The Men With the Golden Cuffs(126)

“He won’t. He killed Lara. He killed his wife. He’ll go down, and thank god we’re in Texas.” Bridget sounded a little drunk. “Death penalty, buddy. Enjoy your rape time before they shove a needle in your arm.”

Jake cursed because he saw the minute Anderson made his decision. He turned to Adam and hefted the knife. He took a single step before Adam pulled the trigger. The knife hit the floor with a clatter just seconds before the agent’s body slumped down.

The door that led inside opened, and Ian stormed in, his Glock at the ready. “Serena?”

“Bridget. And apparently Lara’s here somewhere, but I don’t think she made it. I’m sorry.” Jake started for the back door. Bridget had said they took her out the back.

“I am, too.” Ian knelt by Bridget. “Go find your girl.”

Jake’s blood nearly froze when he heard a muffled scream. “Help me!” a feminine voice was calling. Serena.

Adam kicked the door open, and Jake followed him into the alley. Serena’s shoes had been kicked off in the doorway.

“To the right,” Adam said.

Jake stood beside his partner. Serena was halfway down the alley. She was laying there, her brown hair all that Jake could see of her face.

A man stood over her, his back to Jake, but Jake had been in the military and then private security for far too long to not recognize the stance. Jake couldn’t see the gun, but he knew what was happening. Doyle Brooks was going to win over his wife the only way he possibly could.

Jake raised his gun and fired, Adam doing the same.

Doyle’s body jerked and then he fell to his knees, the gun dropping from his hand. He fell on top of Serena.

Adam got to her first, calling out her name and dragging that bastard’s body off hers.

Jake dropped to the ground. She was bleeding. God, there was so much blood. How much of it was hers? He touched her face, terrified of moving her body. “Serena, baby? Baby, are you okay?”

Adam checked Doyle Brooks to make sure he was gone and then joined Jake, his hand cradling Serena’s. “Serena, damn it, you can’t die. Tell her, Jake. You’re her damn Dom. Order her not to die.”

Her lips curled up slightly. “I love a bossy man.”

Her eyelids fluttered, and she went limp.

Jake heard the sirens coming and prayed they weren’t too late.





Chapter Twenty-Three





“I’m ready to kill someone. Get me a fucking computer.” Adam paced, his stomach in knots. Five hours. It had been five hours since the ambulance had taken Serena away, and all anyone would tell him was that she was okay.

Okay? She’d been fucking shot and assaulted and terrified, and all he knew was that she was “okay.”

Sean and Grace sat across from Jake, Grace leaning into Sean’s strong body. Eve and Alex had come as well, the whole of McKay-Taggart huddling together like a group of survivors in a life raft.

“You can’t hack into the hospital,” Jake said, his voice weary. He sat back, his head against the couch. They had retreated back home after the cops refused to give any information about Serena’s whereabouts. According to the hospital, Adam Miles and Jacob Dean weren’t “family” and therefore weren’t welcome after visiting hours.

And then there was the fact that killing a man, even in the line of duty, required an enormous amount of paperwork.

“We should be out there looking for her.” Adam couldn’t quite come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t allowed to see her or even know how she was doing. Not family. She was his whole fucking heart. “And I can hack a system. I can get in there and change her records to read that she’s married to one of us.”

“And if she doesn’t want to see us?” Jake’s eyes came open, his words forming a potential truth neither had been willing to discuss.

What if Serena wanted more time to figure out what was happening between the three of them? Could he accept it? Did he really have a choice?

Liam and Ian walked out from the kitchen. Ian’s face was set in deep lines. Adam felt for him. He’d lost a lot. Ian had lost friends and family, and Lara Anderson was just one more person who was now gone forever from Ian’s life.

“I’m sorry about your friend’s sister,” Adam offered. Words didn’t mean a damn thing now, but he wasn’t sure what else to do.

Ian’s face was a careful blank. “I am, too. Despite her problems, Lara was a nice lady. She really did think she was helping Serena. It just turns out she gave her husband what he thought was a perfect cover for murder.”

Jake sat up. Mojo had taken a spot at Jake’s feet the minute he’d sat down, the dog trying to comfort the man who had become one of his masters. Jake’s hand idly played through the dog’s fur. “Go over it again. I don’t know that I’ve fully processed this. So Doyle tried to get Serena’s agent to rep his book?”