chapter 10
“That’s him.” Rose pointed toward the bar.
Despite the late hour, the popular nightclub wasn’t completely packed yet. Soon, however, the clubbers would be lining up like sardines just to get a drink. And the dance floor would be looking like a can of worms, wiggling one way or another.
Quinn followed the direction of Rose’s finger, letting his gaze fall on a tall guy who looked like he’d stepped out of a photo shoot for GQ Magazine. His dark brown hair was cropped short. Under his immaculate clothes, his muscles bulged. A tan, whether artificial or real, complemented his model looks.
Without looking back at her, he asked, “The clothes horse?”
From the corner of his eye, he noticed Rose’s shrug. “I have no influence over how he spends the money in his trust.”
Quinn rolled his eyes. “Great. A trust fund baby. What else should I know about him?”
Blake looked nothing like he would have imagined his grandson to be. Not that he had ever lost a thought on that particular subject until twenty-four hours earlier.
“He finished college, then did a masters.”
“What subject?”
“Communications. Not something he could actually find a job in,” Rose replied.
“So he’s unemployed.” Just perfect. His great-great-whatever was a loser.
“That’s why he came out to the West Coast. He thinks he can get some job out here.”
Quinn snorted. “Maybe he should have moved to LA.”
“You don’t like him,” Rose said.
He turned to her to contradict her, but the moment he laid eyes on her, he was instantly distracted. Rose wore a low cut top that accentuated her small breasts and made them look larger than he remembered them. Her cleavage was more pronounced than he’d ever seen it when she’d worn those fashionable ball gowns so many years ago. Allowing his eyes to trail down, he wondered how long it would take to peel her out of the tight black jeans she wore. One second or two?
His mouth went dry at the thought. He smelled the blood of the humans all around him, yet at this moment no scent was as tantalizing as the scent of Rose’s skin. He’d always preferred human women as his lovers, because the scent of their blood heightened his arousal, but now that he stood so close to Rose, her body getting hotter in the inadequately air-conditioned room, he realized that her blood smelled no less enticing. On the contrary: despite the delicious smells all around him, his body wanted to partake of only one.
“What?” she asked, staring at him.
Quinn tried for an indifferent look, hoping he wasn’t drooling. God, he was pathetic. How would he be able to do this night after night? “Let’s go to the bar. Might as well have a drink.”
Rose gave him a confused look. “You drink . . . uh . . . ” She lowered her voice. “ . . . human drinks?”
“Just to blend in. Standing around without drinks will make us look suspicious. This is a nightclub after all. People come here to drink.” Besides, his throat was so dry, he didn’t care what kind of liquid moistened it.
Quinn headed for one end of the bar from which he had a good view of Blake and motioned to the bartender, then patted his hand on the empty stool, glancing back at Rose.
She followed him and took the seat.
“Two Boodles martinis, dry, no olives,” he ordered, seeing what used to be his favorite brand of London dry gin behind the bar. “Stirred, not shaken.”
The bartender nodded and went to work.
“I thought James Bond always insists that his martinis be shaken, not stirred.”
Quinn thought she seemed to find her remark far more amusing than it was. “Bond knows women, not martinis.”
He took a sideways glance at Rose. Now that she sat, his head was at the perfect height to allow him to look right down her cleavage. When he lifted his eyes, he collided with her gaze. It appeared that she had noticed the same thing. He felt heat shoot through his veins.
Annoyed at his own reaction, he focused his attention on the middle of the bar, where Blake was talking to a young woman. He tuned into their conversation, shutting out everything else around him out.
“I just moved here. Cool place,” Blake said.
“Good for you,” the girl replied, taking her nearly empty glass and pulling on the straw. Her gaze strayed away as if she were looking for somebody. She was pretty, and by the looks of it, she was well aware of that fact.
“What are you drinking? I’ll get you another one,” Blake said
“Thanks, but I’ll get my own drinks,” she replied and waved toward the bartender, who just placed the two Martini glasses in front of Quinn.
“That’s twenty-four bucks.”
Quinn pulled out a couple of banknotes and tossed them on the bar. “Thanks.”
As the bartender took the money, Quinn looked back at Blake and the girl.
“She doesn’t like him,” Rose said next to him.
“Maybe she’s just playing hard to get,” Quinn mused, wondering why Rose even bothered talking to him.
For the first time, he heard her chuckle. The sound trickled down his body like a soft caress. God, how he’d missed her laughter. How he’d missed that warm sound that could lift anyone’s spirit.
“Guess it runs in the family.”
“The playing hard to get?”
“The not being able to know what a woman wants.” She paused. “Or doesn’t want.”
