25. Harper #2
My hand grabbed the front of his shirt, needing to feel like I was connected to him. “Francois showed up. I thought something happened to you both. He wouldn’t tell me where you were.”
“Shh,” he soothed, stopping to pull me into a tight hug. “I’m sorry I should have told you we would be stepping away for a moment. You’re all right, though?”
I nodded, nuzzling my face against his chest. “Yes, he didn’t want to hurt me, but he knew so much about us, Jaxson. How could he already know we were engaged? It happened last night. Did you tell anyone?”
“Ghost, what is she talking about?” Magnus barked, alerting me to his arrival.
Lifting my head from Jaxson’s chest, I found we were all here, and they were just fine. I pulled away from Jaxson to toss myself at Magnus. “You don’t ever leave without telling me. I thought he’d done something to you.”
“Easy, doll, what are you talking about? Who knows that we’re engaged?” he asked, running a soothing hand down my back.
“Francois, he was just here,” I explained.
“What the fuck?” Magnus roared. “He didn’t do anything to you, did he?”
“Only if you count hitting on her,” Ghost muttered. “Bastard was all but letting her know he’d be happy to take her as his woman if she wanted.”
Twisting in Magnus’s arms, I looked at Ghost. “What are you talking about?”
“Really, Harper? The man said he no longer wanted to work with Magnus, only you. Then he made a huge deal about giving you his personal number. Oh, and don’t forget kissing your hand all dramatically,” Ghost grumbled.
“He touched you?” Magnus all but growled.
I sighed, knowing if I said yes, we would drop everything and hunt the man down to kill him. “No, his lips never touched my skin. He was smart and kissed the ring, so he didn’t touch me.”
“That rat bastard,” Jaxson swore. “He thinks he’s so smart skirting what he knows we’ll kill for. Francois really said he only wants to work with Harper?”
“Not going to happen,” Magnus snapped. “Everyone in the plane before I decide I’m going to start a war of our own with that smug asshole.”
Instead of letting me go, Magnus picked me up so my feet were dangling and carried me like a sack of potatoes up into the plane.
“Put me down, Maggie,” I screeched. “We need to work on controlling our caveman instincts because this is not okay. You can’t just pick me up and force me to go where you want. ”
“I just did,” he answered, plopping me in a chair. “Now, buckle up so I can get us up in the air. Jaxson, I’m gonna need you to get us off the ground, then we can rotate. Sixteen hours is a long flight, and I planned a stop for us in Qatar to refuel.”
“Whoa, it’s sixteen hours to get to Sweden? Why doesn’t anyone tell me these things?” I demanded, only to be ignored as the two men settled in the cockpit. “Go on, keep ignoring me. We’ve got sixteen hours trapped together. I’m sure we’ll get around to it eventually.”
Ghost took the seat next to me and offered the notebook and pen. “I figured you may want to write all your fury into it. Then you don’t forget what to yell at us about later.”
“Later? Oh, we’ll see about later. I don’t think later is going to be a wise choice here, Ghost,” I muttered as I snatched the book out of his hands.
I could hear Magnus talking in a low voice over his headset, Jaxson commenting from time to time as the engine started up. Soon we were rolling out of our spot and heading to line up behind two other planes.
“I suppose now would be a silly time to ask if they are good pilots,” I said to Ghost.
He just smiled and gave me a wink. “Now, what would the fun be in telling you?”
Growling, I punched him in the arm and turned my back to him as I flipped to the first page. “Step one, for revenge against Ghost while he sleeps for being an ass…”
“Oh, I see how it is, Magnus pisses you off, and since you can’t yell at him, I get the brunt of it?” He let out a dramatic sigh. “Such is the burden of being the youngest sibling. Good thing you’re so sexy when you’re angry. It makes it much easier to bear.”
“Keep talking. It’s just helping me make my retaliation even worse,” I pointed out as I continued to write.
About three hours into the flight, I gave up on being irritated and snuggled up with Ghost to watch movies.
If this was really going to be sixteen hours of us trapped here, I didn’t want us to be mad at each other.
Plus, Ghost hadn’t been the one to piss me off.
At some point, Jaxson came out to join us, taking a break before he switched off with Magnus in another hour or so.
“Gorgeous,” Jaxson said, pulling my attention from the movie to look up at him from where my head lay in Ghost’s lap.
“What’s up?”
“Earlier, you said that Francois knew about our engagement. Did he say anything as to how he knew?” he asked.
I shook my head. “When I asked, he just gave some creepy answer telling me he ‘had his ways.’” I said with finger quotes.
“Ghost is right, though. He does seem strangely interested in me, and I can’t tell if it’s because he feels like it’s a way to control you three or if he really just likes me better. ”
Leaning down, Jaxson whispered. “Don’t tell Mag, but I like you better than him, too, most of the time.”
“Most of the time?” I argued.
Jaxson chuckled. “Well, I’ve known him for my whole life, so there have been a few moments that I’ve liked him before I met you.”
“Fine, I’ll accept that,” I said with a sniff. “Why do you ask?”
“Magnus and I were just talking, trying to understand the logic. We’ve worked for the man for a few years and never seen him react this way to anything,” Jaxson shared.
I mulled that over in my brain and thought back to exactly what he said to me.
“Random thought, but what if he knows I’m Dax’s best friend?
Could he be trying to get in good with me to get in good with her?
Maybe he’s picking sides or is just ensuring that no matter who wins, he will be in someone’s good graces. ”
Both Ghost and Jaxson looked at me with stunned expressions.
“What?” I demanded.
“Angel, this is the most Francois style of plan if I’ve ever heard one,” Ghost said.
“That makes perfect sense for a man like him. If he knows we are engaged, then why wouldn’t he also know that your Two Trick’s best friend?
Most of the criminal world has learned this tidbit of information, making your bestie one of the most powerful women in the crime world. ”
“I do have a pretty badass bestie, don’t I?” I chuckled. “Does that mean I need to be worried about people using me to get to her all the time now?”
Neither man answered me right away, which told me what their response would be.
Not only did I have to learn to deal with having three men I loved moving about in the criminal world, now I also had Dax.
That would have been inevitable regardless of meeting the guys or not.
Dax being a powerful force in the shadows had been going on for years.
Now that the blindfold was off, everything had to change.
“Don’t stress, angel. We’ll teach you everything you need to know. This world we know like the back of our hand, in no time will feel like you’ve lived this kind of life forever,” Ghost assured me.
“Jax,” Magnus called from the cockpit.
“Time to switch,” Jaxson explained as I sat up and watched him disappear into the nose of the plane.
A few minutes later, Magnus came out, stretching his arms over his head. His shirt rode up, showing off those yummy muscles that pointed to the prize hidden in his pants, making me lick my lips.
“Don’t think you can come out here acting all sexy to put me in a good mood,” I commented.
He paused and looked at me, confused. “What?”
Oops, it would appear he was just that sexy.
“Nothing,” I muttered.
A full smile appeared on Magnus’s face, lighting up his features like it was the Fourth of July. “Doll, did you just call me sexy?”
“Fuck off. You all know you’re attractive as sin,” I shot back. “Don’t let it go to your head, trust me, it’s inflated enough.”
Magnus walked over, snagged my wrist, and pulled me to my feet so forcefully I slammed into his chest. “I don’t care that other people think of me as sexy, but I do care a whole hell of a lot that you think I’m sexy.”
“Are you telling me in an extremely convoluted way that I don’t give you enough compliments?” I asked.
He traced my jaw with a finger, grinning at me until he tapped my nose with his finger. “All I’m saying is I rather enjoy hearing you call me sexy.”
What the hell are you supposed to say to that?
“Okay then, I’ll keep it in mind and try to mention it from time to time,” I offered.
Magnus hummed his approval before cupping my chin and kissing me. Each of the brothers kissed so differently that if I were blindfolded, I could tell you who was who. Magnus was powerful and commanding but never selfish. He gave as much as he took.
“Ugh, you are absolutely trying to make me not mad at you,” I moaned as he nipped at my lower lip. “Or are you buttering me up to tell me something I don’t want to hear?”
“I might be a little of both,” he answered as he settled us both back on the couch. “I already told Jaxson, knowing we could talk about this together until we got to Sweden, and I didn’t want to wait that long.”
I gave him a confused look, then it dawned on me he was finally going to tell us what favor Dax asked us to do.
“We are going to Russia to smuggle a teenage girl out for her grandfather,” Magnus announced.