Read On the Edge of Love (Mama's Brood Book 1) for Free Online

space separating them and made some of the tension that always built when he was supposed to sit and interact with others dissipate.
    Terry and Coen sat down, Terry joining Bride and Price already seated on the couch, while Coen, being the old woman he was, sat in one of the rocking chairs. Big Country and Lynx sat in the two recliners. Big Country was almost horizontal in his chair, eyes half-closed and arms folded across his chest.
    “How’s Juarez?” Almaya asked Lynx.
    “He’ll be out for a little bit, but he’s fine. Won’t be our sharpshooter for a while though.”
    She turned to look down at Zeus. “Should I be concerned about you?” He wasn’t sure what she was asking, so he sure as shit wasn’t going to respond. She leaned back in the love seat and sighed. “I know Juarez has a bit of a temper, but you must be less reactive, Zeus. I know you’re capable.”
    “Don’t really think I am,” he said, placing the cleaned blade pulled from Juarez’s shoulder on the floor beside him. He retrieved a sharpening stone, cloth, and oil from his pocket and attended to the knife’s care.
    “He’s filled with remorse, Mama. He just ain’t one to show it,” Big Country said.
    It was a weirdness that everyone in this group referred to the older woman as Mama. As if she were their real mother, they her children.
    One of the few things he knew about his mother was that her name was Zahira, not Almaya.
    “You remember our deal, don’t you, Zeus?” she asked.
    “Yeah, I remember.”
    She sighed when he didn’t say anything else.
    “He’ll do the job you gave him, Almaya. He won’t betray that,” Terry said.
    If that’s what they need to believe, he thought as he slid the blade over the stone at an angle.
    “Can part of this deal you’ve got with him include him not attacking his own team members?” Lynx asked.
    “Nope,” Zeus said.
    “No disrespect, Mama, but can you please explain to me why he’s here one last time?” Lynx. Again.
    “Because, with Cizan in Guatemala, I needed someone that could match his skills.”
    “Basically replacing one psycho for another,” Coen muttered.
    Zeus paused. No, he wouldn’t throw the blade at Coen. He’d have to go through the cleaning and sharpening process all over again.
    “Lynx, did you find any information at the warehouse that could help us discover why Kragen had Sabrina kidnapped?” Almaya asked.
    “Outside of the one man Sabrina identified, there was no identifying information on the bodies, in the truck, or in the warehouse. I took pics and prints so we could run them through Gambit when we’re done talking.”
    “Thank you, Lynx,” Almaya said.
    Terry looked at the older woman for a moment as if trying to communicate with her silently. Zeus didn’t know much about them, but he knew when two people were fucking each other. From what he’d seen over the last few days, he guessed they had been for a long time. Years. He shuddered at the unnaturalness of long-term relationships.
    “Sabrina, can you tell us about your day leading up to your abduction?” Terry asked. “Did you notice anything out of the ordinary in the morning before you went to work? On the way? Once you were there? After you left?”
    “It was a normal day until they broke into my apartment. I got up, got dressed, got caffeine at the café—”
    “Do you go to the same place every morning?”
    She nodded. “On the weekends sometimes twice. Can’t beat the addiction.”
    “Know what you mean. Mine is porn,” Big Country said.
    “Luckily I don’t know what you mean,” she said in disgust.
    Zeus frowned. What was wrong with porn?
    “I’m helping my supervisor with the graphics layout for a project she’s completing,” Sabrina continued.
    “What is it you do at your job?” Terry asked.
    “Nothing worth kidnapping and beating me over. I’m an administrative assistant for a small nonprofit art gallery.”
    “Bet the pay sucks.” Lynx snorted.
    “It allows me