Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Magnus knew the moment he looked at the two young women standing in the doorway of the Buzzy Bees Nursery building that the slender one on the left was Angel’s mother.

She looked to be aged in her early to midtwenties, wearing skinny jeans and a purple T-shirt. She also had the exact same white-blonde hair in a ponytail at her crown and the same delicate facial features as her daughter.

Magnus wasn’t close enough to see the color of her eyes, but he would take a guess on them being the same unusual violet as her daughter’s.

Whatever the color of her eyes, just looking at her made Magnus feel as if he had been hit in the chest with a four-by-four.

He had never felt anything like it before. Certainly not just from looking at a woman. But there was no denying that right now, his chest actually hurt, preventing him from breathing properly.

In contrast, Angel’s mummy—he desperately needed to know her actual name, damn it—took one glance at him as he stepped out of his SUV before she turned to hurry down the hallway in the opposite direction. As if the hounds of hell were snapping at her heels.

Or as if she intended to collect her daughter before they both ran .

“Hold it right there,” he instructed loudly enough for her to hear as he strode purposefully toward the building.

She froze like a deer in headlights before slowly turning, her terrified gaze on his hands rather than his face.

What the fuck…!

“I’m not carrying any sort of weapon,” he assured her.

The woman beside Angel’s mother gasped. “I would have already pressed the panic button to alert the police if you had.” She held up the cell phone in her hand.

The man standing in the background, obviously a security guard, had also taken a protective step forward.

Magnus would guess the woman was Allison Fairbody, the woman in charge of the nursery. “I assure you, I come in peace.” He held his hands up in surrender.

“Who do you work for?” Angel’s mother demanded as she walked back to the doorway, her chin tilted at a defiant angle as her eyes—yes, they were indeed that deep violet color—challenged his.

Something, much to Magnus’s surprise, his cock seemed to find incredibly arousing.

He was totally baffled by that initial blow to his chest, as much as by this physical reaction to her.

Yes, this woman was very beautiful, and her sexy curves were clearly outlined in her fitted clothing, but she had to be at least sixteen, possibly eighteen years, his junior. She was also a single mother. Which wasn’t exactly a turn-off, but Magnus had always avoided relationships that came with complications. Hell, he had always avoided relationships, full stop, and he rarely dated any woman for longer than a couple of weeks.

Was it possible his heart and his body were currently rethinking that decision?

“Let me guess, you’re some sleazy private detective who’s been hired to hunt down Angel and me, but more specifically, to take Angel,” she sneered.

The engorging of Magnus’s cock stuttered and then ceased altogether. Which, under the circumstances, was probably the best thing that could happen, for both their sakes. No matter what his reaction to her might have been, he was too damned old and jaded for such a beautiful young woman.

“I take offense at the word sleazy,” he bit out. “I’m not a private detective. Nor do I work for anyone else.” But he was very eager to know why this lovely young woman might have thought he was. Even more so as to why she’d thought he might have had a gun or some other weapon in his hand. “I did give Angel my private card rather than my business card, but I doubt it got as far as either of you…? That’s what I thought,” he muttered when they both looked blank.

“You mentioned Miss Francesca is one of the reasons for you coming here?” Allison prompted.

He removed two of his more formal business cards from the leather holder in his breast pocket, before handing one to each of the ladies. “As you can see, my name is Magnus Wynter, and I am one of the owners of Wynter Security. The others are my brothers and cousin.”

The guard in the hallway had obviously heard of either him or the company, the tension easing somewhat from his shoulders as he gave Magnus a respectful nod of acknowledgment.

“Sapphie Jones,” Angel’s mother supplied distractedly as she read his business card before putting it in the back pocket of her jeans. “Aren’t security companies also hired to look for missing people?”

“Are you missing?”

“Not to anyone who matters.”

“Hmm.” He mulled over that evasive answer. “Well, Wynter Security prefers to protect people, not expose them to danger,” he told her mildly.

She eyed him warily. “Why are you here, Mr. Wynter?”

“I—”

“You!” a voice accused.

Magnus looked up to see a very red-faced Miss Francesca marching furiously down the hallway toward them, looking no less a martinet than she had earlier today.

He instinctively stepped between her and the other two women. “I’m glad you’ve joined us, because it will save me having to look for you,” he added in a hard voice. “Now that you’re here, you can explain why Angel says you’re mean to her and why I personally saw you grip her arm so hard in the park earlier today that it’s sure to have left finger-shaped bruises.”

What the…!

Sapphie didn’t know which part of that statement to deal with first.

The fact that her daughter had told this man Francesca Fuller was mean to her.

Or that her daughter had been taken to the park, where she had then spoken to a complete stranger.

Sapphie’s thought process was being made all the more difficult by her trying to inwardly process the impact of the man who had introduced himself as Magnus Wynter.

Her first thought when he’d stepped down from the SUV was that he was BIG.

Everywhere.

He had to be at least four or five inches over six feet tall. His legs were long, and although his suit was expertly tailored—no doubt in an effort to mask how muscular his shoulders, arms, and chest were—it hadn’t quite succeeded in doing that as those muscles bulged against the expensive material. His hair was so dark, it was almost black, and it matched the color of the thick beard covering the lower half of his face. His eyes, a deep emerald green beneath dark eyebrows, were sharp with intelligence.

Her second thought, after taking in his imposing appearance in that single glance, had been run .

Unfortunately, he’d moved too fast, especially for such a large man, for her to be able to get very far. Now that she’d heard the reason he was here, she was glad she hadn’t.

