“If you think that Keegan will trade for him, I have to disappoint you. I’ve seen him kill his own men for minor infractions. Hell, he staked one of his bodyguards just for making a comment about his dick.”

Quinn gave her a questioning look. “He what?”

Rose waved him off. “Long story. But I’m saying, he won’t lift a finger to get his assassin back. Keegan only thinks of himself. It doesn’t matter how many people will lose their lives in the pursuit of his goal.”

“I have no plans about trading our prisoner. I want to find out what he knows.”

“He won’t talk. He knows that if he talks he’s a dead man. You might as well kill him now, because if you leave him alive, Keegan will finish him off. He knows it too.”

Quinn frowned. “Charming man, this Keegan. But we’ll get some intel, one way or another.”

Rose’s pretty face pulled into a doubting grimace. “Good luck with torturing him.”

Quinn grinned. “You obviously haven’t seen Zane’s methods. Come, let’s check on them.”

He was about to open the door to the gym, when he turned abruptly, remembering something else he wanted to tell her.

“Oh, and Rose, thanks for helping out earlier, but I could have done it on my own. You should have stayed with the others where you were safe.”

“Ungrateful bastard,” she hissed.

“I said thanks, didn’t I?”

She let out an exasperated breath. “A thank you followed by a but doesn’t count.”

“How about this then? Does that count?”

Before she could answer, he pulled her into his arms and captured her mouth. It took only seconds for her to soften, her pliable body molding itself to his.

He briefly lifted his lips from hers only to whisper another thank you, then went on to ravish her mouth. As tempting as it was to continue, he knew this wasn’t the time or place. Reluctantly, he released her lips and gazed at her. Her lids had dropped to half mast and her mouth looked red and moist and utterly sensual.

“I love the way you look when you’ve just been kissed.”

Her eyes shot open, but she couldn’t hide the vulnerability that resided in them. That he could still do this to her—make her look like a debutante after her first kiss—floored him. His heart beat so loudly in his chest that he thought it might burst.

“Come.”

Quinn opened the door to the gym and pulled her into the room.

Inside, Zane was hard at work, doing what he did best: convincing an unwilling subject to talk. However, his friend looked a little more frustrated than usual.

“Problems?” Quinn asked.

Zane shrugged. “Just a little stubbornness I’m going to have to beat out of him first.”

“He won’t talk,” Rose predicted. “Keegan has that effect on his men. They’re too afraid of him.”

“Nobody has ever resisted me,” Zane claimed and lashed an angry glare at his prisoner. “Neither will you when I’m done with you.”

The captured vampire lifted his head from his chest and grunted. “Never.”

From what Quinn could see, Zane had already inflicted painful injuries to the vampire’s face, torso and extremities. Yet nothing seemed to have worked. Not wanting to lose out on this opportunity to acquire useful information, Quinn pulled out his cell.

“We can do this another way. There’s always Gabriel.”

Quinn dialed a number and waited for the call to connect.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, Gabriel. Keegan’s people made an attempt tonight. But they didn’t get far. However, we got a prisoner in the bargain. He won’t talk though. Can you come over and help us out?”

“Sure. Be there in ten.”

He disconnected the call and shoved the cell back in his front pocket.

“And how is Gabriel going to help when Zane can’t get anything out of him?” Rose leaned closer and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Between you and me, Zane looks a lot scarier than Gabriel.”

But Zane had heard her nevertheless. “And I don’t just look it. But Gabriel gets to cheat.”

Quinn grinned. “I wouldn’t call his gift cheating.”

“What gift?” Rose asked.

“He reads memories.”

And truth be told, at this moment Quinn envied his boss for it, because if he could access memories the way Gabriel could, he would have a much easier time, figuring out Rose and why she had stayed away from him for two centuries. But then, would he really want to see all she’d been through, see the men she’d been with? He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought.