Quinn's Undying Rose (Scanguards Vampires #6) (16 page)

Before he could pull her along the corridor, the door of the bathroom opened behind them.

“Quinn, Rose, a word please,” Samson demanded.

17

Standing outside on the porch a few moments later, Rose shivered, even though she knew as a vampire the cold night air didn’t affect her like it would a human. Nevertheless, a chill went through her bones. Instinctively her back stiffened.

“Apologies,” Samson said after pulling the door shut behind him. A sheepish look crossed his face. “Delilah and I have had little time to ourselves lately. The baby . . . well, she keeps us on our toes.”

He was apologizing to her? Because she had walked in on them? How odd. Did he actually mean it? Rose looked at him suspiciously.

“I guess I forgot to lock the door.” He smiled briefly, then his face became serious, and he looked at Quinn. “Did you see the text Thomas just sent?”

“What text?” Quinn replied, pulling his cell phone from his pocket in the same instant. He looked at it. “It was still on vibrate.”

He swiped his finger over it and tapped one of the apps. Then his eyes shot back to Samson.

“Crap!”

Samson nodded. “Could be a coincidence of course. There are lots of guys named Blake.”

At hearing her grandson’s name, Rose went on alert. “What’s with Blake? What happened?” Her heart instantly began to race.

Samson turned to her. “We were alerted that a man named Blake was kidnapped down South yesterday. He was released without any ransom demands hours later.”

“Down South, where?”

Quinn put his hand on her forearm. “A couple of hours north of Los Angeles. It wasn’t our Blake. He’s safe.”

Then he looked at Samson. “But I don’t believe in coincidences.”

Neither did she. Nor did the proximity of this incident calm her either. Keegan knew from the letter she’d written that she was following Blake to the West Coast, and not only that. He had even more precise information.

“Where exactly?” she urged the two. “Where did it happen?”

Quinn’s forehead furrowed at her insistence. “Down in Santa Barbara.”

Her stomach lurched. “Oh God.” She knew what Keegan was doing. “He’s searching every town on the West Coast that starts with
San
.”

Quinn grabbed both her arms, making her look at him. “What does he know?”

Rose swallowed hard. Why had she ever written that damn letter? “He knows Blake is on the West Coast, living in a city starting with
San
.”

“Did he follow you here?”

She shook her head. “Impossible.”

“How would you know?”

She tossed him an angry glare. She wasn’t an amateur. She’d hidden her entire vampire life and knew how to disappear without a trace. “I use a network.”

Quinn narrowed his eyes. “What network?”

For a moment she wondered whether to tell him, whether to disclose this information. Knowing that she wouldn’t give him any names or anything else specific, she deemed it safe to tell him how she’d gotten out of Chicago.

“There’s a network of brothels and escort services I own. It’s all wrapped up in trusts. Keegan doesn’t know. Nobody does.”

Quinn stared at her in disbelief. “You own brothels?”

She shrugged. She had to make money somehow. “I treat them well. The women who work there are safer than if they were on the street somewhere. And they’re loyal.”

She noticed how Samson leaned against the railing on the deck, his arms crossed over his chest, listening with interest. He didn’t seem to judge her.

“They helped you leave Chicago undetected?” Quinn continued his questioning.

“Yes. They act as decoys, dressing like me, wearing wigs, makeup. They travel under my name to various places to lead whoever is following me on a wild goose chase.”

Seemingly satisfied with her answer, Quinn nodded. “Then how does Keegan know you’re here?”

“He saw a letter.”

“What letter? Was there a postmark on it? I thought Blake didn’t know you.”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t. It wasn’t a letter Blake wrote. I wrote it.”

“Who was it sent to?”

“It was never sent. Keegan interrupted me while I was writing it. It doesn’t matter, but he knows. He knows to search every city on the West Coast that starts with
San
. We have to do something.”

For a moment Quinn didn’t say anything, his eyes simply searching hers. Then he let go of her arms.

“I guess we’re going into the offensive earlier than I’d planned.”

“Offensive?” Rose echoed.

