The Men With the Golden Cuffs (20 page)

A warm feeling of acceptance suffused Serena. She could belong here if she just opened herself to the experience. Jake reached out a hand and hauled her up as Alex helped Eve off the floor. Alex quickly let her go, but Jake pulled Serena close. Yes, this was what she’d been looking for all her damn life. She felt cared for in Jake’s arms, and knowing that Adam wasn’t far away made her heart beat faster. Two men. Could she keep them? Could she be enough for them?

“You did a good job, baby,” Jake said. “I know that was hard for you, but you handled it beautifully.”

But it hadn’t been hard once she’d made the decision to trust him. She leaned into his strength. For all his hot body and gorgeous face, he was still a man who needed love and affection. She had so much to give if he would just take it.

He kissed her as though he could read her mind. “Come on. I know you want to see everything.”

He led her through the doors and into the dungeon. She followed, ready to begin this new part of her life.

Adam studied line after line of code, the numbers threatening to run together. He’d been at it for three hours, and all that time Serena had been running around the dungeon, her ass in nothing more than a strip of fabric. He wanted to see her in the pretty thong he’d picked out for her. If she had any idea all the filthy, disgusting lingerie he’d already scoped out for her, she would probably run. She would look gorgeous in something filmy and lacy, her cute little feet in some serious fuck-me heels.

But no. He was sitting in the conference room surrounded by computers instead of watching his sweet girl get introduced to kink.

He growled a little as the program kicked back out. Nothing. He didn’t believe it. It was possible that Serena’s stalker was really good with computers and was routing the e-mails through systems, but Adam doubted it. Why use a system in such close physical proximity to Serena? If the person was good, he or she would likely have bounced the e-mails all over the place. No. Adam was sure the stalker was using the libraries’ computers in person.

The problem was, Adam wasn’t happy with the facial recognition software that was on the market. He was playing around with the code, trying to make it better. The answer had to be here. He had time stamps from two libraries that matched up with e-mails sent from their public computers to Serena’s computer.

All he had to do was find the face that had been in both places.

“You still at it?” Liam asked, setting a cup of coffee down in front of him.

Adam ran a weary hand through his hair. “Yes. It’s a lot of shit to get through. I got the delivery records. Surprise, surprise. This asshole paid cash, an address that turned out to be a coffee shop, and a fake name. Joshua Lake. Serena’s big bad Dom.”

“I think she might have a new big bad Dom. I saw the way Jake was looking at her.” Liam sat down on the edge of the desk. “You two planning on double-teaming the girl?”

That was the plan. He actually felt a little bad for Jake. It wouldn’t be easy for him to keep his hands off Serena. He would most likely end up with fucking blue balls. “We’ve been playing it slow and easy with this one. I like her.”

Liam nodded. “I like her, too. She’s an odd one, but I like her openness. I think Jake’s in as deep as you are. Are you absolutely certain she doesn’t have anything to do with this?”

Adam groaned. He was sick of this question. “Yes. I’m sure.”

Liam held his hands up. “I’m not judging the girl. People can have a lot of reasons to pull a stunt like this. I ain’t some perfect man. I don’t expect a woman to be perfect either. I’m just saying that Jake’s got a chip on his shoulder about honesty, and if he finds out she’s been lying, it won’t go so pretty for either of you.”

If there was one thing Adam was certain of it was that Serena was scared of this person. She wouldn’t be scared if she was doing it herself. “I’m sure about Serena.”

Liam went quiet for a minute and then looked at the computer, his eyes squinting as he read the code. “I’m glad you’re sure, man. I got a couple of things that bug me about this case. I read through Evie’s profile. She’s a bit confused, I think.”

“She says this guy must be bipolar.” He hoped somewhere out there the asshole was getting back on his fucking meds.

Liam’s head shook. “She said she thought he must be since the notes and e-mails are so radically different. But I was actually thinking something else. I knew this girl back in Ireland. She had a—what do you call it here? You know, when a guy ain’t got the balls to tell a girl he wants in her pants?”