“It says in Angel’s notes that she isn’t supposed to be taken anywhere out of the building.” Allison made her displeasure known as she glared at her employee.

“We were only gone for half an hour?—”

“No exceptions.” The usually mild-mannered Allison looked angrier than Sapphie had ever seen her.

“I thought?—”

“No, you didn’t think. Or, at least, only as far as believing you knew what was best, as you always do,” Allison continued coldly. “But you’ve gone too far this time.”

“You’re going to believe the word of a stranger over someone you’ve worked with for months?” Francesca accused.

“Months when I have regretted ever employing you, but until today was unable to find a valid reason to dismiss you. But you’ve now admitted taking Angel to the park, despite having been given explicit instructions by her mother, and me, not to do so. That’s a serious violation of our trust.” Allison’s mouth tightened. “Collect your things and leave.”

Brown eyes widened indignantly. “You can’t just fire me?—”

“She can, and she should,” Magnus Wynter put in. “It’s also a decision I don’t believe you should try to challenge legally, when it involves gross negligence on your part, which might have caused harm to a child in your care. In fact, her sensitive position in charge of a children’s nursery means Miss Fairbody has a mandatory duty to terminate your employment, effective immediately.”

Francesca gave him a sneering glance before turning back to Allison. “You would take the side of some sleazy man who was obviously at the park earlier for nefarious reasons?—”

“I take exception to being called sleazy twice in as many minutes,” Magnus Wynter snapped. “Even more so when accompanied by your implication regarding my reason for being in the park earlier,” he added in a chilling voice, his eyes equally as cold. “I’d already walked my cousin’s dog—the reason I was at the park,” he added, his glittering gaze narrowed on Francesca. “I was sitting at a picnic table checking my emails when the child you were in charge of keeping safe came over to sit opposite me and began talking to me.”

That sounded very much like something Sapphie’s trusting and friendly daughter would do!

Except Angel shouldn’t have been at the park where anyone, not just this man, could have seen her. The fact Angel had then been allowed to wander off and start a conversation with a complete stranger wasn’t just unacceptable, it was dangerous too.

Magnus Wynter was obviously offended by being called sleazy by two different women. Sapphie had no idea why Francesca had called him that, but she had only used that word because the man was just too imposing. The dark beard covering his jaw gave him a menacing appearance, but sleazy was way off as a way of describing him.

Sapphie leveled a glare at Francesca. “Is it true that you physically hurt my daughter?”

The woman’s cheeks flushed. “She’d been very naughty by wandering off that way. I simply grasped her arm to emphasize that?—”

“You grabbed Angel so tightly, her skin showed white round the edges of your bony fingers,” Magnus Wynter accused. “It’s the reason I’m here,” he explained to Sapphie and Allison. “You both needed to know that this woman isn’t fit to be in charge of children.”

“Obviously not,” Allison agreed with him before turning back to Francesca. “I’ll have security escort you to your locker to collect your things and then out of the building.”

“I know the way,” the other woman snapped.

Allison nodded. “Then I suggest you take it, and as quickly as possible. But you will be escorted there, and then from the building and the grounds,” she stated firmly. “I will contact our lawyers to have an immediate court order put in place to prevent you from ever coming back onto or into these premises again.”

Francesca gave a scornful snort. “As if I’d ever want to.”

“I suggest you don’t attempt to procure employment with another nursery either, because I will not, in good conscience, be able to give you a reference if you do,” Allison warned. “You can also expect to hear from the police if Ms. Jones decides she would like to press charges for your physical assault on Angel.”

If Sapphie pressed charges against this horrible woman, then she knew she would be required to appear in court. Something she couldn’t do.

Which wasn’t to say she was any less furious at learning of Francesca’s behavior toward Angel. “What was Mr. Wynter referring to when he said Angel told him you’re mean to her?”

“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 percent of 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?”

“None of your damned business.”

His jaw clenched. “If you are running from someone or something, then you could both be in danger after Angel’s exposure at the park today.”

Her eyes glittered. “I am well aware of our current situation, thank you.” She turned away before pausing to look back at him, her eyes alight with a gleeful mischief. “By the way, Henry isn’t a cuddly toy.”

His brows rose. “He isn’t?”

“No.” Her smile appeared almost triumphant. “It’s what Angel has named the spider that lives in the bathroom of our apartment.”

His eyes widened in disbelief. “A spider has lived in the bathroom of your apartment long enough for your daughter to have given it a fucking name ?” He hated the damn things, certainly couldn’t imagine ever giving one a name. The sole of his shoe, maybe, but not an actual name.

Sapphie chuckled as she nodded. “Because she thinks of him as a friend.”

“A friend she named Henry, despite the fact he’s a spider.” Which, when Magnus thought about it, wasn’t in the least bit funny.

Because of what it said about a four-year-old girl who had chosen to name a random arachnid that would probably shrivel up and die when the heat came on in their apartment during the winter months, because she lacked any other friends.

“Yes.”

Magnus gave a shake of his head. “No wonder this Francesca woman didn’t want her to bring him into nursery with her.”

Sapphie Jones sobered. “I really am grateful for your help today.”

“Now you want me to fuck off out of your life and stay out of your business?” he easily guessed.

“Yes,” she confirmed softly before walking away.

Magnus continued to watch her until she turned the corner at the end of the hallway and disappeared from his view.

If Sapphie thought that anything she’d said to him had put an end to his interest in learning more about her and her daughter, then she was sadly mistaken.

And he knew just the person he could ask to find out that information for him. Not without a lot of questions being asked, but Magnus was willing to put up with the curiosity if it meant he also learned more about Sapphie Jones and her daughter.