Page 24 of Magnus
His brother grinned. “She doesn’t sound as sure of that as you are.”
“She will be.” She had to be. Magnus couldn’t imagine living his life without her and Angel in it now.
“If you say so.” Linus shrugged. “But I meant it about backing off. It might look romantic in the movies or to read about in books, but in real life, women really don’t like the full-on growly ‘you’re mine’ caveman routine.”
Magnus raised challenging brows. “How would you know?”
“By reading the expression on Sapphie’s face and her body language,” Linus came back. “She looks young to me, Mag, so God knows how young she looks to your old arse.”
There was a six-year age gap between the twins and Linus. It had seemed immense when they were young, but not so much now they were in their midthirties and early forties.
Unless Linus drew attention to it. Like now. “She looks like perfection to me,” Magnus affirmed.
“That’s good.”
“Angel likes me,” he added in what he recognized as a defensive tone.
“I’m sure that Sapphie likes you too; otherwise, she wouldn’t be here. But maybe drop the subject of marriage for the moment, hm?” Linus quirked one eyebrow.
Magnus felt the heated color enter his cheeks. “It’s what I want.”
His brother grinned. “I gathered that, and I’m thrilled that you’ve found the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with.”
“But back off talking to her about marriage?”
“It doesn’t have to be forever, just for now. She’ll come around. She certainly won’t find a better man than you to be her husband,” Linus added gruffly before straightening. “Now, introduce me to my future sister-in-law and step-niece.”
Magnus liked the sound of that. He liked the sound of that a lot.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sapphie had metand liked Magnus’s brother Linus earlier. She’d also thanked him for his assistance in gathering information on the break-ins at the nursery and her old apartment.
Unlike his older brother, Linus had dirty-blond hair, hazel-colored eyes, and looked to be in his midthirties. Making him several years younger than his twin brothers, Magnus and Fergus.
He’d also spoken a lot of technical jargon that Sapphie didn’t understand as he explained the improved security to the whole building as well as the apartment. A building that, as it transpired, Magnus owned.
Well, hehadtold her he was richer than the Carluccis!
An exclusive building like this one, in the center of London and twenty stories high, must be worth tens if not hundreds of millions of pounds.
Yep, Magnus really was richer than the Carluccis.
Linus had left shortly after they were introduced. Magnus had then heated up the Chinese food his brother had brought for their supper before Sapphie took Angel off to the en suite bathroom next to their bedroom to bathe her daughter.
Angel had a slight meltdown when Sapphie was running the bath, bursting into tears and crying because she missed Henry.
Sapphie had turned to look at Magnus as he stood in the doorway, his disgusted expression telling her exactly what he thought about Angel being upset about the missing spider.
“To be fair, he did always sit on the side of the bath when Angel was in it, and she would chatter away to him, telling him about her day,” she explained. “Peculiarly, he always looked as if he understood her too.”
She’d laughed when Magnus’s expression of disgust hadn’t lightened in the slightest before he’d turned on his heel and left the room. Seconds later, she’d heard him in the kitchen, no doubt tidying up after their meal.
Sapphie had finished bathing her daughter before drying and dressing her. She’d then carried Angel through to say good night to Magnus, kissing him on the cheek, before toting Angel to the bedroom and tucking her daughter beneath the covers on one of the single beds in the bedroom Sapphie had chosen earlier for the two of them.
Both Angel and Angus, who was curled up at the bottom of Angel’s bed, were asleep before Sapphie finished reading the bedtime story.
Not surprising after the upheaval of the past twenty-four hours.
