Fawn barely managed to repress a shudder when Angel used her other hand to pick up the plastic case in which Henry the spider resided as if he were king of all he surveyed. Angus trottedhappily along behind them, looking for all the world as ifheknew he was the one in charge of the humans.
Fawn wasn’t even a little surprised to find Danny asleep on the couch in River’s room. Her brother lay in the bed, already awake, and unashamedly enjoying looking at the other man.
Angel gave a squeal of delight upon seeing Danny, telling Fawn that the little girl already knew and liked him. Nor did Angel seem to see anything unusual about him and River sleeping in the same bedroom, if not the same bed.
“Angel wants to introduce you to Henry and Angus,” she told the two men brightly, Danny having come groggily awake at the sound of Angel’s squeal of delight. “Will you be okay here if I go and make your daddy and Uncle Declan a cup of coffee?” she prompted the little girl.
Angel beamed. “Of course.”
“Make that four coffees, pretty please, sis?” River prompted hopefully as he sat up to lean back against the pillows he had propped up behind him.
Fawn lingered in the doorway for a few seconds, studying him. The bruises on River’s face were more vivid in color, but the swelling had gone down considerably. The usual frown between his eyes was also missing. In fact, River was starting to look like his normal self. He certainly looked happier than Fawn had seen him for some time.
“Coffee coming up,” she promised with a smile before leaving the bedroom.
Her smile faded as she made her way toward the kitchen, where she could hear the two men talking.
“—wants you to go to the warehouse where they’re keeping him,” Magnus Wynter spoke softly. “Nikolai thinks it would be a good idea if you were to talk to Koslov before any decision is made regarding his fate. Look, it’s either that or Nikolai is just going to order him killed,” he added after Declan must have frowned at the request.
This conversation was enough to tell Fawn that Nikolai Volkov must have captured Boris Koslov, the brother of the man who had shot Declan in the back, and that he now required Declan’s input into what the man’s fate should be.
Fawn stepped into the kitchen. “You have to go, Declan,” she pleaded. “If you don’t, Nikolai will just order his men to kill Boris Koslov.”
“I’ve come here to stay and protect Fawn and River while you’re gone.” Magnus stated the real reason behind his early morning visit.
“Danny is still here. He can help protect us too.” Although Fawn had no idea what they needed protection from if Koslov was now Nikolai’s prisoner. Especially when they were also thirty floors up in a building that had state-of-the-art security installed by the tech genius Linus Wynter. “How did they find Koslov?”
“Linus found him,” Magnus replied predictably. “Apparently, for the past three nights, once he realized we were actively looking for him, Koslov started sleeping in his car. But always in out-of-the-way urban spaces where there were no security cameras. Earlier this morning, he ventured back into London. Linus’s facial recognition program alerted him immediately. He then alerted Nikolai, and Nikolai’s men picked Koslov up as he sat in his car in the street across from this building. He was obviously waiting for one of you to leave.”
“Oh my God…” Fawn gasped, horrified at the thought of Angel or Magnus being harmed.
“Don’t worry,” Magnus assured. “I wouldn’t have come here if they hadn’t already captured Koslov and Nikolai had asked for Declan to join them.” He glanced at the Irishman. “People tend to comply when Nikolai requests their presence.”
Declan scowled. “Nikolai should just have the bastard transported back to Russia with the proviso that he never sets foot in England again. I’m certainly never going to Russia to become a target for him.”
Magnus eyed him ruefully. “It might come to that, but Nikolai isn’t going to do anything without your input.”
Declan heaved a heavy sigh before turning to where Fawn was making a fresh pot of coffee. “You’re sure you don’t mind me just…disappearing for a while?”
The concerned expression in Declan’s eyes told her that he didn’t want her to be angry or upset if he left the apartment this morning after the two of them had spent the night together making love. Even if he hadn’t verbalized the thought.
Fawn stepped forward to place her hand on the warmth of his forearm. “I’ll be here waiting for you when you get back. Whenever that is,” she reassured huskily, knowing he needed to hear that as much as she needed to know he wasn’t leaving her through choice, but because he might be able to save another man’s life by doing so.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Declan couldn’t containthe wave of sheer happiness he felt on entering his apartment three hours later and finding Fawn exactly where she had said she would be waiting when he returned from his meeting with Nikolai.
He stood in the doorway of his sitting room, watching her now as she sat on the carpeted floor playing a card game of Snap with Angel. The see-through case containing the little girl’s pet spider sat beside her.
Fawn and Angel laughed when Angus decided to lay himself over several of the cards, effectively preventing them from continuing with the game. They immediately hugged and settled on calling it a draw.
Declan could so easily imagine Fawn with their own child. A daughter or a son. Or both. Just the thought of seeing Fawn’s body round withhischild, of touching that child throughherskin, made Declan ache for it to become true.
Instead, he forced himself to concentrate on the here and now. There would be time to discuss all that once they were alone together.
There was no sign of River or Danny, so they were probably still in the younger man’s bedroom.
Magnus was sitting in an armchair scrolling through the messages on his cell phone, but he shut it down to cross the room the moment he spotted Declan. “All good?” he broached tentatively once he was standing beside Declan.