Quinn reached for his glass. “Ah, that’s harsh, Rose, even for you.” Then he took a generous sip and allowed the disgusting liquid to coat his throat. At least it would help make his voice sound normal again, or so he hoped.
“And there I thought I gave you everything you could dream of that night.”
She narrowed her eyes. “And more.”
Her words cast an icy chill against his nape. “Are you referring to the baby?”
“Among other things.”
He set the glass onto the bar with too much force, making some of the liquid spill over the rim. “I pulled out!”
But even he knew that wasn’t a foolproof method of preventing conception. However, two hundred years ago, short of using French letters, it had been the only one.
She withstood his glare without flinching. But she didn’t grace him with a response. Instead she merely took her own glass and emptied it without grimacing.
“Is that why you’re so pissed at me? Because I left you with child? I would have taken care of you and our daughter if you’d given me a chance.”
Daughter—the word still sounded so foreign to him. Yet, he meant what he’d said. Had he known, things would have turned out differently.
“Having Charlotte was the only thing that ever went right in my life,” Rose admitted.
Her admission surprised him. “Then what was it that I did wrong?” The words were out before he could take them back. He knew he was showing his vulnerability by asking a question like this.
A man’s booming voice saved him from whatever comeback Rose might have had ready.
“Didn’t you hear what she said?”
Quinn’s gaze snapped toward Blake and the girl he was hitting on. Rose was right: the girl wasn’t interested in him. Behind her, a tall guy was glowering at Blake.
“She doesn’t want your attention. So beat it!” the stranger growled.
Blake glared back at him. “Don’t get in my way. This is between me and her.” He turned away from the guy and focused his attention back on the girl.
The timber of his voice changed as he smiled back at the girl again. “So, you wanna dance? I’m told I’m a pretty good dancer.”
The object of his attention rolled her eyes. “I’m not interested. Thanks.” She turned away and accepted the drink the bartender put in front of her.
“That’s ten.”
Before she could pull out her wallet, Blake put some money on the bar. “Let me get that.”
“No thanks,” she insisted.
“Oh, come on . . . it’s just a drink.” Blake unleashed a charming smile, and Quinn could see how with most women he would do well. Not, apparently, with this one.
Nor with the guy behind her, who had obviously decided to act as her protector.
“That’s it!” the protector snapped and snatched Blake by his shirt, yanking him away from the bar.
Blake’s elbow hit her cocktail glass, tipping it over. The red liquid spilled over the girl’s dress, making her scream out in frustration.
“See what you’ve done now, you jerk!” Blake shouted at his attacker.
The next second, he launched a balled fist into the guy’s face, whipping his head to the side.
“Well, great, look what your grandson is starting now,” Quinn pressed out between clenched teeth. That’s just what they needed: unwanted attention.
“Mine? He’s just as much yours. And trust me, that temper doesn’t come from my side of the family,” Rose retorted.
It took only five seconds until the two men were in the middle of a full fist fight. Left hooks alternated with uppercuts to the chin, blows to the stomach and kicks to the legs. Both sides fought neither elegantly nor fairly. And neither held back. Almost as if they both had been waiting for an outlet to get rid of long-stored-up tension and frustration.
Quinn knew enough about that, about how a fist fight could ease pain by causing pain in other parts of your body.
Leaning against the bar, he almost enjoyed watching the two men go at each other, beating the shit out of each other. The other clubbers seemed to equally enjoy the exchange, forming a circle around the fighters, even cheering them on as if they were prize fighters.
Rose stared at the fight with an open mouth, then glared back at him.
“Aren’t you gonna do something?”
“Do what?”
“Stop them, damn it. He could get hurt.”
Quinn made a face. “He can take care of himself from what I can see.”
In fact, it appeared that Blake’s fighting skills, while unsophisticated, weren’t bad. He was strong, and his instincts were good. Light on his feet, he had the agility of a dancer and was able to evade many of the blows his opponent dealt.
Maybe he had underestimated the boy earlier. Clearly, he had more brawn than brains, as well as the subtlety of a sledgehammer, but he seemed to be made to fight. As if he were born for it. With a little bit of the right training, he could be good, excellent even.
Rose jumped off her stool, looking impatient, and ready herself to interfere.
“If you’re not going to stop them, I will,” she threatened.
Quinn expelled an annoyed breath. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist.”
He grabbed her arm and brushed past her. “Stay here.” Then he made a path through the crowd, effortlessly pushing people out of his way until he reached the two fighters.
With a lightning fast move he grabbed both men by their upper arms and pulled them apart, holding them to either side of himself. They struggled to get out of his hold, but their human strength was no match for his vampire power.
