Page 21 of Magnus
His brothers and cousin were all aware of his no-complications rule when it came to relationships. Sapphie wasn’t a mere complication. She had created a whole new category of her own.
He really wished Sapphie and Angel were coming to stay with him under better circumstances. But for now, he’d work with what he had. And right now, protecting Sapphie and Angel wasn’t just a priority, it was the only thing that mattered. It would remain that way even after he had ensured the two of them were safe.
“This is nice.”Sapphie was tired, after their less than satisfying burger meal followed by a drive out to the private airport just outside Edinburgh.
The helicopter ride had been noisy and nauseating, and she’d still been feeling ill during the drive into London. She’d regretted, many times, eating the burger earlier. Although Magnus and Angel, with Angus seated on her knee, had seemed unaffected by either the travel or the burger.
This lukewarm compliment about Magnus’s penthouse apartment was all Sapphie could manage right now.
Magnus had explained on the flight here that he only stayed at this apartment on his regular trips back to London. It was every bit as luxurious as Sapphie had imagined it would be, even if it was a little lacking in personal items, for obvious reasons. Being the penthouse apartment, it also took up the whole of the top floor of the twenty-story-high building.
Magnus had given her a brief tour, with the added comment she was welcome to go into any of the rooms, that nowhere was off limits.
The apartment had half a dozen bedrooms, all en suite, one of which Sapphie had said she would share with Angel. It also had a view of the London skyline out of the floor-to-ceiling windows that took up one wall of the open-plan sitting room/kitchen.
Sapphie and Marco had lived in a modern and luxurious three-bedroom apartment in Washington, DC, itself. But it had been nowhere near as big or as opulent as this penthouse apartment in the most prestigious area of London.
The walls were all painted white, with chrome and black decor. Totally unsuitable for sticky little fingers. The pale gray carpet was just as unsuitable for a child’s and doggy’s possibly muddy feet.
It was obviously an apartment owned and occasionally lived in by a bachelor.
Although, Angel and Angus seemed oblivious to Sapphie’s reservations as they sat on the couch across from the wide-screen TV attached to another wall of the sitting room. They were happily watching cartoons and sharing the bowl of popcorn Magnus had made for them in the microwave before then making a pot of tea for him and Sapphie to share.
“We can make any changes you want in the short-term while we look for a house to move into in the long-term,” he told her after pouring out two cups of the steaming brew.
Sapphie frowned. “We won’t be staying with you long enough for that to be necessary.”
Magnus stepped into her space. So close she could feel the heat of his body. She also had to tilt her head back, and then back again, to be able to meet his narrowed gaze.
“You’ll be staying with me for as long as it takes to ensure you and Angel are safe,” he growled.
Sapphie felt a fluttering in her chest, like a hundred butterflies flapping their wings. She was unsure if it was from apprehension at his warning tone or arousal at his proximity. “And when that happens, we’ll be moving on to somewhere new, not moving into a house with you.”
“Angel needs a garden to play in.” He glanced across the room to where Angus was snuggled up against a sleepy Angel on the couch. “And a dog of her own.” That piercing green gaze turned back to Sapphie. “She also needs a normal family, a father as well as a mother to protect and love her, and later on, brothers and sisters to laugh and argue with.”
Tears stung Sapphie’s eyes. She was well aware of what Angel needed. Whatshehad thought her life was going to be as Marco’s wife. And look how differently that had turned out to her romantic dreams.
No, grateful as she was for Magnus’s help, she daren’t allow herself to rely on or trust him, or any man, in the way she had once trusted Marco and then been so let down and betrayed by him.
Which meant a family for Angel wasn’t going to happen, either in the short or long term.
“Linus is currently checking into everyone who arrived from the US in the past week,” Magnus told her. “He’s looking for anyone who could be connected to or employed by the Carluccis.”
Sapphie couldn’t believe this was happening again after all this time.
There had been a few times in the past two years when she had felt as if someone was watching her. When that happened, whether it was real or imagined, she had always moved them on to another city. Much as she had tried to do yesterday.
But that move had been because of Angel’s visit to the park rather than anything alerting Sapphie to danger. That lack of warning only made this latest situation all the scarier.
Would the Carluccis ever give up looking for them?
Or was this constantly running and hiding in yet another city going to continue being her own and Angel’s life for the foreseeable future?
Dear God, Angel wouldn’t be eighteen for another fourteen years.
“It’s ridiculous to think you can run and hide for that amount of time,” Magnus murmured, letting Sapphie know she had either said that last comment out loud or Magnus had been able to read her thoughts from her expression. “Someone needs to approach the Carluccis and tell them to back the fuck off.”
“You?” she scorned.
