by Lexi Blake
“Are you going to forgive me?” Jake had to ask because suddenly he was a little worried about it. What the hell would he do without Adam? Adam had been his best friend for almost all of his adult life. He’d lived with Adam for most of that time. He’d come to just depend on the fact that Adam would always be there.
Adam was the one who planned out their days. Adam did all the little things that allowed Jake to do the big things.
They really were kind of an old married couple. Except without the sex. God, they needed Serena.
But he needed Adam, too. Somehow, someway, Adam had come to be more than just a friend. He was the odd other half of Jacob’s soul.
Adam was just staring as though trying to figure out how to handle him. But Jake was done being handled by everyone. He’d made that bed by being a taciturn son of a bitch and allowing Adam to handle anything even vaguely emotional because Jake didn’t want to deal with it. Adam had taken over with the women they shared. He’d taken over with their friends. All so Jake wouldn’t have to wade into the big, scary-ass emotional ocean. God, he’d been a coward.
“Adam, I don’t know what I would do without you, man. I really hope you can forgive me, because my life would suck ass without you, but I’m going after her with you or without you. You got me into this. You manipulated me until I fell hard for her. And I fucked up. But I won’t back down. She’s the one. She’s the one for us, but if you’re too chickenshit to try, then she can be the one for me.”
Finally, a little smile curved Adam’s mouth. It was his son-of-a-bitch smile, and Adam always used it when someone was challenging him and he decided to take it up. “You couldn’t get her without me.”
“I don’t even want to try,” Jake admitted. But he would.
“Jake, what happened?” Serena opened the door, and for the first time since he’d fucked everything up this morning, her eyes were wide with concern. “Your nose.”
“He pissed me off,” Adam admitted.
Serena walked toward him, her hands coming up, her whole body aflutter with soft, feminine concern. “He needs ice. Adam, how could you hit him?”
“After what he said to you, how could I not?” Adam asked.
Jake let his whole body sag. “I deserved it. I didn’t even punch him back. I’m sorry.”
Serena went a little pink. “There is no call for violence. We need to get him home. I think you’re going to have a black eye.”
Jake smiled at Adam as Serena moved around him. She put her hands on him for the first time since she’d slapped him. Her fingers smoothed across his arm as though she couldn’t quite withhold comfort.
He followed her to the car, listening to her lecture on how friends shouldn’t fight.
But he was going to fight. He was just glad he had his partner back. Now all they had to do was figure out who was trying to kill her.
* * * *
Two days later, Adam was ready to tear his own hair out.
“Do you want another cup of coffee?” Adam looked down at Serena sitting at his desk, her laptop open. She stared at the screen, but as far as Adam could tell, she hadn’t written a single word in days.
“No, thank you.” She didn’t bother to look up, simply said as little words as she had to in that vacantly polite voice she used these days on anyone who wasn’t her dog, her best friend, or her gay husband. He was beginning to think of Chris that way. He’d sounded very husband-like the other day when he’d threatened to cut Adam’s balls off and make them the centerpiece of a lovely multimedia artwork he was planning in the near future.
Why did he bother to try? He’d tried because Jake had been so insistent, and for a couple of minutes that first night after they had fucked up so badly, he’d thought that she might forgive them. But by the time they had gotten home, she’d shut down again, and now she was polite and so distant he was pretty sure she didn’t realize he existed past his function as her keeper.
And he was starting to get brutally angry with her.
They had done everything they could over the past forty-eight hours to make things up to her. They had treated her with tenderness and deep concern. They’d seen to her every need. When she’d mentioned she wanted something sweet, Jake had practically raced out of the house to get it. He’d come back with ice cream, and she’d sighed and told them she’d changed her mind and headed off to bed.
She was either punishing them or she was way more of a coward than he thought she was.
Or she was simply through.
He’d tried. He really had. He’d done just about everything he could. And it was all still failing. There was a knock on the door. He sighed and left her sitting there, staring at her blank screen. He crossed and looked at the security monitor. He had cameras pointed at several key points in and around the house. He glanced at the monitor that showed the front door. Liam stood there looking pointedly at the camera, flipping it off with a frown. Yep, he thought he should really set up Liam with Bridget. They seemed to speak the same language. Adam pushed the button that opened the door, and Liam smiled before walking in.
“You’re both paranoid fuckers, you know,” he said as he marched passed the foyer and into the kitchen. He set a bag on the granite island. “I just love being your grocery boy. Did I mention that I want a fucking case of me own?”
Adam started to unpack the groceries and tried to change the topic to something that wouldn’t have Liam cussing.
“Did you look through the profile?” Adam asked. He’d been studying it for days, trying to figure out anything at all. But he’d wanted Liam to look at it. Liam had always thought there was something fishy about the case, and he’d been right.
“Sure. I have nothing better to do.” Liam hopped onto the barstool after plucking one of the bottles of beer free from its place in the six-pack. He twisted off the cap in a neat turn. “Eve and I talked about it last night actually. She’s sure this is a man. She thinks he’s likely been married or is married and feels his relationship is threatened by the fantasies Serena writes. It ain’t easy to live up to the whole billionaire with the twelve-inch cock thing.” He smiled slowly. “Well, it’s hard to live up to the billionaire part, anyway.”
