Ursula seemed to realize that he meant what he said and pressed her lips into a thin line. It appeared that he would be subjected to the silent treatment.

“Listen, baby, I was called to Samson’s—”

“I’m not your baby!” she griped.

“You were when you slept in my arms.”

She turned her face away to avoid him. But with his fingers on her chin he made her look at him. “I can see that you’re angry with me.”

“No shit, Sherlock!”

He had to smile despite himself. “You’re a wild cat, Ursula. Maybe we’ll take advantage of that later when we make love. I wouldn’t mind those sharp claws of yours digging into me when I’m inside you.”

She sucked in an outraged breath. “If you think I’m going to sleep with you after all you’ve done, you’re wrong!”

“Am I?” he murmured and lowered his head, allowing his lips to hover over hers. “I bet if I kissed you now, you would kiss me back.” Then he pulled his head back again. “But I won’t kiss you, because you need to know what really happened.”

He sat back on his haunches, allowing her more freedom of movement. Instantly, she shuffled backwards, pulling herself up into a sitting position.

“I was called to Samson’s house—it was a ruse to get me out of the house and away from you. Do you remember when Zane and the others were called away the night we checked out the building in Hunter’s Point?”

She nodded reluctantly, her eyes watching his every move.

“They were called to a nightclub. Apparently some vampires were causing trouble. Turns out that they were two of your clients. Leeches.”

Her eyes widened with interest.

“They were both feeding off Chinese girls. My colleagues had to do a lot of damage control, wipe memories, clean up. One of the leeches killed a girl. Cain staked him.”

A gasp escaped from Ursula’s throat. “Oh God no!”

Oliver gave her a sad look. “I’m afraid my colleagues couldn’t save her. She was already dead when they got there. But they saved the other girl. And they captured that crazy vampire. They took him back to HQ and questioned him. He told them everything: that he wanted special blood, blood that drugged, that the blood brothel in Hunter’s Point he’d been going to was gone. He was an addict, Ursula. He was suffering from withdrawal—that’s why he was so crazy. When Zane and the others realized what was going on, they knew instantly that you had to have special blood too.”

He looked into her eyes and saw realization there. She knew he was telling the truth. “That’s why Zane came for me.”

Oliver nodded. “After seeing what the blood does to vampires, they wanted to make sure I wasn’t anywhere near you. That’s why they took you. They were afraid that I would bite you and end up like those crazy drugged-out vampires.”

“So they really don’t want my blood. Your colleagues, they’re not keeping me because of that,” she said as if talking to herself.

“No. They wanted to protect me. Even though they were royally pissed when they found out that I already knew about your blood and didn’t tell them. Anyway, now that they think they’ve kept me from you, they’re busy combing the city for any evidence of where the blood brothel moved to. They want to destroy those vampires. I promise you.”

“And the girls and I? What will they do with us?” There was a trace of fear in her voice.

Oliver had worked for Scanguards long enough to know what they were planning, even though nobody had talked about the ultimate plan. “Once we’ve found them, we’ll make sure they go back to their families, and if need be, we’ll set up new identifies for them so nobody will ever find out about them and what makes them special.”

“They will do that? For us? For humans?”

Oliver stroked his knuckles over her cheek. “Yes. They’re there to protect you. Just like I am.”

She inched closer. “How did you even find me?”

“One of the girls here overhead when you said something about me, and she called me.”

Her eyes widened and she jerked back from him. “You’re a client here?”

Oliver leaned closer. “No, I’m not. I just come here for . . . uh company.”

“Company?!” She looked at him, clearly not believing him.

“I’m friends with Vera, and her girls like me. But I’ve never come here for sex.” He grinned. “At least not until tonight.”