Quinn and Samson exchanged a look.

Samson smiled at her. “I think what Quinn is trying to say is that we’re going to smoke Keegan out before he can find Blake.”

“But we can’t draw attention to us, or he’ll find us even faster.” Panic ran through her veins. “You can’t do that!”

“It was the plan all along,” Quinn said. “You didn’t think we’d simply hide Blake away forever? It’s only a temporary solution. Granted, I would have liked to get him settled first, explain the ground rules and get a handle on this, before going after Keegan, but knowing what Keegan knows, we have to act now.”

“You were planning this from the start? Why didn’t you tell me? I have a right to know.” She let out an angry breath. She was the one who had hired
them
. She made the rules when it came to protecting Blake.

Quinn’s eyes narrowed. “I had a right to know a lot of things too.” His chest suddenly heaved and his eyes turned darker, a sign that he was annoyed with her. “You should have told us from the start what Keegan knew. By keeping things from us you’re putting Blake in danger. Don’t you realize that?”

She clamped her jaw shut.

“I thought you loved our grandson,” he added more quietly.

Our
? Had he really said
our
? The word did something to her: it softened her heart. She and Quinn had so much in common. Could their flesh and blood, Blake, become the bridge to mending what had gone wrong? Would he be able to forgive her once he found out what she’d done?

“Rose?”

Quinn’s voice drifted to her, making her look at him.

“Tell us everything about Keegan. The more we know, the better our chances of finding him before he finds us.”

“Quinn is right,” Samson added. “We need every bit of information you can remember: where he has properties, who he consorts with, what he does, who his enemies and friends are. Everything, even if you think it’s unimportant.”

Slowly, she nodded. They were right. She had to tell them, but there was one thing she couldn’t tell them: that he was really after her because she had stolen something priceless from him. And she knew he would do anything to get it back, just as she would do anything to keep it from him.

“Agreed.”

“Good,” Samson said. “Let me check if Thomas is here yet. He needs to be in on this conversation.” He opened the door to the house and disappeared inside.

There was silence for a few moments. She avoided looking at Quinn until he suddenly spoke.

“How did you get into owning brothels?”

Rose thrust her chin up, ready to defend her choices, when she noticed that there was no sign of accusation in his eyes, just curiosity.

“It was the only thing that was open to me at the time. The only . . . profession a woman could have back then.”

She allowed her gaze to drift past him, not wanting to see him judge her. But he didn’t grant her that concession. His fingers underneath her chin tipped her head up, forcing her to look at him.

“But why? As a vampire you were stronger than anybody else. You could have done anything you wanted.”

She shook her head. “I couldn’t get any help from my parents when they realized what I was. And I didn’t want to force them by using mind control. Do you understand that?”

After she’d realized that, she’d urged them to fake her death because they would not survive the scandal she would bring on them. They had done it.

“At first, I stole and cheated to survive. Mind control helped me, my vampire strength made sure nobody was able to hurt me.”

 “I’m so sorry you had to go through this, Rose.”

“After a while, once I’d stopped pitying myself, I realized how lucky I was compared to many other women out on the streets. I saw how many of them were mistreated. So I started protecting them. I was so much stronger than those men they sold their bodies to. They realized it and were afraid of me.”

His hand stroked gently over her hair, and she yearned to lean into him.

“I stole from them so I could make a better life for myself and the women around me. They were so grateful, you should have seen them. Their eyes lit up when I told them they wouldn’t have to sleep with every violent man anymore. I told them they could reject those who hurt them, and I would take care of them. I made sure those men never dared come back. My brothels only allow civilized men in. We reject the violent ones, the perverts who take pleasure in hurting women.”

“My brave Rose,” he whispered, pulling her closer. “Always strong, always looking out for everybody but herself.”

Tears stung in her eyes, but she didn’t allow herself to cry. She couldn’t show weakness, not when he praised her for being brave.

