Page 60 of Harper’s Renegades

“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.

Chapter twenty-six

Harper

My mind came to a screeching halt at his words. “I’m sorry, did you say we were going to Russia?”

Magnus nodded and seemed to wait like he thought I was going to have more to say. If there was one place I never wanted to visit again in my entire life, it was Russia. Dax had the bright idea of going on a spontaneous trip and living it up like the world was ending. It was also the time she got us arrested and tossed in jail. Not the normal kind of jail where you get a phone call to the embassy. That would have been too simple and easy to get out of. Nope, I was tossed into the back of a van, hood over my head, and thrown into a cinder block cell with no windows and a steel door.

Darling Dax wasn’t even with me so I could freak out on her. I don’t even have a clue how long I waited, sobbing in that cell, before a guard came to get me and did the whole process over again. When the hood was removed, I found myself standing on a street corner with a beat-up, bleeding Dax grinning at me. She never once told me how she got us out of that jail. It wasn’t a jail, now that I thought about it. Now that I knew her real life, I think it had something to do with her being Two Tricks.

“Doll, why do you look sick to your stomach?” Magnus asked, placing a hand on my forehead as if he was checking for a fever.

“Dax knew we were going to Russia?” I questioned, pulling his hand away.

Magnus frowned. “Yes, she was incredibly clear this person is in Russia. What’s going on?”

“A few years back, Dax and I went together,” I mumbled. “I thought we got arrested, but that’s before I knew who she really was, and it makes me wonder if someone else grabbed us. They beat her up pretty good, but they only held us for a day. We left right away after that and didn’t speak of it to anyone. Since then, I’ve vowed I would never step foot in Russia again.”

Ghost and Magnus sat silent for a moment, absorbing what I told them. “Did they touch you?” Ghost demanded.

“No, I was just roughed up a little as they dragged me around, but Dax was the only one they got physical with,” I assured him.

“Remind me to call her and demand answers. How could she send us someplace where you might be a fugitive?” Magnus raged, getting up from the couch to stomp around.

“Mag, take a deep breath,” Ghost said with a sigh. “We have no idea why this happened or if Dax caused it to happen on purpose. It’s clear they didn’t want to harm Harper and kept her in the dark as much as possible. This was before we met Dax and kept an eye on Harper. Now she’s protected, and we have a fair amount of connections there. Everything will work out fine.”

Magnus rounded on Ghost. “How can you be so calm about this?”

Ghost rolled his eyes. “Bro, who is the one person on this earth that cares for Harper like we do?”

“No one,” Magnus snapped. Ghost just looked at him with a raised brow. “Fine, Dax. Dax would gladly murder someone for Harper and has on occasion.”

Ghost pointed finger guns at this brother with a wide smile. “Winner, winner, chicken dinner!”