The Men With the Golden Cuffs(119)

They hadn’t said a word to her. Neither man had said anything about helping out her friends. “Maybe they’re just really nice.”

Jake turned, his face in a deep scowl. Nope. He didn’t look nice in the least. And she realized she was being stupidly stubborn. They did care. She just wasn’t sure it would last. Jake’s fists clenched, and he started talking through his earpiece. The doors had opened, and a flood of people came through.

“Maybe you’re just dumb,” Bridget said with a frown. “I say that because of the hot ménage men who seem to really care about you and also because I’ve listened for weeks about how no one will show up. Look, it’s a mob, Little Miss Pessimism.”

“Wow.” She sat down and put on her author face as the first fan showed up.

Chris winked her way. “I’ll be back in a bit, darling. Come on, Bridge, help me haul the books up. Our girl looks like she’s going to need them.”

Bridget and Chris walked off, and Serena began talking to her readers, sinking into one of the most rewarding parts of her job. Grace Taggart took the chair beside her and started making sure the books she signed had all the promo materials in them. Her handsome husband hovered close. Serena was pretty sure she’d caught a glimpse of a gun under his suit coat. She’d heard he was an aspiring chef now, but once he’d been Jake and Adam’s CO in the Green Berets, so that made him a badass who could cook. Yeah. There was a hero in there somewhere.

But first she would have to write a story about Jake and Adam. She just prayed it had a happy ending.







The party went on all around Adam. Soft music played, and Serena laughed and talked to a crowd of women who obviously adored her. She was oddly in her element, smiling and laughing, her shy nature fading away.

His girl was going places, and he meant to be by her side when she did. There was an optimism inside Adam that hadn’t been there before. He and Jake were finally, completely on the same page at the same time. Now they just had to bring Serena along. But they would do it. They had been a great team for a really long time.

There was a little buzzing in his ear as Ian relayed a message that had Adam fuming. Adam touched the device in his right ear. “Are you fucking kidding me? I’ll be right there. Guess who’s standing outside, waiting to get in? Master Storm.”

And the hits just kept coming. Any minute now, Serena’s ex would show up and then the whole gang would be here.

“Are you kidding me?” Jake asked, his face becoming a stony mask.

“I’ll handle it. You keep watch on our girl.” Adam looked over where Serena was laughing at something a reader had said. Sean was across the room watching her as well.

“If you kill him, you better call me out to help,” Jake said as Adam stepped outside. Ian was right by the door, vetting anyone who walked in.

Adam looked at Master Storm standing outside the building and felt a cold rage nearly split him in two. “You want to explain why you’re here?”

The man gave him a slight smile. “It’s a public signing, Mr. Miles. Yes, I can do research, too. I know all about you and…your partner. Tell me, does Serena have the whole story on you? Does she know how you were thrown out of the Army? Bad business, that. I thought she should have all the information before she made a decision.”

Adam had zero intention of allowing the man anywhere near Serena. “Serena made her decision. She chose to stop seeing you. You need to leave. You won’t be allowed inside.”

“Then I’ll wait until after the event, but understand this, Mr. Miles, I will see Serena. I made a mistake in walking away the other day. Poor Serena doesn’t know what she wants. She needs a guiding hand, and I won’t allow you to come between us. I have decided one thing, if it makes you feel better. Serena should be allowed to write whatever she likes. I realize now it fills a void in her.”

He’d studied up on this asshole. Oh, he’d had a file on him a mile wide about twenty-four hours after first meeting him. “I think what you need is an influx of cash. The martial arts business ain’t paying the way it used to, is it?”

His face went pink. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Your business is in trouble, and you just figured out how much money Serena makes off those books of hers.” Adam really wanted to shoot the fucker in the gut, but Ian was watching. Ian would get upset if he had to hide a body. Even though, apparently, he was really good at it. “She’s not going to sign over her checks. Go away.”

“I’m not going away, you motherfucker. I worked that girl for months, and I’m going to see my goddamn payoff.”