The Men With the Golden Cuffs (10 page)

“That is incredibly cool. I write romantic suspense. I have a lot of law enforcement characters.” Serena started to follow Eve down the hall toward her office. He’d been forgotten in the mad search for information.

“Adam!”

He rolled his eyes at Ian’s bark. The boss was in a shitty mood. He strode down the opposite hall and entered Ian’s domain. A stunning view of the Dallas skyline dominated the huge office. A heavenly smell permeated the air, reminding Adam that his only breakfast had been a granola bar. He was going to have to stock Serena’s fridge. A man needed meat.

“God, that smells good.” Adam eyed the container on Ian’s desk.

“Don’t you even fucking look at it.” Ian sank into his chair, pulling the bowl toward him like a prisoner who only got one meal a day and would shank anyone who threatened to take it. “It’s Sean’s mac and cheese. I don’t know what he does to it. It’s like the best thing I ever ate.”

“Sean is feeding you again?” Jake asked. As far as Adam and Jake knew, Sean still wasn’t talking to his brother with anything but rude hand gestures and four-letter words.

Ian’s face turned down. “No. Grace takes pity on me, though. If I have a relationship with my brother after this, it will be my sister-in-law’s doing. I know I disapproved of the relationship, but, damn, I love that woman. Sean couldn’t have done better. One day.”

Adam knew what that meant. One day Sean would forgive him for that terrible night when Ian had been forced to choose between Grace’s life and Sean’s. He’d chosen his brother, and Grace had nearly died. Of course, it was the same night Adam had nearly died, too.

He’d gone through surgery, and when he’d woken up, he’d been surer than ever that he wanted to settle down. He’d wanted his life to start. He’d wanted a family.

“Would you do it again?” Jake asked.

Adam nearly did a double take. Jake never pried. Jake never asked questions. He kept to himself. Always.

Ian was quiet for long enough that Adam thought he would ignore the question entirely.

“No,” Ian said, his voice a harsh whisper. “I would save Grace because that’s what my brother would want. I get it. He loves her. That trumps what I need. I would do my damndest to save them both, but Grace would come first.” He took a bite of the mac and cheese. “But, god, the world would be worse without Sean. I don’t even know what truffle oil is, but I love it.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Adam said, wanting to try a bit. It looked amazing.

“Talk to Sean. Maybe he’ll make you some.” Ian continued to eat, not offering anyone a bite. He looked up as the door opened. “Took you long enough.”

“You’re in a piss mood,” Liam said as he walked into the room carrying his laptop. The Irishman looked past tired. As far as Adam knew he’d been working around the clock. His accent was thicker and deeper than usual, a sure sign that he needed rest.

“Just tell them what you found out.” Ian went back to his meal.

Liam sighed heavily and turned the laptop around. There was a grainy video paused on the screen. Serena sat at a long table with several other women, her hair in its bun and a different set of glasses on her nose. The timestamp date was for a year ago.

“This is your girl at something called ‘Romance Fest’ in Denver.” Liam shuddered. “God, don’t make me go to one of those things. There’s enough estrogen in that room to make a man’s balls shrivel up and fall off.”

“You can cut the opinion portion of this lecture and get to the good stuff.” Ian sat back, his eyes on the screen.

“What is this? Some sort of writer’s retreat?” Jake asked, leaning over for a better view.

Liam shook his dark head and bit off a yawn. “I think they call it a reader convention. From what I can tell, a couple hundred sex-starved women get together with a lot of alcohol and chocolate and authors sell them books about more sex-starved women as sad-sack, obviously gay men walk around in very little clothing. No straight man would dress up in chaps when he isn’t working on a ranch. Really, it’s disturbing.”

Ian grinned. “I’m sending him in as a cover model to the convention Serena is scheduled to appear at next month. God, I hope this case is still going by then.”

“I’ll die first,” Liam vowed.

“Could you two just tell us what’s going on?” Adam was getting a little sick of the banter. He wanted to see that tape.