The last thing Adam wanted was to talk about Liam’s dick. “Fine, so he’s pissed off that she makes him look bad.”
Liam shrugged, taking a long swig. “It’s more than just that. He’s probably threatened by everyone. He’s got a huge ego, but very little confidence. He’s the kind of man who places blame everywhere but on himself. And we came up with something else, too.”
Adam looked back at Liam. It appeared he and Eve were closer than Adam expected. He wondered what Alex thought of his ex-wife spending so much time with the handsome Irish Dom. “What did you come up with?”
Liam sat forward, intelligence evident in his green eyes. “I think she knows him, like he’s part of her life. Maybe she’s not real close to him, but she moves in his circles.”
He hated to admit it, but he and Jake had talked about the same thing. “It’s too coincidental.”
Liam nodded shortly. “You got that right. Shit like this doesn’t happen that way. He’s taking advantage. He heard about what was happening to her and saw a way to make her hurt. Or he was introduced to her through the case.”
That was the worst of all the scenarios he had run through his head. “I don’t like the cops.”
“And they say you’re just a pretty face,” Liam snarked. “I’m running some stuff on the cops. And I think we should take another look at the ex. Why don’t you do that hacking thing you do? Get me everything. E-mails, those books he’s written, hell, I’ll look at his lesson plans.”
It was a good plan and Adam wanted to take it further. “And Lara. I don’t care what Ian thinks. She’s suspicious. I’ll get everything I can off the agency’s computers, too.”
Liam nodded. “Whoever this is, it’s personal. He torched her house. The arsonist did a damn fine job, by the way. He was practically profe
ssional.”
“Or he was actually professional and he was paid for his services.”
Liam shrugged. “Could be. Chitwood and Hernandez interest me. You say they don’t seem to like Serena?”
“They don’t trust her. Hernandez seems to actively dislike her, and I have no idea why. She’s as sweet as can be.”
“She’s a little doll.” Liam smiled. “I actually like her quite a bit. You know how I feel about curious little subs.”
“Hands off,” Adam shot back. Liam was known for enjoying a lot of non-committed play.
“Sorry. She’s a sweet thing. I think you both chose really well. I mean it. She’ll be good for you.”
Adam pulled Serena’s favorite tea out of the bag. “I don’t know about that. We’re crazy about her, but she seems to be done with us.”
Jake walked in, a towel around his neck. He was dressed for a workout. “I thought we’d agreed to try optimism. Hey, Li. How’s it going?”
Liam grimaced. “I’m spending too much fucking time up Ian’s ass. I’m telling you, if I get even a whiff of that fucker, Black, I’ll kill him on principle alone. But we were talking about your girl. Adam seems to think you two are in serious trouble.”
Jake leaned against the wall, his weariness evident. “She’s a stubborn one. She hasn’t really talked to us in days. We’re trying to give her some space.”
Liam laughed. “Well, there’s your first mistake. Dumbasses. Don’t ever give a woman a minute to think or she’ll realize just how much better than you she deserves. Come on. You two are playing this like amateurs. She’s been through hell. She needs a damn Dom, not some pussy boys who give her a bunch of choices she’s not ready to make.”
Adam looked to Jake. Maybe they were playing it all wrong. “She hasn’t broken under our tender care.”
Liam snorted. “You’re letting her control this? She lost her house. She lost everything, and you’re letting her be alone? Can’t you see she’s pushing some serious boundaries?”
Jake grabbed a water bottle, turning around and leaning against the counter. “We might have been a little rough on her when we found out about the whole Lara thing.”
“Yeah, well, I would have had the same concerns,” Liam replied. “And I probably would have made a complete ass of myself, too. But what you’re doing now is worse. You’re letting her flounder. Look, I don’t think you two should have fucked the client, but you’re obviously in love with her, so you’re responsible for her. You should be in bed with her. You should be cuddling with her. I can’t believe I just said that. Cuddling makes me want to vomit a little, but apparently women like it.”
“She’s not in a cuddling mood.” Adam would love nothing more than to hold her, but each night she’d gotten into bed and turned away. Adam or Jake had stayed in the room with her, but neither had gotten into bed. Maybe that had been a mistake. Giving her space wasn’t working. It was only making her worse.
“So get her in one.” Liam hopped off his barstool. “She’s curious. See if her curiosity is still in full force. You two have dumped every bit of training you have between you. She’s an op. Where do you start?”
Adam knew exactly where he was going. “We assess our advantages and disadvantages.”
Jake smiled, his eyebrows rising. “Her curiosity about BDSM is a definite advantage.”
“And her absolute hatred of us is a definite disadvantage.” He sighed. He was doing it again. He wasn’t going to win Serena back by moping. “She doesn’t really hate us. She’s mad, and she doesn’t know how to come out of it.”
“So we show her.”
Adam went through his mental checklist of everything he had to do for the day. He had case work to do. He had some organizational work to do. He needed to call the caterers and the owner of the adult toy store where the signing was on Saturday. He needed to run background checks on everyone who was attending the event. And now he needed to set up a scene at the club.
