Alonzo moved out from behind the counter and instantly both Timur and Mitya stepped between him and the door. Alonzo didn’t look at the undercover cops, but he saw them, saw Brice’s exchange with the other two, and knew at some point they would be trying to talk to his woman and dissuade her from seeing him. He was going to have to shut that shit down fast.

He took his table, drank his coffee and ate the cinnamon apple pastry she’d made for him. It was light and flaky and warm. It smelled like her. The last of the work crowd came in, hastily trying to get coffee for their trip home. Her smile never wavered, although he knew she had to be exhausted. She knew most of her customers by name and genuinely seemed to want to know about them. That, he decided, was her gift. She was interested in the people coming to her bakery. She always asked about loved ones. She laughed a lot, but he noticed that the affectionate, loving smile she gave only to him was never in evidence.

He loved her for that. Loved that something in the world was his alone. His woman. Her kisses. That smile. When the last customer was gone, she flipped the sign to closed and then went back behind the counter. He sipped coffee that was ambrosia for the gods and watched her clean the machines. She was fast and efficient. He loved watching her work. He didn’t even pretend he wasn’t watching.

She glanced up, color swept up her face and she shook her head, a small smile curving her bottom lip. He was going to spend time biting that bottom lip.

“Stop lookin’ at me.”

“I like looking at you.”

“Well, stop it. It’s distractin’.”

Timur snickered, a sound Alonzo found annoying. Timur had made it clear over and over that Evangeline was a danger to his brother. He’d been raised the same as Alonzo and didn’t get what a relationship with the right woman could be. All he saw was that every enemy Alonzo had would know to go to the bakery if they wanted a shot at killing him. She was a vulnerability he couldn’t afford. Worse, Timur knew Alonzo would do anything he could to keep her safe.

He shot his brother a look that told him to back off. Timur raised an eyebrow but didn’t look intimidated. That was the problem with brothers. And cousins. Mitya was giving him that same “are you nuts” look. It hadn’t occurred to either one of them that they could find a woman of their own.

“There’s a storage room.”

Evangeline’s voice was soft. Shy. An offering? He wasn’t certain what she meant. He raised an eyebrow at her. She kept pulling the last of the pastries out of the display case and then began to wash it.