Page 42 of Rufus

“My name is Molly Harper,” she said clearly and firmly, her chin held high as she met Magnus’s gaze. “The woman Rufus is about to confront, the woman who stole Emily from him and Beth all those years ago, was named Sarah Harper before she changed her name to Serena Jenkins. She’s my mother.”

Much as Rufus admired Molly’s show of courage, he knew she didn’t need to use it right now. He had just told Magnus what she was to him, and he knew his cousin wouldn’t ever question his choice.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Magnus acknowledged. “So…” He rubbed his hands gleefully together. “Are we all ready to go and do this?”

Rufus eyed his cousin derisively. He was sure that in another lifetime, Magnus had been a warrior of some kind, possibly a Viking considering his size, because his cousin certainly did love a fight. “I don’t suppose asking you to wait here for us is even worth mentioning?”

“You suppose right,” Magnus confirmed as he strode forward and opened the glass door for them to precede him into the reception area.

“We’re going up to the sixth floor. Do not inform any of the tenants there of that fact,” Rufus coldly instructed the two men on duty at the reception desk. “Not a single one of them,” he added firmly.

Until Rufus was informed otherwise, all the guards working in this building and the animal center would be kept at a distance and treated as the traitors they were until he learned otherwise.

* * *

To say Molly was a bundle of nerves as the three of them went up in the elevator to the sixth floor, where Linus had obviously told Rufus her mother owned an apartment, would be a severe understatement.

That nervousness was added to by the unexpected presence of Magnus Wynter.

She had thought Rufus was big at several inches over six feet tall, with a muscular torso and arms. But Magnus Wynter was even taller, bigger, and gruffer.

He also hadn’t so much as flinched when Rufus told him that Molly was his.

Or when she’d told him of her connection to Emily/Mia’s abductor.

Molly was grateful for Rufus’s firm hold on her arm as they stood outside Apartment 610 waiting for Serena Jenkins to respond to the ringing of the doorbell. Which was no doubt a surprise to her when she hadn’t received notification she had a visitor from the men on the reception desk downstairs.

Nor would the older woman be able to see them through the spyhole in the door into the hallway, because Rufus had placed his other hand over it.

Which was probably why Sarah/Serena hadn’t responded yet or opened the door.

“Step back,” Magnus instructed impatiently, waiting until they had done so before lifting his foot and kicking so hard against where the door lock was placed that it broke and splintered. The door swung open and crashed noisily into the wall inside.

He easily caught the door as it swung back. “After you,” he invited Rufus and Molly as if he did this every day of the week.

For all Molly knew, he did.

Serena Jenkins was nowhere in sight when they entered the sitting room of the apartment. Molly barely had time to note the luxurious furnishings—her mother would hardly settle for less—before Rufus took her with him as he strode down the hallway to enter the kitchen. Which was also empty. But there was another hallway leading off it, with three doors, only one of which was closed.

It was in front of this door that Rufus came to a halt. “You can choose to unlock the door, or it will meet the same fate as the one into the apartment.”

By the anticipation on Magnus Wynter’s face, Molly knew he was hoping for the latter.

There was complete silence from inside what must surely be a bedroom.

“I’m counting to three— So pleased you realized I don’t make idle threats,” Rufus said with satisfaction as the door opened to reveal Serena.

She moved back to stand at the foot of a king-size bed, which was covered in a silky peach colored duvet. She wore a silk blouse and tailored trousers and yet another pair of those high-heeled shoes with the red soles. “You have no right to break into my apartment,” she told them haughtily.

Rufus released Molly’s arm to step into the older woman’s space. “You didn’t have any right to steal my daughter from me, but I don’t recall that stopping you.”

She turned to glare furiously at Molly. “Whatever she’s told you is a lie?—”

“Molly didn’t tell me anything that hasn’t been substantiated by information gathered by the same man who initially traced both you and your bank account to the Cayman Islands,” Rufus assured harshly.

The color drained from Serena’s face. “You have no right?—”

“Sing a different tune, love,” Magnus advised. “That one is starting to sound a little old. On second thought, don’t bother. We know you abducted Emily twenty-two years ago, and a boy named Ronan seventeen years ago?—”

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