Yeah, that would be the best part of his day. His dick twitched at the thought of getting inside Serena again. He’d only had one night, and it hadn’t been close to enough.
“I’ll take the hit,” Adam said. “I’ll call Ian and see what we can do.”
“You’re a brave man.” Jake slapped him on the back in a brotherly gesture. “I’m going to run out to the store where the signing is and see about the security. If I don’t like it, she’s not going.”
Adam groaned. “Don’t tell her that, man. We need her in a decent mood.”
Jake shrugged, obviously leaving that part to Adam. Jake and Liam walked out, talking about the case, and Adam was left to handle the cleanup.
He sighed and picked up the discarded bottle. At least he was good for something.
Now he needed to make sure he was good for Serena.
Chapter Eighteen
Serena sat in the back of the car wondering just why she was here.
Damn it. She knew why she was here. Because she wanted to be here, but she intended to make sure they didn’t realize exactly why she was willing to go with them. Because she couldn’t stop thinking about them. Because the very idea of being forced to spend a night close to them made her heart start to beat again.
“You okay back there?” Adam asked. He’d slid into the driver’s seat.
Okay? She was anxious. She was on the edge. She was restless. “I’m fine.”
They were ruthless bastards who knew just how to get to a girl. They knew that to get to a girl, a man went for her curiosity. This might be the last time she got to go into a real-life club. The whole debacle with Master Storm had made her realize it wasn’t exactly safe looking for someone to shepherd her through this world. Maybe putting up an ad on a social networking site wasn’t the best idea.
Then there was the fact that she wanted one more night with them. She knew it couldn’t work out now, but they had more to teach her than just a couple of spankings and some great sex. She wanted to know what it felt like to be between two men. Just once. It was the fantasy of her lifetime, and they were her fantasy men. She would take the experience and hold it close. She would write about it forever, long after they were gone and had a new woman.
If only she could figure out how to make it happen without giving too much of herself away.
Adam pulled up to the front door. Sanctum was an unspectacular building in a decent part of town. Nothing about the structure screamed hot sex club, but the man who stalked out the front door did that all on his own.
Liam was dressed in leathers and a pair of boots, and nothing else but a smile. He opened the door to the back of the car and held his hand out. “Your escort has arrived.”
She couldn’t figure out what bugged her about the gorgeous bodyguard, but something was off. He was hiding something, and she found it fascinating. If she was going to write him as a character, he would have a tragic past that clouded his future. He would be in hiding. And just like that she figured out what bugged her.
“That isn’t your real accent, is it?”
The Dom looked at her, his eyes widening and then his Irish flowed. “Fuck me, the girl is good.”
She smiled. There he was. “You don’t look Midwestern.” The flat cadence had never gone with the rest of him.
“The girl also already has an escort.” Jake got in front of Liam, reaching in to take her hand.
Liam, for all his hotness, didn’t get her heart racing the way Jake did. She didn’t try to pull away. It had been made very clear to her that this trip to Sanctum was dependent on her very good behavior. She allowed Jake to help her out of the car.
“Ian wanted to make sure we didn’t have a repeat of last time,” Liam explained as Adam drove off to park the car. Adam and Jake had made it plain they didn’t want that either. Security inside the club was very good, but they intended to drop her off and pick her up at the door. They had gone over all the protocols. She was to be close to one of them or Liam at all times. She wasn’t allowed back into the car
until Jake or Adam had checked it out and came to get her. She would then be escorted on the short walk from the club to the car by not one, but two men.
This was her life now.
“Hey,” Jake said, squeezing her hand lightly. “It’s going to be okay. Come on. Ian’s supposedly working on punishing some of the subs. It should be fun.”
“He’s got his six footer out,” Liam said with a wink her way. He was so different with his real voice, lighter, more at ease.
Jake hustled her to the door. “The six footer scares the crap out of me. I can’t handle it.”
They were talking about a whip. Ian intended to use a six-foot whip on some poor sub’s backside. Or if the sub was a total masochist, he could be intending to use it on some lucky sub’s backside. It was all in how a person looked at it. It was what she loved about the lifestyle. It was utterly open to what a person needed.
She needed Jake and Adam. Why did she have to need them? Why couldn’t she just come out of her damn corner? She let Jake lead her inside. She was already dressed for the evening in a miniskirt and a bright pink tank top. And absolutely nothing else even though she’d explained to them she wasn’t having sex. They had been adamant about no bra and no underwear.
And she was kind of hoping to have sex.
Serena groaned inwardly. She couldn’t stand this indecision.
“I’m going to drop my keys and shirt off in my locker. Can you keep an eye on her?” Jake asked Liam.
Liam grinned down at her, waving Jake off. “Sure thing.”
“Eyes on her, Li. No hands.” Jake sent him a dark look before he walked toward the lockers.
Liam gave her a sexy smile and leaned against the front desk. “So, you’re enjoying playing with the boys, are you?”
That felt like a loaded question. “I’m not playing with them. We had a brief affair, and now it’s over.”
“It doesn’t look like it’s over for them. They seem very serious about you.”
Yep, this was more than a friendly conversation. “I was convenient.”
