I was no stranger to waking up on unfamiliar couches, but there typically wasn't a dog licking my face instead of an alarm.
"Hello, Clyde," I said to the blue-eyed whippet. I had made a point of remembering his eye color to distinguish him from Bonnie.
"Clyde, keep your tongue off my girlfriend." Vincent's voice carried from his position on a barstool at the kitchen counter. The smell of hazelnut coffee sweetened the air.
"How long have I been asleep?" I asked as I scrubbed my eyes to get a good look at him. He was staring at a laptop screen, but all I noticed was his ass-hugging jeans and tight-fitting V-neck that accentuated his ripped torso. A pair of curls laid across his forehead. He looked as delicious as that coffee smelled.
"Not quite two hours. Your phone just chimed. Aren't you waiting for a call from your parents?"
"Yes, thanks. They probably just landed. I'm sure they'll want to get food somewhere after they leave the airport."
"Tell them not to bother. I'll arrange to have food delivered."
I texted Mom as I stood from the couch, and that's when I realized I was wearing one of Vincent's tee shirts and nothing else. I strolled up to him and adjusted myself on the neighboring barstool, making no effort to sit discretely.
"Is Amelia going to bring over something for me to wear? I'm not used to greeting my parents in nothing but a tee shirt."
"Yes. She or Griffin should be over shortly." Vincent completely ignored my provocative pose and leaned over the counter to retrieve a coffee pot. "Do you like hazelnut?"
"Sure. I take coffee any way I can get it."
"How do you take it?"
"Sweet and creamy, if you must know."
Vincent rolled his eyes as he poured coffee into a mug and slid it to me. He almost seemed annoyed that I was trying to flirt with him.
"How many hours of sleep do you usually get, Vincent? I noticed you haven't slept yet."
"I typically don't sleep at night. I take three hour naps twice a day depending on my schedule. Gollums don't need the same amount of sleep as humans."
He pushed a carton of creamer across the counter and set a bowl of sugar in front of me before returning to the screen of his laptop. Was there a brush off happening? Was I intruding on his personal time? I was kind of hoping for a good morning kiss.
"I'm sorry about the thing in the shower, Vincent. I shouldn't have done that to you. It wasn't fair."
"I don't expect you to suppress your urges on my account." He never looked up as he offered his sterile response, and I stared into my mug, waiting for him to finish with something less harsh, like 'just kidding', but he was clearly not engaged in the conversation.
"You make it sound like my attraction to you is an affliction."
My comment had him glancing up. "Well, that's not what I intended. I'd like to make a couple of calls before your parents arrive. Do you mind if I walk you next door to Jonathan and Amelia's place? You can get dressed and eat something over there."
"Don't bother. I can find my own way."
I stood and walked to the door, letting myself out. The man was infuriatingly clueless sometimes, and it irritated me even more when he didn't chase me into the hall. The situation had me revisiting my former relationship and the number of times Heath and I pissed each other off. I had a pretty short fuse, but so did he. By the time I reached Amelia's door, I was starting to question who was behaving badly, Vincent or me.
Griffin answered my knock and greeted me with a wide smile. "Hi, Reese. Where's Vincent?"
"He had some calls to make. I thought I'd hang out with you and maybe get some more clothes. Vincent called you about that, I assume."
Griffin swung the door open to let me in. "Yes. I was about to bring them over. What would you like to do? I have to take a nap in thirty minutes."
"Well, my parents will be here soon, so we can talk until then. I'd love to meet the gargoyles on your balcony."
Griffin beamed at me, and her usually pale skin glowed like a harvest moon. "Sure. We call them gollums but you can call them gargoyles if you'd like. That's the name most people use. Let me get your clothes real quick."
Griffin fetched my clothes, and this time I was fitted with a pair of wide-bottom linen pants and a button-down shirt that I folded to the elbows. Not surprisingly, both were black. I followed Griffin onto the balcony where three statues sat on the stone railing. One had been carved to resemble a winged monkey like the ones from Wizard of Oz, another had been made to look like a winged lion, and the third was a bird of prey, possibly an eagle. Griffin stepped up to the monkey first and stroked his wings affectionately.
"This one is George, named after Curious George. He's my favorite." She stepped up beside the bird next and patted his talons where they curved around the balcony pedestal. "This one is Sam, named after one of Jim Henson's muppets. Have you seen The Muppet Show? It's an ancient show, but it's brilliant."
I nodded. "I've seen bits and pieces on YouTube."
Satisfied with my response, Griffin walked to the lion and explained, "This one is Aslan. From The Chronicles of Narnia. Have you read those books?"
"Yes. They're brilliant even though they're ancient."
Griffin laughed. "You're going to fit right in with us. Most of the Valentinos know how to have a good time. Vincent could use a few pointers. I hope you'll be able to teach him."
"Vincent is a very intense guy. His moods are hard to predict," I said, hoping my honesty would pry some useful information out of the bubbly youth.
Griffin glanced uncertainly through the sliding glass door where Amelia stood in the kitchen preparing my breakfast. "I'm not supposed to talk about domus stuff, but I can confirm your suspicions about Vincent. He's monomaniacal. He doesn't do anything halfway, even when he's ignoring you."
I chuckled in spite of the sinking feeling in my stomach. "Monomaniacal. That's a term you don't hear every day."
"I looked it up. Vincent is in charge of teaching the mantras, and he makes me repeat them until I want to throttle him. Dad and Rizzo help with my flying skills, and Colin shows me how to fight. Mom and my grands teach me everything else. You haven't met my grands yet, but you will."
Amelia appeared at the door and slid it open to stare at Griffin, causing the girl to blush.
"Griffin, don't you have a nap to take?"
"I was just introducing Reese to the gollums."