“Fine. I think I’d rather just show you.” Liam started the video. A voice off camera began speaking.

“My question is for Amber Rose. I was wondering how you manage to write your beautiful love stories when your personal life isn’t what anyone would call a fairy tale? Please don’t be offended. I’m asking because I’m going through a divorce, and I just get so depressed. How did you manage it?”

Serena’s face had flushed at the original question, but she softened and leaned forward. “I’m so sorry to hear that. Divorce can be rough. I wrote several of my books before my divorce. I didn’t actually get published until after my husband left me. Honestly, sending that first
Texas Sweethearts
book to a publisher was both for me and to show him, you know? My husband told me I was a talentless hack. He told me I was a pervert for writing about one woman with two men. I won’t even go into what he said about BDSM. But I had to write. I had to write because this is who I am. He’d already taken years from me. I couldn’t let him take this, too.”

The woman next to her, a pretty woman about Serena’s age with jet black hair, leaned over and spoke into Serena’s microphone. “And now her pencil-dick ex, who can’t give away his crappy ass books, can live his vanilla life without his pervert wife’s nice money.”

The room erupted in laughter. Serena smiled and winked at the dark-haired woman. “Yeah, that’s a nice bit of revenge. I got those first couple of checks, and that really helped my healing process.”

“He must have been pissed!” Someone from the audience shouted.

Serena shrugged. “Yeah, well, he can be pissed. He’s not getting my ‘porn book’ money, as he put it. I will make sure bad things happen before he lays a finger on it. And trust me, I’m a writer. I can come up with some crazy revenge stuff. We plot character deaths over lunch once a week. We could add my ex to the list of jerks we’re going to kill off.”

Liam shut the laptop.

Adam shook his head. “That doesn’t mean a damn thing. We’ve all talked like that.”

“Yeah, well, he did come after her money,” Liam pointed out. “At least she hasn’t killed the fucker yet. Tell her my services are for hire if she decides to off the asshole. I don’t like anyone telling a sweet little sub that she’s a pervert. He sounds like an asshole who doesn’t want the responsibility of caring for a real woman.”

“She isn’t going to kill her ex.” Adam was sure of it. She might talk big in a room full of supportive women. She might even kill his ass off in one of her books, but Serena Brooks was incapable of actually swatting a fly. Her dumb choice of guard dogs proved her soft heart.

“She doesn’t have to kill him,” Jake said. “She just has to make him look really bad. Maybe get him sent to jail. Then he couldn’t come after her money.”

Ian pointed his spoon Jake’s way. “What he said. Dean, I always thought you were the muscle. You’re the brains, too. What’s Adam here for?”

“Fuck you, Tag.” He turned to Jake, but there was no point in arguing in front of an audience. The morning with Serena had softened Jake up, and now all that work was gone with a five-minute video from a year before. It was time to turn to the case at hand. “Do you have anything beyond a couple of careless words caught on tape?”

“Touchy.” Liam brought up a new document on his laptop. “Nothing special. Eve’s got the duty of reading the books. I know she’s paying special attention to the book where Amber Rose’s heroine is stalked by her ex-husband.”

Fuck
. None of it sounded good. “How are her financials?”

“Healthy. But everything is connected to her books. She has deposits from her publisher and her agent. Almost all of her money is from those electronic books everyone loves these days. She sells almost everything online. She’s a prolific little girl. In the two years since she started, she’s put out almost fifteen books. Which explains the fact that she doesn’t seem to date. She never leaves her computer.”

“Being that isolated can do odd things to a person.” Ian finished up his lunch. “She’s obviously obsessed with her work.”

“The same could be said of you.” Adam felt fidgety. None of this had gone as planned.

“Do you have a list of her friends?” Jake asked. “I’m going out to talk to her ex-husband this afternoon. I could make the rounds.”

Jake’s tone had flattened. It was his professional voice, the one he used far too often these days.

