Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Magnus moved back slightly when the door in front of him was suddenly thrown open. But he managed to bend down and catch the golden-haired tornado as she launched herself at him. Angel’s arms were clinging tightly about his neck when he straightened.

He glanced over her tiny shoulders to see a furious Sapphie glaring at him with those gorgeous violet-colored eyes.

“Angus!” The little girl cried out ecstatically as she wriggled in his arms to be put down. The moment she was on the carpeted floor, she dropped down to cuddle the placid West Highland Terrier sitting in the hallway beside Magnus. “Thank you for bringing Angus.” She looked up to give Magnus a glowing smile. “You’re the best!” She continued to pet the dog.

Sapphie gave a snort. “Don’t let it go to your head. She thought the conductor on the train was ‘the best’ this morning when he gave her a biscuit to eat with her orange juice.”

There was no chance of Magnus getting a swollen head around this woman. Well…not that one, anyway.

His cock, however, was doing a little dance in his boxers just from seeing her again. Even if Sapphie’s furious expression told him that pleasure wasn’t reciprocated.

“What are you doing here?” she hissed softly enough that her distracted daughter couldn’t hear. There were twin spots of angry color on Sapphie’s cheeks as she continued to scowl at him. “Were you lying to me yesterday when you denied someone had hired you to find us?” She gave a bitter laugh. “Well, of course you were lying. Otherwise, why else would you have followed us here?” she added with disgust. “You even brought the dog with you because you knew Angel would be ecstatic at seeing him again.”

Magnus took exception to every one of those statements and the answers Sapphie had given to them.

He didn’t tell lies, ever, and he despised people who did.

He wasn’t being paid to look for her and Angel.

Magnus also knew, from Linus’s research on Sapphie, and the facts and figures that investigation had turned up, that he had more money than the Carluccis.

He had brought Angus along because he knew it would make Angel happy. Linus had begrudgingly offered to look after the dog, but Magnus knew that Linus and animals didn’t get on. Magnus had appreciated his sacrifice but politely refused.

But the real and only reason Magnus was here, and Angus with him, was because he knew without a doubt that this woman was his , and that her daughter was also his .

He had never looked at a woman before and felt this rightness inside him. Which, considering only two days ago, he would have dismissed even the idea of it, was a huge concession on his part.

His brothers and cousin would all be surprised. Well…maybe not Linus so much, because he was the one who had gathered all the information on Sapphie and Angel. But Magnus’s twin Fergus, and their cousin, Rufus, would both question his sanity.

He had questioned his sanity during the flight up here. But the moment Sapphie opened the door and he saw her again, his decision not to let her walk away from him became absolute.

Being with her felt as if all the tumbling blocks of his life had suddenly fallen into place. That he now knew exactly what his future held. It was Sapphie and Angel.

Magnus was even more convinced of it now than he had been before he set out from London.

They were his to protect.

His to love.

His future!

He probably shouldn’t lead with any of those comments, though, he accepted ruefully.

But hell, Sapphie did look good today, with her flashing eyes, flushed cheeks, her slender body tense with resentment, and her long, straight golden hair loose about her slender shoulders.

His throbbing and engorged cock thought so too.

But her shoulders were too thin, he acknowledged with a frown. So was her face and the rest of her body.

Stress could do that to a person, and he now knew Sapphie had been living under the stress of the Carluccis finding her and taking Angel away from her, for the past two years. Her unhappiness had probably existed for far longer than that, if her husband’s infidelity was any indication.

His jaw tightened at the thought of Marco Carlucci behaving so cavalierly in regard to Sapphie and their marriage vows.

Magnus very much doubted that when she married the other man, she had expected that within a few months he would be jumping into bed with other women. No wife should expect or have to tolerate that betrayal.

If the bastard was still alive, Magnus knew he would very much have enjoyed choking the life out of the other man for treating Sapphie with such disrespect.

Considering he had always thought of himself as being the most accepting member of his family, that was testament to how quickly and deeply he had fallen for this woman.

Which was why, whether she wanted his help or not, that was exactly what Sapphie was going to get. “I don’t lie.” He stopped internalizing to answer her question. “I’m here because you can’t keep running forever, and I want to help you put an end to this problem.”

She tensed. “Who says I’m running?” she challenged.

“I do. And so does your unexpected flight from London.”

“We left by train.”

“Ha-de-ha.”

Her chin rose at his obvious sarcasm. “I can take my daughter away for a surprise holiday if I wish to.”

“Sure, you can.” Magnus nodded. “But eventually, you’re going to run out of places to hide her.” He glanced down to where Angus was lying unashamedly on his back having his tummy rubbed by the giggling little girl. “Not that I blame you. I would hide her too if someone was threatening to take her away from me,” he added huskily.

“I’m not hiding her,” Sapphie defended.

He didn’t like saying what came next, but Sapphie’s continued denials made it impossible for him to do anything else. “I know about Marco, Sapphie, and how the Carluccis tried to take Angel away from you after their son died.”