"And that was the only thing you were discussing?"
Griffin appeared to curse herself inwardly as she answered, "No, I was telling her how everyone in the domus teaches different skills, but that's all. I'll see you later, Reese." Griffin hurried away, and Amelia watched the girl until she disappeared down a hall.
"I'm sorry if Griffin is overwhelming you. She can be a bit much."
"She's great. I like her."
"As do we all, but I know Vincent hasn't filled you in on everything, and I don't want her to surprise you with something."
I was starting to think Vincent enjoyed pushing his weight around, being the monomaniacal guy that he was. "Is Vincent the only one allowed to fill me in?"
"In this situation, yes. He seems to think he knows how best to handle you. I've got your breakfast ready."
So, Vincent does believe you're a fragile female, Reese.
Amelia didn't appear to notice me holding my tongue as she walked back inside, and I quickly followed her before a storm started brewing. Breakfast consisted of a blueberry bagel topped with cream cheese and sliced bananas, and Amelia remained mostly silent as she cleaned the kitchen. Just as I finished up, Mom called, and Amelia offered to help me greet her and Dad downstairs.
I texted Vincent when we arrived back at the apartment, and a minute later, Vincent walked in, looking more than a touch annoyed. What was his problem, this time? Since I was in no mood to pacify him, we both acted like everything was hunky dory while I recounted the bogus details of Vincent's rescue for my parents, the same story I had given them over the phone. Maybe they wanted to make sure my story hadn't changed.
Lunch arrived, and another member of the domus arrived with it - Lucy, a striking, silver-haired woman with a youthful face and kind eyes. She sat in quiet observance as the subject turned to the Valentino compound and how long I planned to stay there. Mom took the opportunity to voice her concerns about the vigilantes that snatched me and whether they would strike again when I returned to my apartment. Vincent assured her and Dad that he would personally see to my safety. I wasn't about to tell them my well-being was often in question under Vincent's guardianship.
When Dad mentioned their return flight was only a couple hours away, Vincent offered to take them to the airport, and I tagged along despite my growing desire to tell Vincent to jump off a building, although I knew that wouldn't be a problem for him. On our way back from Laguardia, Vincent detoured to my neighborhood.
"I'm taking you to your apartment. You can pick up your laptop and camera and anything else you need. And you can check on your neighbor." Vincent's tone held its usual formality, but I was pleasantly shocked that he remembered my concern for Mr. Pearlman. He was slowly redeeming himself after acting so blasé earlier.
"Oh, and Reese. I would appreciate it if you kept me in the loop. I'm not going to lie. I was pissed off when I found out your parents had arrived after the fact. I wanted to meet them downstairs."
So much for redemption. "They were in the apartment less than five minutes before I texted you, and I didn't realize I was required to keep you in the loop."
"Isn't that what partners do?"
Partners?
I acknowledged his comment with a nod and a significantly narrowed gaze. "I'll bear that in mind for next time. A list would be nice. I wouldn't want to fuck-up again, since we're partners and all."
Vincent's eyebrows bunched over his eyes, which looked a touch stormier than usual. "What's up with you?"
"Nothing is up with me. Okay... maybe I'm irritated."
"Why? If it's about our encounter in the shower, I told you why we can't go all the way. It's nothing personal."
"Oh, I realize how impersonal it is."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'll give you a minute to figure it out."
Vincent pursed his lips but said nothing for the rest of the drive. We arrived at my apartment and I knocked on Mr. Pearlman's door first thing.
"Ah, you're back. Did you enjoy your visit with your parents?" Mr. Pearlman stood in his doorframe looking like he always did, old and infirm, and he gave Vincent a once over as he tightened his robe around his skinny waist.
"It was interesting and eventful," I said in the most casual tone I could manage. "I wanted you to know I was home, but I won't be at my apartment tonight, and possibly tomorrow night. Have you run out of anything important?"
"No, but don't worry about me. I think these old bones can get me to the market and back. You two enjoy your extended weekend."
"Okay. Call me if you decide to go to the store. I don't want to worry about you. Promise?"
"I promise."
I kissed Mr. Pearlman on his cigarette-infused cheek and hurried to unlock my door. I knew he wasn't used to displays of affection, but with all the crazy shit happening with the demons I'd been extra worried about him. Vincent and I entered my apartment, and I started throwing stuff into a duffel. I packed a couple work-appropriate outfits as well, just in case a gig came up. Vincent talked as he followed me around.
"Reese, we need to figure out a schedule for checking on your neighbor. Now that you'll be living with us, it won't be practical to come here every day."
I offered Vincent my impersonation of a seriously confused person. "Hold up. I don't remember discussing my plans for moving in with you."
"Not with me, per se, with us. I'll be damned if I'm going to let you come back here now that the enemy knows where you live. Don't worry, there will always be places for you to escape when I'm acting like a dick."
Aw, crap.
As Vincent made his speech, I saw my freedom take flight out the window like a winged gollum, or a demon. I dropped heavily onto my bed and he sat down next to me.
"We don't have to talk about this now. Neither of us have had proper sleep," he said. "Let's try to leave the serious conversations off the table until later. Wren and Charleton will be back tonight and they're both eager to meet you." He lifted my chin and captured me with his steady gaze. "I never got a chance to tell you how impressed I am that you escaped those demons with only a scratch. Jonathan said you wrestled away from your abductor and jumped into his arms mid-flight. That was extremely brave."
"You call it bravery, I call it adrenaline-induced insanity."
With the likelihood of a fight on the horizon, I let the subject drop as he suggested. When the backseat of his Bentley had been loaded with my stuff and we pulled away from my apartment, I got the unsettling feeling I was being influenced by the same adrenaline-induced insanity.
PLAYLIST SONG: Waiting by Steele