“I survived; we all did. I expanded nationwide, I built up a network of brothels. All with the same rules, the same kind of security for the women. I figured if they had to sell their bodies, they might as well do it in a safe environment. Some are run by vampires like me, women who protect other women. I even have a place here in San Francisco. Around the corner from the Ritz Carlton. It’s a classy establishment. Nothing seedy, not like the places farther down the hill. The women are taken care of. They’re safe.”

She hesitated. “Some of them wanted to be like me . . . but I couldn’t do that to them. I couldn’t condemn them to a life like mine.”

Quinn’s arms came around her, pulling her against his chest. “You should have come to me. I could have shown you how beautiful this life can be. I can still show you. It’s not too late.”

She lifted her head, looking at him. “Isn’t it?”

“It’s never too late for—”

The door opened behind them. “Thomas is here. Let’s talk,” Samson announced.

Hastily, Rose pulled out of Quinn’s embrace, wondering what he had wanted to say. Too late for love? Was that what he’d meant?

18

The house was buzzing like a beehive despite the late hour.

Quinn had been able to convince Amaury and Nina to move into the B&B with them to provide extra protection. Since Nina was human and not a stranger to fighting with vampires, she would be the perfect addition to the daytime protection Wesley would provide. However, accepting Nina’s services also meant having to put up with her overbearing mate Amaury. Not that he didn’t love the guy to death, but the way he hovered over Nina was positively nauseating. Having to watch those lovebirds day in and day out would be grueling.

Cain and Oliver had already gotten Blake settled, putting him on the top floor between their respective rooms. Wesley was in the process of lugging his bags upstairs to take up residence as well.

“Let me take one,” Quinn offered and grabbed one of Wesley’s bags, slinging the strap over his shoulder as he walked up the stairs alongside him.

“Hey this is great.” Wesley let his eyes roam. “What a cool house.”

“It’ll do for our purposes.”

Wesley shook his head. “Could you guys get any more jaded?”

Jaded? He’d never seen it that way, but having lived as long a life as he had, there was little that could really impress him. “This house could have fit three times into my estate up north.”

“Up north?”

“Derbyshire. A few hours north of London.” Quinn wondered why he suddenly thought of his place. He rarely ever went there. In fact, it shouldn’t even belong to him anymore. He’d promised it to Wallace, his sire, for saving his life, yet he’d never come to claim it and had simply disappeared instead.

“You have like a castle?”

Quinn chuckled. “I prefer to think of it as a heap of old stones in dire need of repair.” Neglecting the property for decades hadn’t improved the drafty building in the least. “And it’s definitely not a castle. There’s no moat, no drawbridge, and no wall around it. It’s just a country estate.”

“You Englishmen are funny.”

Wesley stopped in front of a door and set down his suitcase.

“This one, right?”

Quinn nodded, then pointed to the other doors along the corridor. “Cain is next to you, then Blake, then Oliver. Amaury and Nina are one floor farther down, same as Rose and my rooms.”

Wesley opened the door and entered, lifting the suitcase inside. Quinn followed.

“So, it’s true then what the others are saying.”

Quinn raised an eyebrow. He asked the question even though he was pretty sure what everybody was talking about. “What are they saying?”

“That you and her . . . man, she’s quite a stunner. What a figure. And those boobs, not huge, but wow, that cleavage—”

Quinn had heard enough. He shoved Wesley against the nearest wall, flashing his fangs at him.

“You little punk, I want you to listen, and I’m only gonna say this once.”

He paused to take a much needed breath of air, trying to tamp down his anger. It didn’t work. Jealousy had him in a tight grip. Wesley stared at him, his eyes widened in fear, perspiration building on his brow. Yeah, despite the fact that he was hanging out with vampires now, he was still afraid of them. Just as well.

“I will not tolerate any disrespect toward my wife. Another word like that, a wrong look at her, and I’ll have your hide, and not even your brother will be able to save you then. Do you understand that? Rose is mine. She’s always been mine, and she’ll always be mine. I will kill any man who touches her.”

Wesley’s nod came instantly. But whatever he wanted to say was cut short by a sound from the door.

Quinn swiveled on his heels to face the intruder.

Rose stood in the door frame, frozen. She’d heard every word of his possessive claim.