The Men With the Golden Cuffs(84)
Jake shrugged. “We have to go somewhere, buddy. If you don’t like how I’m handling this scene, then feel free to come out of your shell and take over. Trust me. I will be deeply relieved. You’re supposed to handle the emotional shit.”
Grace’s eyes went from Adam to Jake and back again. “Do ya’ll need to see Eve first? She does group rate therapy, I think.”
Jake smiled at the thought. “Not a bad idea. Can she schedule us in for this morning?”
Serena rounded on Jake. He wasn’t giving her the option of keeping her humiliation private. “What the hell are you doing?”
He took her by the elbow and led her away from Grace. Adam stayed in his place, the only one who seemed to be behaving as he should. Jake kept his voice low. “I am trying to salvage what was a complete cluster fuck of a morning.”
“Why? You’re out, Jake. You don’t have to worry about me. You don’t have to protect me. Just leave it where it is, and we can both move on.”
His eyes were steady on her. “I have zero intentions of moving on without you.”
“That’s not what you said this morning. I believe you said you couldn’t stand the sight of me.”
He softened a little, his voice lowering. “And after all that evidence, I was already trying to justify in my mind why I should keep you. I was already trying to figure out how to fix it or how to punish you so I could be okay with staying with you.”
He was so frustrating. “Why?”
He started to say something and then his whole face closed off. “Because we’re good together.”
Not the answer she’d wanted. Not the answer she would accept. She’d hoped, just for a second, he would say the one thing that her stupid heart wouldn’t be able to handle. I love you. She would have thrown herself into his arms and forgiven him with those three little words, but she was just convenient. He was Dominant. She was submissive. She was interested in a ménage. She probably looked like a pretty good deal to Jake now that he was sure she wasn’t a lying, gold-digging whore.
“Let it alone, Jake. You want me to forgive you. Fine. I forgive you, but I can’t forget that the first time you had the slightest doubt about me, you were ready to toss me to the wolves. I asked for one thing, Jake. A little kindness when you were done.”
His face became as hard as granite. “I’m not done, Serena. And I’m sorry to shatter your illusions, but I’m not particularly kind, either. And you know what, you gave as good as you got, sister.”
“What are you talking about?” She’d held it together.
He pointed back at Adam. “What was that crack about Adam shoving something up my ass? Do you know what that did to him? I know he’s a big boy and he should be able to handle it, but god, Serena, you opened about a thousand wounds in that man that have never healed.”
She glanced over. Adam wasn’t talking to Grace. He stood there, his arms crossed as though he was just waiting for it all to be over. “I meant you two protect each other, and you were both pushing me out. I didn’t mean it that way.”
“I don’t care how you meant it, Serena. It’s how he took it. So can’t we all just acknowledge that we said some stupid shit and move on?”
And what would happen the next time she screwed up? The next time she upset Adam? That seemed to happen a lot. It was too much. She couldn’t handle the drama. “I don’t want this anymore. I think I’m saying my safeword.”
He shook his head, disappointment clear on his face. “We aren’t in the dungeon, so it doesn’t count. I’m not giving up on this, Serena.”
Ian walked in, his face stern and unforgiving. “Serena, will you please come on back to my office? We need to talk about something. Jake, Adam?”
The men nodded, and everyone started the walk to Ian’s office.
Ian opened the door, and the first thing she saw was Lara standing at the window. She turned, and Serena almost took a step back. Her always perfectly polished agent was red faced from crying. She’d obviously scrubbed her face clean at some point, and Lara Anderson without makeup looked younger and much more vulnerable than Serena had imagined she could look.
Looks were almost always deceiving.
“Serena, I am so sorry.” She started to take a step forward, but stopped when Jake moved slightly in front of Serena, his gesture clear. He would protect her. Oh, he would casually rip her heart out, stomp on it, and then decide, hey, he didn’t mean it after all, but he would protect her.
Serena noticed Brian leaning against the back wall of the office. His arms were crossed, and he was practically vibrating with discomfort. Still, he gave her a tight smile when he noticed her looking his way. “Serena, hello. I would like you to know that this wasn’t a publicity stunt the firm itself had anything to do with.”