“I do. She won’t believe it, but I love her.”
Ian shook his head. “I don’t care what she believes. Trust me, I know all about keeping someone I love alive when they hate my guts. If you want her alive, I will make sure she stays that way.”
It seemed stupid to ask if she got a say in that, but she kind of wanted to. Still. It was a stupid question. She didn’t envy whatever girl ended up falling in love with that deeply obnoxious, totally hot man. Ian Taggart was both rock and hard place.
But she would take more control this time. “I would like to interview some of the bodyguards and figure out which one would work best.”
Ian leaned forward. “Do you understand the meaning of half a million and counting? You’ll take what I give you and be goddamn happy you’re alive. And you’ll give serious consideration to forgiving Lara because she gives a damn. Adam and Jake think they told me something I didn’t already know. Lara came clean a couple of days ago.”
“Then why the fuck didn’t you tell us?” Jake asked, his hands on his lean hips.
“It was on a need to know basis, and you didn’t need to know. I told Eve after she met with Serena.” He pushed a file folder across the desk. “Here’s her new profile. I had hoped to keep Ms. Brooks in the dark. She would have been happier not knowing. If it helps, I gave Lara a long and drawn-out talking to.”
“He yelled a lot,” Lara admitted.
Jake grabbed the file folder. “I’ll look over this on the way home.”
Adam stepped forward. “I think you should replace us.”
“What?” Jake asked, staring at his partner.
She liked the way Adam was thinking. He was thinking with an obviously clear head. “Yes, what he said. I’ll take anyone else. Give me the interns. Surely you have interns.”
Ian’s eyebrow arched in that way that let her know that she, too, was a big old dumbass. “No. Oddly enough, I don’t have a bunch of interns willing to take a bullet for a client in order to get me to sign off on three college credit hours. You get Adam and Jake. If Adam prefers to quit his job because he decided to go against my incredibly good advice not to screw the pretty client, then you just get Jake. Or you can face this asshole all on your own. I hope you know how to deal with snakes, since we know he likes to use them.”
Fuck him. He was right, and he had her in a corner. What was she supposed to do? Should she make the decision her pride demanded? Should she take on whoever the hell this guy was on her own? Or perhaps she could give everything up and skulk off for a quiet life?
She could handle it. She wasn’t giving up anything else. “Fine. But I would like to be kept up to date. I want this settled as quickly as possible.”
“And so do I.” Ian stood. “Liam is looking into the situation. He’ll continue to be Adam and Jake’s backup until such time as I need to send him to Europe or wherever Mr. Black decides to rear his soon to be chopped-off head. Did I mention I’m going to kill that motherfucker?”
Serena had no idea who Mr. Black was, but she was happy she wasn’t him. Ian Taggart wasn’t a man she wanted to cross. But he was also the man who had placed her in an awkward position. She was going to have to rely on the very men who had humiliated her.
She looked up at Jake, who seemed utterly satisfied with the situation. And then Adam, who wouldn’t meet her eyes. Adam, who had perfectly organized her life right down to the food and wine she would have wanted. She hadn’t had to think. She’d just written because she’d trusted Adam to take care of everything, and it was okay because he liked doing it.
Hadn’t he? He’d told her he did. He’d seemed happy when he was doing it.
Had that been a lie, too?
She was brutally confused and beyond miserable. How would she survive another couple of weeks around them? Especially when Jake was being aggressive, and Adam wouldn’t even look at her.
But she didn’t have a choice. She could deal with them or she could be on her own. She wasn’t too stupid to live. She might be too stupid to be happy, but at least she would be alive.
“All right.” There wasn’t another answer. She was in a corner. She looked up at Jake. He’d put her in a corner. He was going to find out that she wouldn’t stay there forever.
Adam drove through the streets of Dallas, his eyes on the road and his mind on the woman in the backseat.
“I’m fine, Bridget. It’s all right.” She spoke into her phone. He glanced at her briefly through the rearview mirror. She’d forgotten her sunglasses again. She struggled to find the prescription sunglasses she had. He’d specifically requested that Alex pick them up the night before. He’d placed them next to her purse when he’d unpacked her things, but she’d obviously forgotten them again.