Oliver's Hunger

Quinn frowned. “Oliver, I’m older than you. So don’t think you can just brush me off. We’re home early because of what’s happening here.”

Oliver tossed a glare at Blake. “I could’ve handled the situation without interference from anybody.”

Blake squared his stance, glaring back. “Right!”

Quinn lifted his hand to stop their argument in its inception. “Blake didn’t call us. Maya did. She was concerned about you two being alone with Ursula.”

Oliver stared at his sire, clearly fuming. “I don’t need a chaperone!”

“Neither do I!” Blake immediately took his half-brother’s side.

Ursula almost had to chuckle. One minute the two were practically at each other’s throats, the next they stood side by side against the head of their family.

Ursula caught how Rose rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Kids,” she heard her murmur softly. Then Rose looked at her. “Ursula, why don’t you and I go upstairs and leave these three alone to work out their differences? I for one can’t stand any more display of testosterone right now.”

Hesitantly, Ursula nodded.

“I’d better take all my clothes out of the guestroom so you’ll be more comfortable,” she added.

“But I was sleeping in Oliver’s room,” Ursula blurted, before she could stop herself.

Rose’s head snapped toward Oliver, her eyes glaring at him. “Oliver! I can’t believe you’d take advantage of a frightened young woman like that. That’s despicable!”

Oliver thrust his hand through his hair. “I didn’t do anything! I didn’t sleep in my room!”

Rose huffed indignantly. “Of course you didn’t sleep!”

Before Ursula could say anything else to defend Oliver, Rose pulled her out of the room.

Oliver watched as Rose and Ursula left the room. This was terrible timing: he didn’t need Quinn and Rose sticking their noses into his affairs right now. He had too many things he had to keep quiet: the fact that he hadn’t followed Zane’s orders to put Ursula on the next plane to Washington DC, the fact that Ursula’s blood was a drug, and that he’d been able to find an actual client of the blood brothel she’d been held at for three years. Until he knew how to proceed, he couldn’t let anybody at Scanguards know about these things.

He hoped he could keep Quinn in the dark for long enough to figure out a strategy. If Maya was the one who’d told him about this situation, then Quinn didn’t know very much yet. Maya didn’t know what had transpired in Hunter’s Point; neither did Blake. Therefore Quinn couldn’t know that Zane had ordered him to send Ursula away. And he couldn’t know yet that they had found nothing at the building in Hunter’s Point and therefore dismissed Ursula’s claims.

Shit, how had everything gotten so complicated?

“Everything is under control, Quinn, trust me.” Oliver forced a confident look onto his face.

“Sure it is,” Quinn said dryly. “Why don’t you explain to me what’s going on?”

“What did Maya tell you?”

“Enough for us to pack our bags and leave England to rush home. So, update me. What’s happened since?”

Oliver swallowed. “We found the property in Hunter’s Point where Ursula was held. But they had already cleaned everything out by the time we got there. I assume they figured she would come back with help, so they fled. We don’t have any leads yet where they might have taken the operation.”

He felt his body get hotter. How he hated having to lie to his sire. But the less he knew at this point the better. If he was aware of Zane’s orders, there was a chance that Quinn would try to separate him from Ursula, and he couldn’t risk that. She trusted him to protect her, and he could only do that when he was with her. Besides, he needed to speak to her in private to tell her that he’d been able to confirm her story.

“Hmm. What else?”

Oliver shrugged, trying to look casual. “Nothing else. We’re working all our contacts to find out if anybody has heard of the place and knows where they might be now. They’re holding a dozen other girls captive. They need our help.”

“And the fact that you guys didn’t find anything at the property in Hunter’s Point didn’t bother any of you?” Quinn wondered.

“Would have made me wonder if she’s telling the truth,” Blake threw in, looking at Oliver. “You know we all had doubts, even you.”

“Go ahead and bother Zane by asking him if he still has doubts about her story. See how he likes it being questioned,” Oliver bluffed. Would Blake fall for it? And more importantly, would Quinn stop asking questions?