She flinched, all the color leeching from her cheeks. “How can you possibly know that?”

“I had my brother Linus, who is the company tech expert, check into your background.”

“Angel, come back into the room, please,” she encouraged softly so as not to alarm the little girl.

“Can Angus come too?” Angel pleaded as she rose to her feet.

She shook her head. “Mr. Wynter has somewhere else he needs to be, which means Angus has to go too.”

“We could look after him until Magnus comes back,” Angel pressed hopefully.

“No.”

“But—”

“Please do as I ask, Angel.” Sapphie’s voice didn’t rise in pitch, but something in her tone must have alerted her daughter to the seriousness of the request.

Despite the tears of disappointment balancing on her long lashes, Angel instantly did as her mother requested and went back into the room. “Goodbye, Magnus. Goodbye, Angus,” she murmured, her voice breaking as she sat down in front of the quietly playing television. Except now she seemed to be just staring at the screen rather than watching the cartoon.

“This is no way for the two of you to live.” Magnus growled his displeasure with the situation as Angus, seemingly unaware of the tension in the room, trotted over to sit beside Angel.

“It’s none of your business.”

“I’m making it my business.”

“I don’t need your interference.”

Magnus snorted. “That is just bullshit.”

“I know how to keep my daughter safe,” Sapphie dismissed vehemently.

“I’m offering to help you do that.”

“Why?” she challenged.

Again, Magnus wisely wasn’t going to lead with the chest-beating claim because you’re both mine . Not yet, anyway.

He glanced across at Angel, noting there were now tears falling silently down her cheeks, despite her gaze remaining fixed on the TV screen.

She looked like a very sad little girl. The same child who had named the spider in the bathroom Henry because he was her only friend.

He turned back to Sapphie. “I’ve told you before, I really don’t like bullies. Which is what the Carluccis have been by trying to take your daughter from you after their son died.” He couldn’t bring himself to call the other man Sapphie’s husband. “I want to help protect you and Angel until we can legally get things sorted out with them.”

“We?” she echoed incredulously. “Why would you offer to help us when we only met you for the first time yesterday?”

And in that short span of hours, Magnus had suffered through a sleepless night thinking about Sapphie. Learned this morning from Linus why she was so suspicious of strangers. Along with the fact Sapphie and Angel had left London and were now in Edinburgh.

He’d also taken a helicopter ride up here, alongside Angus, who really hadn’t enjoyed the experience. Then driven from the airport into the city in a hired SUV so that he could find the house where Sapphie and Angel were now staying. This house.

He was getting too fucking old to go through this amount of emotional angst and worry in such a short length of time!

He was also thinking of totally uprooting his life and moving back to London, based on these new feelings he had for Sapphie.

He certainly didn’t appreciate her suspicion and scorn as to his motives for being in Edinburgh.

“I would like to think I would help you and Angel anyway, but the truth of the matter is that the main reason I feel compelled to offer to keep you both safe is because of this .” He closed the door behind him as he stepped forward into her space.

He reached out to place a hand beneath her chin to lift her face up to his before his lips crashed down onto hers.

Sapphie was initially too taken aback to respond to or resist when Magnus’s lips claimed hers. By the time that shock had abated enough for her to gather her scattered thoughts, she’d realized she was already kissing him back.

His lips had now gentled rather than continuing to be demanding. Slowly exploring and claiming, his tongue licking and tasting, and encouraging her to do the same to him. His arms about her waist molded her body tightly against him.

It was so long since Sapphie had been held by anyone other than Angel, let alone kissed by them. Longer than the two years Marco had been dead, their relationship having deteriorated so badly by the time of the helicopter accident that they had no longer even shared the same bedroom, let alone the same bed. Sapphie hadn’t been able to bear the thought of being touched by Marco when she knew that part of him would in all probability be inside some other woman’s body later than night or possibly the next.

She had been too busy hiding from Marco’s parents these past two years to allow anyone but Angel to be close enough to actually touch or hold her.

Certainly not in the intimate way in which Magnus now was.

Nor was he trying to hide his physical reaction to her, the long length of his erection pressing against her belly between where their bodies met and melded.

Sapphie had felt both anger and fear when she realized Magnus had followed them to Edinburgh. But the moment she’d looked at him, wearing black biker boots, fitted blue jeans, and a thin dark gray cashmere sweater that molded to the muscular contours of his chest and stomach, with the sleeves pushed back to just below his elbows, her libido had once again gone into overdrive.

She’d never thought of a man’s forearms as being sexy or erotic before, but she knew she could easily develop a fetish for Magnus’s strong and veined ones.

He also smelled delicious. A combination of bergamot and citrus, along with male musk. She knew the latter was uniquely Magnus rather than manufactured.

All of him, from his height to his muscular body and his scent, aroused Sapphie. Her breasts felt swollen and sensitive, the nipples engorged and aching. Between her thighs felt hot and wet. Very, very wet.

