Defending Destiny (The Warrior Chronicles) Read Free Page B

said, not quite certain of his place in her universe this time, but hardly cowed.
    “I wouldn’t think of it. I wouldn’t dream of laying a hand on you, Magnus. Not for any reason.”
    Liar.
    Not in this moment. In this moment, I mean every word.
    Gerry emerged from the pool in one powerful motion to stand at her side. She hadn’t realized until that moment that somewhere along the way one or both of the Bimbo Twins had relieved him of his suit. Oh boy, here comes the can of whoop-ass.
    “Is there a problem, Daisy?” Gerry asked, not realizing or not caring that he’d put himself fully in harm’s way.
    Daisy didn’t spare Gerry a glance. She kept her gaze lasered on Magnus, warning him without words to back off. She couldn’t tell from his expression whether he was inclined to heed her warning. “No problem, Gerry. Just an old… friend of the family… paying a visit. No big deal. Give me a minute and he’ll be gone.”
    Magnus stared at her, his hands fisting at his sides, and for the space of a heartbeat Daisy didn’t know what he was going to do. Then he turned and made his way toward her suite. He didn’t bother to look over his shoulder when he said, “You’ve got thirty seconds.” He bent, grabbed something, then continued his long, unhurried stride to her room. “Don’t make me come back out here to get you.”
    When he opened the sliding glass door connecting her suite to the private pool area, Daisy exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Gerry relaxed beside her. “Who was that?”
    “The man I left at the altar ten years ago.”
    Gerry whistled, shaking his head. “No wonder he’s pissed.”
    Sighing heavily, Daisy bent to retrieve her flip-flops. “You have no idea.”
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    Daisy didn’t heed his thirty-second warning, but Magnus didn’t expect her to. She never took commands well. He should have known better than to issue one, but his head had been filled with images of her arms around naked Gerry while his body was remembering her arms wrapped around naked Gus. Little Gus and big Gus. “Bloody everlasting hell,” Magnus said, throwing the small towel he picked up from the poolside on a whim onto the rattan couch on the covered patio of Daisy’s suite.
    It landed with more force than he’d intended, and a bright yellow notebook fell out. He recognized that particular shade. It was Daisy’s favorite color. He’d teased her about it when they were younger, naming it “Daisy yellow.” Many of his enameled sterling-silver pieces had “Daisy yellow” accents. His daffodil pieces all featured bright yellow accents. They were among his best sellers. His life wouldn’t be as bright without it. It wasn’t as bright without her, even when the air around them was charged with “I’d like to wring your neck” passion. That wasn’t his favorite kind of energy, it wasn’t even in the top ten, but he’d take it over the anemic “I feel nothing for you” vibe she was trying to sell.
    Magnus picked up the notebook, left the towel where it landed, and headed into the suite. Closing the sliding glass door behind him, he glanced out into the pool courtyard. Daisy was nowhere to be found. Gerry was on his way to his suite with a laughing handful of willowy woman under each arm. Magnus shook his head. He’d favored willowy women once. Now only the petite, muscular ones seemed to draw his eye. He needed to get laid, no doubt about it. Unfortunately, only one face flashed through him at the thought and her narrowed, chocolate-colored eyes didn’t scream “come get me, boyo.” More’s the pity.
    Knowing Daisy was not making Gerry’s night, Magnus made his way to the couch inside, studiously avoiding the suite’s one bedroom. He took off his engineer boots and his socks, thankful for the freedom bare feet brought. When he’d left Orkney this morning it was cool. It was hotter than Hades here, and if he were going to spend one more day,