On the Edge of Love (Mama's Brood Book 1) by Shay Rucker

his neck. Even then, a conviction is a long shot.”
    “We’ve got a man inside the Consortium; the group of men and women bound by money, power, and this shared desire to prey on anyone considered a lesser being. Our inside guy was investigating a man Kragen is close to and became curious about Kragen,” Terry said. “Relatively speaking, Kragen’s not a big fish within the organization but the son of the big fish. If our operative wasn’t such a cat, no one would have made the link. It’s taken us almost eight months to get the little we have. Kragen is a bad man, Sabrina.”
    “And he’s got you in his sights,” Almaya said, collecting the photos and placing them back inside a manila folder. “You’re right. It is wrong to keep you here against your will, even if it’s for your own protection. It’s still imprisonment. It was also wrong to drug you. I apologize.”
    “Why did he do that to them?” Sabrina asked. She had seen plenty of violence, death, but this was different. This had the putrid rot of something evil. Ernesto’s cruelties didn’t compare.
    “There is no reason I could give that would justify what he’s done. The why doesn’t matter to me. All I care about is that he did it.”
    “You’re sure it was him.”
    “I am.”
    Sabrina sat at the table. It was true; if this man was after her, she couldn’t just go home and live life as normal. She had a gun and knew how to use it well, but she couldn’t realistically return and pretend everything would work itself out. She would be checking over her shoulder every other minute, not trusting anyone—new faces or old—because she knew people could be paid off, and sometimes it didn’t even have to be for a large amount of money. Sometimes all it took was a new car, a television, a fix. Sometimes just the assurance that the person wouldn’t kill your family, and voila , sold out.
    “As much as I hate to say this, if you want to leave, I won’t stop you,” Almaya said. “I will make sure you arrive at your place safely, maybe have—”
    “Two reasons that’s not going to happen,” Zeus said behind her. She turned to see him leaning against the sill of the door-wall panel that led to the lower level. The man moved about as soundlessly as smoke. “One, she’s mine. No one takes what’s mine anywhere but me.”
    “And two?” Terry asked.
    Zeus looked at Sabrina. She could see the obsessive desire lurking in his gaze. He was irritated with her; she knew this because the blade in his hand was doing acrobatics at an alarming speed. It was amazing his hand wasn’t a bloody mess.
    He wasn’t going to part from her until his need had been satisfied. After that he would probably escort her to Kragen without hesitation or remorse.
    “Two, he hasn’t fucked me yet. That’s what you were going to say, isn’t it, Zeus?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “You’re an idiot.”
    “If you say so,” he said, walking over to the table. He stopped and squatted, elbows on knees, close to her chair. “Don’t be mad because I tell the truth. You know what I want. Give it to me and it’s done.”
    “The man is like a broken record,” Big Country muttered.
    “I’m showing you all an indulgence. I usually don’t have to repeat myself.”
    Sabrina turned, facing him head-on. She placed her hands on each side of his face and leaned toward him, pulling his face so close their noses nearly touched. “You keep bothering me about having sex with you, and I will take one of your blades and stab you in the throat.”
    He smiled that eerie smile as he leaned closer, pressing his lips to hers in a simple kiss that shouldn’t have had her body fighting her for more. He pulled back, and she barely stopped herself from following. He knew she wanted him. “I’ll let you have your way with my knives if you let me have my way with your body,” he said coolly as if sitting at a negotiation table.
    She sat back and removed her hands from his face. He was going