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But he speaks before I can.
“Lower your voice. Please,” he whispers, running a hand over his tired face. “He finally went to sleep a little while ago. We shouldn’t wake him.”
“Wake who?” I’m not following him.
Is this some weird control thing? A test? Maggot needs to understand he’s not running anything, much less my mouth. But as soon as I look past his broad shoulders, I spot who.
There’s a boy. A teenager curled up on the huge leather couch with the same sandy-dark hair as Magnus Heron. His eyes are closed. He’s wrapped in a blanket, lightly snoring, his arm draped over the side.
It’s a gut punch that almost drops me to my knees.
Holy shit.
“You...you have a kid?” My voice is low now, because I can barely breathe. “You’re a dad?”
“Brina...”
I hold up a hand, my lips trembling.
“And in spite of all our...” I pause, thinking of a word, “...entanglements, you never thought to tell me?”
I open my eyes again and study the boy. He’s older for sure, maybe in middle school or a high school freshmen?
Jesus. Mag would’ve been a kid himself when he—
“I don’t have a kid,” he growls, sweeping me into his arms, those blue eyes coming back to life. “I have a half brother. He’s the reason I asked you here.”
There goes the world dropping out under me. I’m literally floored.
“Brother?” I whisper.
He shrugs.
What the hell?
“Let’s go to my room, so we can talk without having to worry about Jordan waking up,” he says.
I’m so lost.
“Um, not to make this difficult, but since when is Jordan part of my job?”
He shakes his head and scoffs.
“Brina, what kind of monster do you think I am? Don’t you know me better?”
Ouch.
He’s right. Whatever this is, it’s clearly got him torn up.
So I bite my lip, close the space between us, and place a hand on his chest. “The kind of monster who kisses me and says forget about it. The kind that undresses me and leaves without telling me why—”
His lips attack mine, cutting me off.
He licks my lip tenderly, and I open my mouth.
So much for being strong.
He traces past my lips with his tongue, silencing me with the unrelenting glory of his kiss. Then he pulls away.
“I didn’t forget about anything, woman. And I’m about to explain where I went and why, as if the kid on the couch and the word hospital aren’t big enough clues.”
He hugs me tight, kissing my forehead. Next thing I know, he takes my hand and leads me to his bedroom.
I know his intentions aren’t mean-spirited. They can’t be. He wouldn’t have sent Armstrong to pick me up if they were. But God, for once, I wish they were.
Dealing with King Asshole is so much easier than handling Mag with his hangdog looks and a very vulnerable-looking child half his age.
Talk about surreal.
I flop down on the lush white bed in the middle of the room. Mag sits on the trunk at the end of it.
“I thought he’d be awake all night, Sabrina. He fought me. He didn’t want to come here. He doesn’t even know who the hell I am, and he was pissed he couldn’t stay with his mom.”
“He doesn’t? What? Why didn’t you let him?” I ask, shaking my head.
He crosses his arms in front of his chest. “The social worker at the hospital said he couldn’t. Either I had to pick him up, or they were going to CPS. There’s no next of kin.”
“CPS?” I ask.
“Child Protective Services. She said they couldn’t have an unsupervised minor hanging out at the hospital past ten o’clock, and this doesn’t appear like it’s going to be a quick stay.”
“Is his mom okay?” I ask, dreading the answer.
“I’m not sure. The woman’s in a coma. I need a few days off to deal with this,” he says.
I nod, slowly taking this in.
“Sure. Time off. It’s no big—”
“Brina, you don’t understand. I’ve never taken a day off since I became the CEO. Ever. A lot’s going to fall on your shoulders,” he says.
Oh, crap—I can barely handle the executive assistant thing.
“Like what?” I ask, trying to ignore how my gut tightens.
“You’ll have to lead the airline presentation yourself. Ruby can handle personnel issues, but you need to know about it if anyone else in senior roles tries to get away for New Year’s. If you think it’s excessive or bad timing, veto it. Keep the creative and marketing teams on track, and make sure Hugo doesn’t submit any damned black-and-white concepts while I’m out of the office.”
I laugh, remembering the last artwork debacle with the pet food.
“Give Hugo a break. Everyone has a bad idea now and then.” I shake my head. “Mag, I can’t exactly—I’m not you. I’m barely an executive assistant. Ruby didn’t even want to hire me.”
“She agrees you’re the best EA I’ve ever had. It’s second nature to you.” He gets off the bed and comes to lie down beside me. “If I didn’t think you could do this, I’d either put Ruby in charge or hire a nanny. I know you can do it, Brina, and I’m counting on you.”
