Page 20 of Magnus
He stepped forward to take her in his arms. “I really am here for you now.”
Her head rested against the solidness of his chest, her arms about his waist. “I still don’t understand why.”
“You will, in time,” he assured. “In the meantime, we have to accept that, when you add the two incidents together, they appear to not only be deliberate, but targeted.”
On Sapphie and Angel.
Which had to mean the Carlucci family had found them. Not only found them, but they were now actively hunting them.
Sapphie felt the ground shift beneath her feet and the edges of darkness begin to narrow her vision.
CHAPTER SIX
“Is Mummy sick?”a worried Angel prompted after Magnus had helped Sapphie to sit on a bench before putting his hand against her nape and pushing her head down between her knees.
“She’s fine,” Magnus assured, despite the fact he could feel how badly Sapphie was shaking against his fingers. “Just a little hungry, I think.” He gave the little girl a reassuring smile.
Angel nodded. “I’m hungry too. Maybe we should go to MaccyD’s for lunch?”
He frowned. “MaccyD’s?”
“Golden Arches, a kids’ meal that has a free toy with it,” Sapphie prompted, some of the tension easing from her shoulders.
He eyed the little girl. “I’m guessing that you usually only go to McDonald’s as a special treat?”
“I’m guessing you’ve never been to a fast-food place in your life?” Sapphie derided softly.
“Then you would be wrong,” Magnus murmured. “It’s been a while, but I believe I did grab a burger from one once out of desperation. It was the middle of the night and nowhere else was open,” he explained.
“Just the once?” she continued to tease.
“Yes, because I discovered from that single visit that I would need at least six of their so-called ‘meals’ to feel as if I’ve eaten anything.”
Sapphie gave a soft snort of laughter in response to his obvious disgust.
“Mummy says a fast-food meal doesn’t provide the five vegetables and the protein I need each day to stay healthy,” Angel answered him, obviously parroting something her mother had said to her on the subject.
“Mummy is right about that.” Magnus had to hold back his grin, guessing Angel was too young to know what the protein part of that comment meant. But he agreed totally with the rest of the comment. “I believe they now do bags of fruit you can order to go with the burger.”
“That might work. Mummy?” Angel prompted eagerly.
When Sapphie raised her head, Magnus was relieved to see that the banter between them seemed to have helped to ease the last of her tension. She wasn’t as deathly pale as she had been a few minutes ago either.
Magnus wasn’t about to admit it, but the break-in at the nursery and her apartment worried the hell out of him.
Linus had people keeping an eye on both places, but so far, it seemed the download of information at the nursery was all that had been taken.
Noticeably so, as far as Magnus was concerned.
Just as the deliberate damage to where Sapphie and Angel had been staying until yesterday sounded personal to him because of the words that had been spray-painted on the walls. Unless she asked, he had no intention of telling Sapphie what they were, and for the moment, she seemed to have been distracted by Angel’s request for a burger for her lunch. Magnus was happy to let it remain that way.
Sapphie now smiled at Angel. “I think a burger and a bag of fruit sounds like an excellent idea for our lunch. After which, I believe we’re collecting our stuff from our room before flying back to London with Magnus. We will probably also be staying with him for a while,” she accepted with a shaky smile in his direction that allowed him to know that, for the moment, she was conceding defeat on where she and Angel stayed.
“Will Angus be there too?” Angel pounced.
“Yes, Angus will be there with us.” Magnus knew Rufus would understand this temporary change of the dog’s residence after Magnus had had chance to explain the situation to his cousin.
Rufus would no doubt laugh his head off too, once he returned from his honeymoon and learned how Magnus had fallen in love at first sight and was now determined to remain working at the London office rather than returning to New York.