“Secret admirer,” Adam replied.

“I call them pussies. Anyway, this friend of mine started getting chocolates and then dirty notes. Not the bad kind. The kind that got her hot under the collar, if you know what I mean. So she was thinking that he was trying to play both sides with her. The notes with the chocolates were real sweet, all about love and how pretty she was, and then the other ones were just about fucking. Well, she thought she’d hit the jackpot.”

Adam could see where this was going. “It was two guys, right?”

“Oh, yes. One was a boy who sat next to her in science class, and the other was his asshole best friend who had made a bet as to which one she would prefer. She told everyone she wasn’t interested in either one, but she made arrangements to meet with the dirty boy after school let out. He was a dumb shit. Had to marry the girl eight weeks later. Now they have four kids, and he drinks too much. Really, he’s living the dream. But my point is, she didn’t know it was two men. She simply responded to the darker side of what she assumed was one man.”

Adam looked up from his work. “How do you know she thought it was only one man? She could have figured it out. Someone could have told her.”

“Because I was the dumbass kid who sent her the chocolates. She talked to me about it. She told me she liked the chocolates, but she really liked the bad boy side of her admirer.” Liam’s fingers drummed along the surface of the desk, his mouth frowning.

“You think this could be two people?” Adam hadn’t considered it. It seemed far too coincidental. Some celebrities had multiple stalkers, but Serena wasn’t well known.

Liam shrugged. “I don’t know, but if I had to guess, I would say these are different people.” He opened the folder and pulled out copies of the notes Serena had been sent. “This one likes to use the internet. And she talks about the work. She’s mad about the characters. And quite frankly, she sounds like a nagging woman. When I picture this one, I see a shut-in who probably has multiple cats and gets more invested in fictional characters than in the world around her. The point is, she’s pissed that her favorite characters didn’t do what she wanted them to. She talks about that, not about Serena herself.”

A good point. “But couldn’t she have just gotten mad enough to hate Serena?”

Liam shrugged. “Then why keep going back to it? Look, there’s a pattern. It’s all about these characters in her new book until roughly two weeks ago. Then the really nasty stuff started. Then it shifts to attacks on Serena herself. The person who wrote those notes hates her as a writer and as a woman. The attacks get vicious and personal. And it feels like this is a man. Listen to the way he talks. He talks about her tempting men. He talks about sin and judgment. This person doesn’t read her books. He hates them.”

But Eve had explained how this could happen. “Look, if this chick or guy or whoever is off their meds, she could careen wildly. She could behave almost like two different people.”

“You know I love Evie, but she’s always looking for the most interesting mental problems. I think she’s overthinking it in this case. She’s looking for zebras when she should be looking for horses—two to be exact. It’s two people you’re looking for. Just think about it. I think you have two perps, one dangerous and one a whackadoodle who probably wants to talk Serena to death. The key is going to be catching the dangerous one while not getting distracted by the whack job.”

It wasn’t a theory he wanted to think about, but Liam made some sense. “I’ll take that into account. You playing tonight?”

“I was, but then I got depressed. It hurts watching Alex and Eve. I didn’t make it through the whole scene. It’s going on right now.” Liam sighed and stretched. “I feel for the poor bastard. Six years and she’s still punishing him. I don’t think she’s ever going to forgive him for whatever the hell he did to her. And she sure as hell ain’t close to forgiving herself.”

“Shit. Is Serena watching it?” Sometimes Eve and Alex’s scenes could get very rough. Eve usually ended up sobbing, and Alex got close to it. And yet they held on to the ritual as though it was the only thing that connected them anymore. It wasn’t what he would have wanted Serena to see.

“Yes, she’s there, but from what I saw it was quite tender tonight. I think she thought it was lovely.” Liam’s mouth turned down, and his eyes found the floor. “It won’t scare her away, if that’s what you’re worried about. I just know that look in Alex’s eyes. He’s hurting, and it throws me off me game. I wish you buggers would stop the whole relationship thing. It’s depressing to a man. I’m going to end up with Ian as my wingman. He’s a terrible wingman. Half the time he scares the women away.”

