“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 pasthim, 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 risingin question, he asked, “To what do we owe this visit? Is it a visit?” he added wryly, not sure what to make of their presencein his hall.
“Lucian called us at about 5:30 in the morning and asked us to come and guard Ildaria,” Mirabeau answered.
“Guard Ildaria?” G.G. echoed, alarm coursing through him. “From what? What’s happened?”
“A couple of South American Enforcers tried to grab her when she took H.D. out to relieve himself after work,” Tiny said inhis 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 calledat 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 thingwe 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. Hehadn’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 messwith 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 andsent men after her. He could understand his being pissed about her biting off his cock and maybe wanting a little revengeat 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. Asan immortal, he would have grown it back. Maybe. G.G. wasn’t sure. Did immortals grow back their bits if someone took themoff?
“Uh, yeah. They do,” Mirabeau said, obviously picking up his thoughts. Wincing then, she asked, “So that’s his beef, huh?”
“He attacked her and she defended herself,” G.G. muttered, hoping Ildaria wouldn’t be upset that others were learning aboutthe incident. He hadn’t said anything. The knowledge had been plucked from his head. Still, it was private, and he didn’twant her uncomfortable or embarrassed because of his wandering thoughts.
“Well, I won’t say anything,” Mirabeau assured him.
G.G. grunted a thank-you, and then glanced to H.D. who was unusually quiet. The dog had sat down and was watching Tiny withinterest. But he wasn’t barking at Mirabeau or trying to bite her ankles, which was something new. The dog always went afterstrange women.
“Tiny’s good with dogs,” Mirabeau commented, shifting her gaze to the dog. “They love him.”
As if to prove it, Tiny snapped his thumb and finger and whistled and H.D. stood and moved cautiously forward, head loweringto sniff as he got closer. Much to G.G.’s amazement, his dog walked right up to the big man and even let him pet him, thensat down next to him and turned to look at G.G.
“Traitor,” G.G. said with amusement. “I thought you had to go outside?”
That had H.D. standing up at once and moving around Tiny to the door.
Nodding, G.G. moved around the couple to get to the door and said, “We shouldn’t be long. Do you two want coffee or somethingwhen I get back?”
“Nah. We’re good,” Tiny said when Mirabeau shook her head. “Thanks though.”
“Sure,” G.G. murmured and then opened the door to the stairwell and followed H.D. through. His mind was on Ildaria as he followedthe fur ball down the stairs. Someone had tried to snatch her last night while he lay sleeping. He’d nearly lost her and hadn’tknown a damned thing about it.
That bastard Villaverde wasn’t going to leave her alone. G.G. had no idea how the man had discovered she was in Canada, but it meant she wasn’t safe here anymore. Maybe he should take her to England. Once there, his father would definitely get involved. He hadn’t told his parents yet that he was Ildaria’s life mate. His mother would be ecstatic when she learned, so would his father. But Robert wielded a bit of power. Tiny wasn’t kidding when he said most immortals
