Page 12 of Magnus
She had been wrong to allow herself even these few minutes of believing no one knew where she and Angel were!
Magnus knew.
Hours had passed since Sapphie last saw him, and in that time, she and Angel had traveled hundreds of miles away from London.
Yet Sapphie knew with absolute certainty that it was Magnus standing on the other side of the closed and locked door.
“Magnus!” Angel confirmed that belief as she scrambled up onto her feet, cartoons and weariness forgotten, a big smile on her face as she ran over to unlock and open the door.
Before Sapphie could make a move to stop her, she’d thrown herself into the arms of the large and imposing man standing outside in the hallway.
CHAPTER FOUR
Magnus moved back slightlywhen the door in front of him was suddenly thrown open. But he managed to bend down and catch the golden-haired tornado as she launched herself at him. Angel’s arms were clinging tightly about his neck when he straightened.
He glanced over her tiny shoulders to see a furious Sapphie glaring at him with those gorgeous violet-colored eyes.
“Angus!” The little girl cried out ecstatically as she wriggled in his arms to be put down. The moment she was on the carpeted floor, she dropped down to cuddle the placid West Highland Terrier sitting in the hallway beside Magnus. “Thank you for bringing Angus.” She looked up to give Magnus a glowing smile. “You’re the best!” She continued to pet the dog.
Sapphie gave a snort. “Don’t let it go to your head. She thought the conductor on the train was ‘the best’ this morning when he gave her a biscuit to eat with her orange juice.”
There was no chance of Magnus getting a swollen head around this woman. Well…not that one, anyway.
His cock, however, was doing a little dance in his boxers just from seeing her again. Even if Sapphie’s furious expression told him that pleasure wasn’t reciprocated.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed softly enough that her distracted daughter couldn’t hear. There were twin spots of angry color on Sapphie’s cheeks as she continued to scowl at him. “Were you lying to me yesterday when you denied someone had hired you to find us?” She gave a bitter laugh. “Well, of course you were lying. Otherwise, why else would you have followed us here?” she added with disgust. “You even brought the dog with you because you knew Angel would be ecstatic at seeing him again.”
Magnus took exception to every one of those statementsandthe answers Sapphie had given to them.
He didn’t tell lies, ever, and he despised people who did.
He wasn’t being paid to look for her and Angel.
Magnus also knew, from Linus’s research on Sapphie, and the facts and figures that investigation had turned up, that he had more money than the Carluccis.
Hehadbrought Angus along because he knew it would make Angel happy. Linus had begrudgingly offered to look after the dog, but Magnus knew that Linus and animals didn’t get on. Magnus had appreciated his sacrifice but politely refused.
But the real and only reason Magnus was here, and Angus with him, was because he knew without a doubt that this woman washis, and that her daughter was alsohis.
He had never looked at a woman before and felt thisrightnessinside him. Which, considering only two days ago, he would have dismissed even the idea of it, was a huge concession on his part.
His brothers and cousin would all be surprised. Well…maybe not Linus so much, because he was the one who had gathered all the information on Sapphie and Angel. But Magnus’s twin Fergus, and their cousin, Rufus, would both question his sanity.
Hehad questioned his sanity during the flight up here. But the moment Sapphie opened the door and he saw her again, his decision not to let her walk away from him became absolute.
Being with her felt as if all the tumbling blocks of his life had suddenly fallen into place. That he now knew exactly what his future held. It was Sapphie and Angel.
Magnus was even more convinced of it now than he had been before he set out from London.
They were his to protect.
His to love.
His future!
He probably shouldn’t lead with any of those comments, though, he accepted ruefully.
But hell, Sapphie did look good today, with her flashing eyes, flushed cheeks, her slender body tense with resentment, and her long, straight golden hair loose about her slender shoulders.