Stop fighting, you idiots. He planted the simple thought into their minds, making them stop almost immediately.
“Enough!” he called out. “Nothing more to see here.” Slowly, the crowd turned away and went back to what they’d been doing before, dancing, talking, and drinking.
Quinn released the two.
“Get lost,” he ordered the girl’s protector while his mind sent the same command into the guy’s head. Mind control was a handy vampire tool. He didn’t like to overuse it, but he wanted to talk to Blake alone and wasn’t in the mood to do more in terms of damage control than he’d already done.
“Who are you?” Blake spat.
Quinn looked him up and down. Besides the fact that his clothes were a little disheveled, there wasn’t a scratch on him. “I might be just what you need.”
Outrage glittered in Blake’s eyes. “Hey, I don’t swing that way.”
“Neither do I, so don’t get your feathers ruffled. I have a proposition for you.”
Blake raised a questioning eyebrow. “What kind of proposition?”
Quinn motioned his head in the direction of the guy whom he’d fought with only moments earlier. “Looks like you’re a good fighter. I wonder whether you’d like to apply your skills professionally.”
“You mean like a boxer? Not interested. I don’t want my brain cells bashed out of me.”
“No, of course not. You haven’t got a single one to spare on such an endeavor,” Quinn hastened to say.
Blake nodded. “That’s right.”
Clearly, the jab had gone over his head. He added slow-witted to his grandson’s attributes, as well as a note to ask Rose whether she was sure he was indeed their descendent. Maybe there had been some mix-up in the hospital.
“I was thinking if you wanted to make a career move . . . we always need young men like you: strong, smart.” Quinn backed away a little. “But then again, you’ve probably got a great job already. I mean, look at you . . . ” He made a gesture toward his clothes. “So, this probably won’t interest you. Even though we pay well, but then . . . ”
“Then what?” Blake prompted, his curiosity awakened.
“It’s a dangerous job. Actually, I can’t really call it a job. It’s more like an adventure. Every day, you know. Only a select few are made for that line of work . . . ”
Quinn turned half away. “Forget I asked.”
Before he could walk away, he felt Blake’s hand on his shoulder, holding him back. Bingo.
He caught Rose’s confused stare, watching them from afar, before he faced his grandson again.
“What’s it about? I might be just what you’re looking for,” Blake said eagerly.
Quinn gave him an assessing look. “Well, we won’t know immediately. There are tests, you know.” On a whim, he added, “Like Men in Black, just without the aliens.”
Blake’s jaw dropped. “Cool! I’m in, man. What do I do?”
Quinn pulled out one of Scanguards’ cards from his pocket and handed it to him. “Be there tomorrow night at 9 p.m. That’s when the selection program starts. Ask for Quinn.”
“Quinn,” he repeated, staring at the card.
“And your name is?”
Blake stretched out his hand. “Bond. Blake Bond.”
Quinn did a double take. Rose had neglected to tell him Blake’s last name, and had obviously had some fun with him over that little omission. Great, add that name to the ego the kid had, mix it with the twenty brain cells at his disposal and the packed muscles of his body, and there was disaster waiting to happen.
“Bond, huh?”
Blake grinned from one ear to the other. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”
“Well, see you tomorrow night . . . Mr. Bond.”
Turning, he walked back to Rose. Before he even reached her, he knew she wasn’t happy about what had just happened.
“Are you crazy?” she hissed. “You can’t just expose yourself to him. We were going to watch over him, not turn him into Rambo.”
“And what better way to keep him safe than bring him in and make him think he’s working for us. Don’t worry, it’ll work out perfectly.”
Yeah, perfectly blow up in our faces, he mused. But what was done was done.
“He’s going to find out who we are.”
“And would that be so terrible?” Quinn asked.
Rose glared at him. “Yes, it would be. He’s got a right to a normal life.”
He took a step closer to her, eliminating any space between them. “He lost that right when Keegan decided to hurt you by harming him. Now, let’s go.”
Puffing up her chest, she gestured toward Blake who was now talking to a few other clubbers.
“We have to watch him. Keegan could show up anytime, anywhere.”
Did she really think he was an amateur? “That’s already taken care of. I’ve had somebody assigned to him from the moment you told me his name and where to find him.”
Her shoulders suddenly dropped. “Oh.” Then she took a deep breath. “Okay, where to now?”
Quinn bent his head to her ear and sensed her draw closer as if expecting to hear a secret. “Time to collect the first payment.”
As Rose’s breath caught, a white hot flame of desire shot into his groin. Yes, payment was just what he needed now.