“No, no, no,” she said sternly, scooping him up just before he sank his teeth into Tybo’s boot. “Bad doggy.”
H.D. stopped barking and resorted to growling under his breath at the amused Enforcers as she cuddled him to her chest. Withthe beast no longer a threat, she offered an apologetic smile to the two men and asked, “Did G.G. and his parents stay athis place last night?”
When Tybo raised his eyebrows at the question, she grimaced and confessed, “I fell asleep on the couch waiting for them andjust woke up.”
“Ah.” Tybo nodded. “Yes. He stayed with his parents.”
She frowned unhappily at that news. “I wish he had woken me up when he got back. I baked a cake and . . .” She shook her head.“I guess we can have it today when they wake up. Or maybe I should make them breakfast,” she muttered, turning to head backtoward her door. Pausing there she turned back to ask, “What time did they get back? I don’t want to start breakfast too earlyand have it go cold waiting for them to get up.”
The two men exchanged a glance and then Tybo said, “Yeah, I’d hold off on that then. They might not be up for a while yet.It sounded like they were up pretty late last night.”
“Oh.” Ildaria swung back to her door, and then remembered H.D. and peered down at him with resignation. “Right. You probablyhave to go outside.”
“I’ll take him,” Valerian said at once, moving toward her.
“Oh, no, it’s okay,” Ildaria began, but Valerian was already taking the dog from her. He was careful to keep his hands awayfrom H.D.’s mouth, she noticed.
“It is either me or all three of us since we are to guard you,” he pointed out. “And I can use the fresh air.”
When she didn’t protest further, Valerian headed up the hall, H.D. tucked under his arm like a football. The fur ball hadstopped barking, but she wouldn’t put it past him to pee all down Valerian’s side on the way downstairs. He could be a littlebugger when he wanted.
Shaking her head, she glanced at Tybo. “Coffee? Tea? Cake?”
“Tea would go nicely with that cake you mentioned,” Tybo said with a grin. “I love cake.”
Ildaria smiled, pleased that at least someone would try her tres leches. She’d made it intending to feed it to G.G. and hisparents when they returned last night. But they’d never returned. Someone should eat it.
“I’ll bring a slice and some tea for Valerian too,” she promised and slipped back into her apartment. She didn’t bother to close the door. She’d need both hands to carry the tea and cake back, and Tybo was guarding the door. Back in her kitchen, Ildaria set about making tea, but her mind was on G.G. Obviously, he’d found her sleeping and gone to stay at his place with his parents. From Tybo’s comment about it sounding like they’d been up late, she supposed he and Valerian had heard their muffled talking and laughter through the door to his apartment.
That was nice, she supposed. She knew G.G. and his parents were close, and they hadn’t seen each other for a while what withG.G. being here in Canada setting up the Night Club. So it had probably been nice for them to get to visit alone, and shedidn’t begrudge them that. If Ildaria had been awake, she might even have suggested it. But she would have sent her cake withthem too.
Her gaze slid to the refrigerator where her beautiful cake was waiting. She’d wanted to celebrate the end of her troubles,but she’d also wanted to make a new and better impression on his parents than the first one they’d had of her. She had beensure that returning to find her fully dressed with an apron on, and cake in hand was a better second first impression thanher naked on their bambino on the floor.
Ah well, Ildaria thought, she had years to work at removing that image from their minds. Hopefully. If G.G. wasn’t in an accident,or didn’t have a sudden stroke or heart attack. Pushing that troubling thought determinedly from her mind, Ildaria slicedthe cake, made a pot of tea, poured two cups and fixed them the way Tybo and Valerian had requested them last night, and thenset everything on a tray and carried it out to the hall.
Valerian returned with H.D. just as Tybo was taking the tray from her, so Ildaria wished them buenos dias and carried H.D. back into her apartment. She took a moment to get his food out, set his bowl on the floor in the kitchen and then left him to eat as she headed for her bedroom and the bathroom beyond. She was still wearing her black skirt and white blouse from yesterday and was starting to feel grungy in them. A quick shower and change of clothes were in order.
Ten minutes later she was wrapped in a towel and headed into her room to find clothes, but stopped dead when she saw the manentering from the hall. He was tall, and well built, wearing a beautiful charcoal suit, dress shoes, and she saw the sparkleof a gold watch on his wrist. For one second Ildaria thought it was Juan, but then her gaze lifted to his bald head, and shechanged her mind; one of his minions then.
Lucian had been right to be cautious, she thought, and felt a moment’s concern for what might have happened to Tybo and Valerian,but was already kicking into defensive mode. With no other weapon at hand, Ildaria grabbed the top of her towel, gave it atug to unravel it and then swung it out as she rushed forward. She flung it over his head and around his face, jumping upwardas she did. Ildaria landed on his back, driving him to the ground as she caught the other end of the towel and pulled back.It plastered the cloth to
