam looked down at Serena sitting at his desk, her laptop open. She stared at the screen, but as far as Adam could tell, she hadn’t written a single word in days.

“No, thank you.” She didn’t bother to look up, simply said as little words as she had to in that vacantly polite voice she used these days on anyone who wasn’t her dog, her best friend, or her gay husband. He was beginning to think of Chris that way. He’d sounded very husband-like the other day when he’d threatened to cut Adam’s balls off and make them the centerpiece of a lovely multimedia artwork he was planning in the near future.

Why did he bother to try? He’d tried because Jake had been so insistent, and for a couple of minutes that first night after they had f*cked up so badly, he’d thought that she might forgive them. But by the time they had gotten home, she’d shut down again, and now she was polite and so distant he was pretty sure she didn’t realize he existed past his function as her keeper.

And he was starting to get brutally angry with her.

They had done everything they could over the past forty-eight hours to make things up to her. They had treated her with tenderness and deep concern. They’d seen to her every need. When she’d mentioned she wanted something sweet, Jake had practically raced out of the house to get it. He’d come back with ice cream, and she’d sighed and told them she’d changed her mind and headed off to bed.

She was either punishing them or she was way more of a coward than he thought she was.

Or she was simply through.

He’d tried. He really had. He’d done just about everything he could. And it was all still failing. There was a knock on the door. He sighed and left her sitting there, staring at her blank screen. He crossed and looked at the security monitor. He had cameras pointed at several key points in and around the house. He glanced at the monitor that showed the front door. Liam stood there looking pointedly at the camera, flipping it off with a frown. Yep, he thought he should really set up Liam with Bridget. They seemed to speak the same language. Adam pushed the button that opened the door, and Liam smiled before walking in.

“You’re both paranoid f*ckers, you know,” he said as he marched passed the foyer and into the kitchen. He set a bag on the granite island. “I just love being your grocery boy. Did I mention that I want a f*cking case of me own?”

Adam started to unpack the groceries and tried to change the topic to something that wouldn’t have Liam cussing.

“Did you look through the profile?” Adam asked. He’d been studying it for days, trying to figure out anything at all. But he’d wanted Liam to look at it. Liam had always thought there was something fishy about the case, and he’d been right.

“Sure. I have nothing better to do.” Liam hopped onto the barstool after plucking one of the bottles of beer free from its place in the six-pack. He twisted off the cap in a neat turn. “Eve and I talked about it last night actually. She’s sure this is a man. She thinks he’s likely been married or is married and feels his relationship is threatened by the fantasies Serena writes. It ain’t easy to live up to the whole billionaire with the twelve-inch cock thing.” He smiled slowly. “Well, it’s hard to live up to the billionaire part, anyway.”

The last thing Adam wanted was to talk about Liam’s dick. “Fine, so he’s pissed off that she makes him look bad.”

Liam shrugged, taking a long swig. “It’s more than just that. He’s probably threatened by everyone. He’s got a huge ego, but very little confidence. He’s the kind of man who places blame everywhere but on himself. And we came up with something else, too.”

Adam looked back at Liam. It appeared he and Eve were closer than Adam expected. He wondered what Alex thought of his ex-wife spending so much time with the handsome Irish Dom. “What did you come up with?”

Liam sat forward, intelligence evident in his green eyes. “I think she knows him, like he’s part of her life. Maybe she’s not real close to him, but she moves in his circles.”

He hated to admit it, but he and Jake had talked about the same thing. “It’s too coincidental.”

Liam nodded shortly. “You got that right. Shit like this doesn’t happen that way. He’s taking advantage. He heard about what was happening to her and saw a way to make her hurt. Or he was introduced to her through the case.”

That was the worst of all the scenarios he had run through his head. “I don’t like the cops.”