Moon Shifter 02 - Primal Possession

and boots from yesterday, Joseph walked into the kitchen. He paused in the entrance and froze, probably because of the glare Edward gave him. “What’s going on?”
    “Where were you all night?” he asked calmly.
    He shrugged and stepped into the room. As he did, he pulled off his gloves. “I did what you said. I followed Katarina Saburova and tried to stake out her place, but I got a bad feeling, so I left.”
    “Bad feeling?”
    “Yeah, man. Like her place was already being watched by someone else or something. You said the enforcer wants her, so I didn’t want to hang around too late and get killed if that dude was there.”
    “So where have you been all night?” The story sounded like bullshit, but lately everything out of Joseph’s mouth did.
    He shrugged again in that maddening disrespectful manner and headed for the stove. “Something smells good.” When he tried to take a piece of the bacon, Brianna whacked his hand with a wooden spoon.
    Edward inwardly smiled, but something about Joseph’s attitude was off. “So where were you, then?” He hated repeating himself, but he wanted an answer.
    “I met a chick and stayed the night at her place. You’re not my fucking father. I tried to do the job and couldn’t, so I got laid. It’s none of your damn business what I do in my off time.”
    He hated his attitude, but that sounded more like the Joseph he knew. Sighing, he pushed his mug away from him. He was just being paranoid. Joseph sure as hell wasn’t a mole in the APL and he had no reason to lie. The guy was too fucking stupid, so it didn’t surprise him he’d been thinking with his dick last night. He could reprimand him, but it likely wouldn’t do any good and he didn’t have the energy this morning. “There’s a fresh pot of coffee on if you want some.”
    Visibly relaxing, the young man shrugged off his coat and laid it on the back of one of the chairs. “I’ll grab some in a minute. I need to shower and wash that bitch’s stank off me.”
    After he disappeared from the room, Brianna shookher head. “He’s so disgusting. I don’t know why you put up with him.”
    He depended on these recruits and she knew it, even if she wouldn’t admit it out loud. Thanks to his scarred face, he was likely to be remembered everywhere he went. Before his accident he’d been a normal-looking guy. Good-looking enough to get laid on a regular basis anyway. It had been so easy for him to fly under the radar everywhere he’d gone. He’d had the kind of face people forgot.
    Not anymore. Now he couldn’t get close enough to either of the women his boss wanted him to take. Pretty women steered clear of him. Some wouldn’t even step into an elevator with him. Well, except Brianna, but she was different.
    To take either of the women associated with those animals, they had to do it without causing a stir. They needed to get in and out fast. Unfortunately finding good help was damn near impossible. Most of his recruits had no training or had washed out of various military branches during boot camp.
    “I don’t know if I can use him anymore.” He stood and helped Brianna bring the plate of bacon and scrambled eggs to the table.
    She brought their plates over and sat. “It’s only a minor setback. He might be disgusting, but he probably made the right choice last night. If the woman was being watched, he’d have been killed and our plan exposed.”
    Edward still wasn’t sure he believed Joseph’s story. Something about his tone had been off. Nervous. But maybe he’d just been nervous of him. “He’s an idiot.”
    Her blond eyebrows rose curiously, but she didn’t deny his words. “So what should we do?”
    “I want you to befriend Katarina.”
    Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. “What?”
    “Befriend her, gain her trust, then we’ll take her.”
    Brianna shook her head. The movement was slight but firm. “I don’t know. I don’t even know how I’d meet her.”
    “She’s a ski instructor.”
    “So? I already know how to ski.” She stabbed a cluster of the fluffy eggs with her fork and avoided his gaze.
    “She doesn’t know that.”
    Brianna thoughtfully chewed for a moment before setting her fork down. “I don’t know. It’s risky.”
    “If we get her, the boss will visit and I guarantee there will be a bonus in it for both of us.” If the APL knew how to do one thing right, they knew what people liked. Cold, hard cash. There was room to move up in the