Magnus lifted his other hand so that both his large hands now cupped either side of her face, allowing him to tilt her face up to his so that he could explore her lips and mouth more deeply and more passionately.

The longer he kissed her, and she returned those kisses, the weaker Sapphie’s defenses became, until she knew she had none left. That she just wanted to surrender to the strength and the protection of this man?—

“Are you kissing my mummy?”

What the?—

Sapphie opened her eyes to gaze into green ones that appeared equally as shocked that the two of them had been so engrossed in kissing each other, in their responses to each other, that they had both briefly forgotten they had a four-year-old audience.

A wave of guilt instantly washed over Sapphie. Angel was her entire world. Her total focus in life. How could she have forgotten her daughter, even for a second, and the danger of discovery the two of them were in constantly?

At least Magnus had had the foresight to close the door so they weren’t on display to anyone walking by in the hallway!

He kept one arm about her shoulders when she tried to pull away, successfully anchoring her to his side, “Stay where you are,” he growled close to her ear so that only she could hear. “Yes, I am.” His voice had risen and softened when he answered Angel. “Is that okay with you?”

Angel tilted her head as she regarded them both quizzically before answering. The dog sitting at her side mirrored the movement. “I suppose so. But Mummy usually only kisses me.”

Sapphie felt Magnus’s questioning gaze on her, but she stubbornly refused to look at him. This situation was dire enough without her explaining or confirming Angel’s statement.

Except…

It seemed that Magnus’s brother had given him enough information about them to know that the reason she and Angel kept constantly on the move was because Marco’s parents were trying to take Angel from her. If he knew that, then he probably also knew about the state of her marriage when Marco died.

That still didn’t mean Sapphie was about to confirm or deny what Angel had said. “Not that you can remember, darling.” She eased out from beneath Magnus’s arm about her shoulders in order to step forward and go down on one knee beside her daughter. “I used to kiss lots of people before there was just you and me.” She ignored the low growl emanating from the man above her.

“Now there’s Magnus and Angus too,” Angel stated, one of her tiny hands resting on the dog’s head beside her.

“Well, no, not really,” Sapphie dismissed. “Magnus is just visiting for a few hours. He has to go back to London shortly. I’m sure his cousin will be wanting his dog returned to him soon too.” She was pleased with herself for remembering that Angus wasn’t Magnus’s dog.

Angel’s face crumpled and fresh tears began to fall as she once again launched herself across the room at Magnus. “I don’t want you and Angus to go!” she wailed as he lifted her into his arms.

Sapphie totally sympathized with that sentiment as she slowly straightened to her feet. She might have only known Magnus for less than twenty-four hours, but she didn’t want him to go either.

Because he made her feel safe.

Wanted too, when he held her in his arms and kissed her.

Safe and wanted, two things Sapphie hadn’t felt in a very long time.

Yes, she’d felt intimidated by Magnus’s height and muscled body when she first saw him. By how big he was. But those were the same characteristics that now made her feel protected. As if nothing, and no one, could ever harm her or Angel when he was around to stand between them and that danger.

Which was complete nonsense!

Magnus wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing to stop her extradition from the UK, or having both her and Angel returned to the US, if the Carluccis ever learned where they were. When Sapphie would have to face charges for supposedly having abducted her own daughter.

Sapphie was sure that, in some cases, the safety of a child, whether with a parent or grandparents, should be thoroughly investigated before it was allowed to stand. She was well aware of the monsters there were in the world who would rather harm a child than love them.

But the Carlucci family were not only wealthy but powerful, and most especially so in Washington, DC. They would feel absolutely no qualms in wielding that wealth and power as a weapon against Sapphie in order to take Angel from her.

When she left the States, she’d only had the money that had been left in the bank account she shared with Marco. Luckily, she’d managed to transfer it to an account in the UK before her in-laws were able to freeze it, as they had all of Marco’s other assets. The Carluccis’ money and power at work again.

It hadn’t been a lot of money, Marco not having been in full possession of his trust fund until he reached the age of thirty. But the interest had been paid into their joint account each quarter.

It had been the dollars from the last payment, changed into English pounds, and the odd commission Sapphie had managed to pick up online to illustrate children’s books, that had kept her and Angel off the Carluccis’ radar for the past two years.

That had kept them off everyone’s radar.

With Magnus’s appearance in Edinburgh, that was obviously no longer the case. Which was why Sapphie needed him gone.

“I’m not leaving you, Sapphie. Either of you,” Magnus told her evenly, alerting her to the fact she must have said at least those last three words out loud. “In fact, I intend, with your agreement, to do the complete opposite. I want you to marry me.”

Sapphie could honestly say she had never been more shocked in her life.

Not when she’d learned of Marco’s infidelity.

Not when he’d died so suddenly, and horrifically, after a brief few years of marriage.

Not even when she realized her in-laws intended to take Angel from her.

She was more deeply shocked at this moment than she had been by any of those things, because Magnus Wynter, a man she barely knew, and who had just kissed her for the first time, was now proposing marriage to her !