Page 7 of Magnus
“Utter nonsense,” the older woman dismissed. “All children, of any age, need discipline and order?—”
“You told her she couldn’t bring her cuddly toy to nursery with her and denied her desserts when she hadn’t, in your opinion, eaten enough of the first course of the meal,” Magnus Wynter explained mildly.
A mildness that was completely belied by the angry glitter still gleaming in those emerald-green eyes. As if he felt the injustice of those two things personally.
“Her cuddly toy…?” Sapphie prompted curiously, knowing her daughter didn’t have one of those. For some reason, even as a baby, Angel had always ignored any cuddly toys that had been placed in her cot.
“Henry,” Magnus Wynter supplied.
Her brow cleared. “Ah.”
“I fucking hate bullies,” he continued vehemently.
“Discipline is?—”
“Hate them,” he repeated, leveling a fierce scowl beneath his dark brows at Francesca.
“Please escort Miss Fuller to her locker and then out of the building,” Allison instructed the security guard.
The red-haired woman glared at them all. “I’ll make sure you live to regret this.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m not going to regret a thing I’ve done today,” Magnus dismissed dryly.
“Me either,” Sapphie assured.
“Neither will I,” Allison agreed.
With one last scornful snort in their direction, Francesca turned and flounced off, presumably to the staff room to collect her things before leaving.
Hopefully, never to be seen again.
As far as Sapphie and Angel were concerned, Sapphie knew she wouldn’t be.
Francesca’s dismissal didn’t alter the fact that Angel’s unauthorized visit to the park, the possibility of her having been seen and recognized, unfortunately now meant this also had to be the last day she could attend Buzzy Bees Nursery.
Sapphie and Angel would be leaving London as soon as she had collected their few belongings from the apartment.
“Ninety-nine percentof people who make that threat never carry it out,” Magnus told Sapphie lightly when he saw her worried expression.
“She’s all bluster, that one,” Allison Fairbody dismissed. “Now, if you’ll both excuse me? I need to go and start putting these legal measures in place. Thank you for your assistance today, Mr. Wynter. It is much appreciated. If I need to contact you again, I have your card.” She frowned as she turned to Sapphie Jones. “I am so sorry this happened,” she added sadly before hurrying away.
By the way Sapphie avoided meeting his gaze now that the two of them were alone, Magnus could tell that she intended making her escape too. He went straight for the jugular. “Who are you hiding Angel from?”
He was rewarded by a noticeable jolt of Sapphie’s body and her gaze becoming more guarded than ever as she glared at him. “I’m not hiding her from anyone.”
“Your pupils have become dilated, your cheeks are pale, a noticeable vein has appeared in your throat, and it’s visibly throbbing,” he observed mildly. “Your hands are also clenched at your sides, and your overall body language has gone from merely defensive to outwardly aggressive.”
“I—”
“All of them signs that you just lied to me,” Magnus continued as if she hadn’t interrupted. “I repeat, who are you and Angel hiding from and why?”
The fullness of her lips thinned. “And I repeat, we aren’t hiding from anyone.”
Magnus’s nostrils flared even as he sighed his frustration with her answer. “I could help you.”
She eyed him pityingly. “I didn’t ask for nor do I need your help. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to collect my daughter so that we can go home.”
“Which is where?”
