He bent to pet his dog in greeting, and then urged him out of the doorway so he could close it. G.G. had decided to make Ildaria breakfast, which meant the clang of pots and pans, running water, etc. and he didn’t want the noise to drag her from sleep prematurely. The woman might have ruined his dog, but otherwise she was perfect . . . for him. But then she would be, she was his life mate.
Damn, I have a life mate, G.G. thought, and smiled as he led H.D. up the hall. He started to head into the kitchen, but a bark from H.D. made him stop and turn back. The dog hadn’t followed him, but had headed to the door instead.
“Right. You need to go out, huh?” G.G. realized and gave his head a shake as he changed direction. That was why he’d gone to fetch him rather than just leaving him with Ildaria until she woke. He hadn’t wanted H.D. to wake her up early with a need to go outside.
“Okay, buddy. Let’s go,” he said as he opened the door. The little mutt rushed out, and then came to an abrupt halt and crouched, barking viciously, which really just sounded like his usual yip, but G.G. knew he was trying to sound mean. Glancing past him, he stopped as well, his eyebrows rising as he took note of the man and woman seated on the floor at the end of the hall, playing cards.
“Mirabeau. Tiny,” he greeted, relaxing and pulling Ildaria’s apartment door closed when he recognized the pair. Eyebrows rising in question, he asked, “To what do we owe this visit? Is it a visit?” he added wryly, not sure what to make of their presence in his hall.
“Lucian called us at about 5:30 in the morning and asked us to come and guard Ildaria,” Mirabeau answered.
“A couple of South American Enforcers tried to grab her when she took H.D. out to relieve himself after work,” Tiny said in his deep rumble.
“What?” G.G. barked. “Why the hell didn’t she tell me?”
“Maybe she wasn’t awake enough to think of it,” Mirabeau suggested. “Was she sleeping when you went in?”
“Yes. And I didn’t wake her up, but I meant in our dreams last night. She didn’t mention it then either.”
“Ah.” Tiny smiled and nodded.
“Yeah. We heard you two were life mates. Congratulations,” Mirabeau said, and then tilted her head. “But if you two are life mates, why are you sleeping apart? The shared dreams usually stop once you mate. You get more sleep that way.”
“I wouldn’t say more,” Tiny disagreed with amusement.
“Well, it’s more restful sleep, at least,” Mirabeau argued.
“Were you two out here when I left my apartment?” G.G. asked as her earlier words suddenly occurred to him. Lucian had called at 5:30 and sent them over?
“Yeah.” Mirabeau grinned. “You didn’t even look our way, just came out, crossed the hall, and went into Ildaria’s. Good thing we weren’t the South American Enforcers, we’d have taken you out and gone in and grabbed her.”
“Hmm.” Tiny nodded in agreement.
G.G. closed his eyes briefly at the thought. Christ, he’d had no awareness that someone was even in the hall with him. He hadn’t looked around at all.
“No reason for you to. It’s your hall, and you had no idea there was a problem,” Mirabeau pointed out.
“You also haven’t lived your entire life having to watch for trouble,” Tiny pointed out. “Immortals know better than to mess with you. No one wants Robert Guiscard on their ass.”
“And most mortals probably steer clear of you too, because of your size and the Mohawk.”
“Ildaria would have noticed you right away though. Probably before she even opened the door,” G.G. said with a frown, just now realizing how obliviously he’d lived his life. He’d wandered through it, never afraid, never the least anxious that he wasn’t safe and secure. Meanwhile, she’d lived it constantly hunted, constantly on the alert for trouble and threat.
G.G. had hoped she was safe now that she was out of South America, but that bastard Villaverde found out she was here and sent men after her. He could understand his being pissed about her biting off his cock and maybe wanting a little revenge at the time, but hunting her for two hundred years seemed a bit over the top. The guy needed to get over it and move on. As an