Adam snorted. Yeah, he didn’t see Ian helping Liam pick up chicks any time soon. “Well, if you don’t have anything to do, you could always help me analyze the tapes from the CCTV cameras.”

Liam’s eyes narrowed. “What are the CC’s attached to? A women’s gym? Inside a strip club?”

“Library in the suburbs.” Adam didn’t hold much hope that Liam was going to hang around.

“I’m gone.” Liam was out the door before Adam could call him an asshole.

He turned back to his work. Two people. Fuck. Serena seemed to attract ménages wherever she went.

* * * *

Serena watched as Alex helped Eve off the St. Andrew’s cross, tucking her beautiful body into a plush white robe that covered the delicate lashes across her back. The new ones, that was. Eve’s back was a mess of scars, some old and white and ragged, and some almost surgical in their precision. She had to wonder if Alex had given her all of them. When the scene had begun, she’d stared at Alex, wondering what kind of a man he was.

“Don’t look at Alex that way. He didn’t leave those marks on her,” Jake had whispered when she’d gasped as Eve had fully disrobed. “And any he gives her today will be faded by tomorrow. Don’t judge until you’ve watched them, Serena.”

And then the scene had started, and Serena understood what he’d meant. Alex was careful, so careful with her. He was a master with the whip. It was a four-foot singletail. He’d snapped the whip a couple of times before he’d started. The snick of the whip had cracked through the air, but when the whip had flicked against Eve’s skin, it had barely left a mark. Alex had stopped every ten strokes and requested an update on where she was. Eve would answer that she was green, meaning she was happy and ready for more. She’d been perfectly calm, her face peaceful with only the occasional grimace. Tears had finally started as she’d taken the fortieth lash, and she’d been crying openly at fifty, but she’d still told him green when Alex had asked.

“Will he give her aftercare now?” Serena asked. Eve shivered in her robe and seemed to be looking for someone. She moved away from the Dom.

Aftercare, she’d researched, was what lifestylers called the time after a scene, when the Dom took care of the sub’s needs. It could be anything from cuddling to first aid. It was a time for the Dom and the sub to come out of their “spaces” and get back to reality, like coming down from a high.

“One of the other subs will make sure her welts are properly tended,” Jake said with a serious expression on his face. “Eve won’t let Alex perform her aftercare.”

But he wanted to hold her. That much was clear. The big Dom’s eyes were sad as Eve was led off by a sweet-faced sub. Eve was still crying, seemingly lost in her own world, and Serena suddenly understood.

“It’s the only way she can cry, isn’t it?” Serena asked, wondering what had happened that would put Eve in this position.

Jake frowned, watching as Alex coiled his whip and put it away. “She doesn’t talk about it, but she had a case go bad. She was FBI and something happened. She won’t talk about the scars around her neck, either. She and Alex had divorced years before, and he’d started working with Ian. Alex brought her on. When she first came here, she was so cold. Then she started doing this, and she got somewhat better. But I don’t want to talk about them tonight.”

“Should we find another scene?” Serena asked, looking around. There was so much she wanted to see. She wanted to watch a fire play scene. She’d read a book by Cherise Sinclair with a fire play scene, and it had sparked her imagination. And puppy play. She really wanted to see that. She wasn’t sure how she could make that sexy, but she was willing to watch.

Jake didn’t move from his place, merely stood staring down at her. “The scenes can wait. I believe I still owe you a little discipline. Spanking chair or my lap?”

“What?” She swallowed. She should have known he wouldn’t forget, but she’d kind of hoped. Her eyes caught on a scene playing out in a corner. She had to stop and stare. Ian Taggart had one of the subs trussed up, and he was showing her the biggest dildo Serena had ever seen. It had to be bigger around than her wrist, and it might have been almost a foot long. “Holy crap. Is that an elephant penis?”