“She’s having lunch with a Bridget and a Chris tomorrow.” Adam glanced down at the photocopied pages in his hand. They neatly detailed the rest of Serena’s week. Her office came with a handy copy machine. If only all clients were so easy to deal with.

Liam had a ready answer. “Bridget Slaten and Chris Roberts. Both writers. And yes, Chris is a man. He writes romance as a woman, though. His pen name is Cherry Sparks. Who comes up with this shit? And Bridget writes as Dakota Cheyenne. Do you think they just go to a local strip club and ask for names?”

“So she’s close to these other writers?” Adam asked.

“As far as I can tell, they’re the only people she has regular contact with besides the police.” Liam leaned against Ian’s desk.

“Lara said Serena plays it close to the vest. She lost most of her friends from before the divorce. Bridget and Chris are clients of Lara’s, too. They met at a party and have been tight for almost two years. Bridget took Serena under her wing.” Ian passed two folders their way. “That’s everything we have on those two and on the ex.”

“You need to check into some asshole named Master Storm.” Jake flinched a little as he said the name.

Ian stopped as though waiting for the punch line. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Adam rolled his eyes. “She’s researching BDSM.”

“Did she find a Douche-Bag Dom site and ask for a mentor?” Ian asked. “Tourists. Bring her to Sanctum. It might be a good way to keep track of her. But she comes in on your leash, Jake.”

Jake’s head shook and the scaredy cat actually took a step back. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. She can come in with Adam.”

“Adam doesn’t have Master rights at Sanctum,” Ian pointed out. “He’s never completed the course.”

There was a reason Adam hadn’t completed the course. Ian taught it. He had to take Ian’s shit eight to ten hours a day. He didn’t need to go to a club and take some more. Ian was notoriously hard on Doms. But he liked the idea of taking Serena to Sanctum. It was a place where Jake felt comfortable. Serena would be thrilled to walk into an underground club. She would be forced to rely on Jake, and Jake would be forced to take care of her. It was perfect.

“Jake can have official control,” Adam said. “You’re right. It’s a very good way to keep track of her and observe her behavior. You can watch her for yourself, Ian.”

Ian seemed to consider the idea. “I’ll watch her carefully. You can tell a lot about a sub during a scene. She wants to research BDSM? Push her limits. She’ll learn quickly whether or not it’s really for her. In fact, why don’t I run a scene with her?”

“No.” Jake practically barked his answer. “If she comes in with me, I’ll run her scenes. No one touches her except me and Adam.”

That was what he wanted to hear. When Jake turned into a possessive caveman, it meant he was engaged, whether he liked it or not.
 

“Fine.” Ian sat back in his chair, and Adam suddenly realized that Ian had been testing Jake.
Sneaky, manipulative bastard.
“Make sure she’s properly dressed. I don’t allow tourists in my club.”

Adam sighed. Little Serena would be in fetish wear and no shoes or she wouldn’t get the knowledge she sought. She would do it. It would be far too much temptation for Serena. And he intended to make sure that Serena was too tempting for Jake.

“I’ll handle everything,” Adam promised smoothly as he got out of his chair.

“I just fucking bet you will,” Jake said under his breath, his tone assured retribution.

Ian ignored them. “I’ll let Eve know you’re ready to pick up your charge. Somebody call and give me a report on how the meeting with the ex goes.”
 

Jake held up a hand. “I’ll do it. Adam’s going to take her to the meeting with her agent.”

“Liam, go with Jake as backup.” Ian sat up, his body straightening. “And someone figure out who this Master Storm is. I need a last name, and it can’t be Limp Dick.”

Liam gave Ian a sarcastic salute. “Aye, aye, boss. I look forward to it. I don’t get why everyone’s all upset about the possibility that this girl is scamming her ex. He sounds like a fucker. I look forward to screwing with him.”

Jake got up and sighed. “Great. I get the insane Irishman. My dream is complete.”

“It’s everyone’s dream, boyo.”

Despite Jake’s anger, Adam was utterly upbeat as he went in search of Serena.