Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
His history with the Crawford family is one of those situations.
“We’ll see how this goes. I’m feeling optimistic.” Another joke. Baptist laughs and shakes his head.
“I’ll be out here waiting. Don’t get yourself killed.”
“Magnus is a lot of things, but he doesn’t like to get his hands dirty.” I push open the door and step out. “That’s where he and I differ.”
I walk across the street and step inside the restaurant. It smells like pasta, olive oil, and fresh herbs. The hostess leads me to a table in the very back of the building next to the kitchen, about as private as it gets in this place, and leaves a menu for me.
Magnus is already seated with his back to the wall. He’s a large man, heavyset from years of eating and drinking. He’s a man that enjoys his appetites and he let himself go soft for them. He doesn’t stand, but he does shake my hand and stare at me with those dark green eyes of his. He’s dressed in black, a nice button-down and slacks, and his gray hair is pushed back in a stylish wave.
There’s nobody else around.
“Thank you for coming, Ansell. I’ll admit, I didn’t think you would. I took the liberty of selecting some wine and ordering a few dishes for us to sample this evening. I very much enjoy this place but rarely get out to visit, and so I hope you’ll excuse me if I seem overindulgent.”
I nod once, head tilted, studying him. Magnus watches me with a shrewd smile. “I appreciate you reaching out instead of sending your attack dog to bother me at my home.”
Magnus laughs deeply and shakes his head as he snaps his fingers at the waitress. She comes over and fills my wine glass, looking harried and terrified. I can’t blame her—Magnus is notoriously awful to his waitstaff. Just another reason to dislike the bastard.
“Heiko takes his job very seriously, as you’re well aware. When I give him a task, he ensures that it happens, and sometimes gets a bit overzealous.”
“And his task was to fetch Marie Pearce?” I sip the wine. It’s good, but I knew it would be. Magnus doesn’t drink anything but the best.
“Yes, yes, among other things. How familiar are you with the girl? And her father, I suppose.”
“Only somewhat. She came to work for me about a year ago at the request of her father.”
“Hm, yes, that sounds like Geoffrey. As much as he dislikes being a father, he’d micromanage every second of his daughter’s day if he could.”
“I get that feeling.”
Magnus laughs again. I can’t read the way he’s looking at me, and I’m not sure where this conversation is going. The waitress returns with a plate of mussels and Magnus digs in, eating with gusto, but I sit back and sip my wine. Seeing this man gorge himself has taken away my appetite.
“I’ll admit, I didn’t expect you to be involved in all this nonsense,” Magnus says through a mouthful of food. “I don’t fully understand why you keep rescuing the girl, but I understand that you’ve pulled her from my family’s clutches three times now. Once with my son, and two with Heiko.”
“She’s my employee. I’m very protective of my employees.”
Magnus grunts and dabs his mouth with a napkin. “I suppose that could be true, but there’s got to be more to it. Are you and the girl fucking?”
I stare at him and a flicker of anger fills my core. What does he think he’s doing, asking me a question like that? But I push my rage away, burying it down deep. I need to remain cool and in control tonight, and getting pissed off won’t help anything. Magnus acts crude in order to get a reaction out of his opponents, and it would be foolish of me to walk right into that trap.
“The nature of my relationship with Ms. Pearce is not your concern. What bothers me, however, is knowing what you’re going to do with her if you get your grubby little paws on her.”
“Oh, do you know what I’ll do then?” He leans back, smiling like a viper. “Tell me, what will I do?”
“Hurt her.” I stare back at him, impassive, unmoving, the Ice King. “Maybe you’ll torture her. Maybe you won’t. William will get his petty, childish revenge. You’ll let him. She’ll suffer and maybe she’ll give you what you want.”
“And what do I want?” He leans forward, eyes glittering with excitement. Magnus enjoys this, he actually likes this sort of negotiation. Despite the danger, despite the fact that we’re discussing a living human being’s future and pain, he seems to love the power involved.
He knows Marie’s future is in his hands. If he backs off, she’ll be fine. She might struggle for a bit, but people’s memories are short, and eventually they’ll forget all about Bella Baby and William and the Crawford family. She’ll have a regular life.