That was fine by Alonzo. He didn’t want to hear a word. He’d let Jake probe away to try to find money in Crispin Phillips’s account or the security guard’s, but it didn’t matter what he found. There were other ways of getting at the truth fast. Alonzo wanted fast. He wanted the threat shut down so he could ensure that Evangeline was safe to go back to her beloved bakery.

He waited with Evangeline for the forensic team, refusing to leave her. Strangely, Brice didn’t make it mandatory to go to the police station for questioning. Jake’s lawyer showed up. Vince Petron was considered to be one of the top attorneys in Texas.

First Timur spent time alone with their attorney, telling him what happened, and then Alonzo did. All the while Alonzo was aware of time passing and Mitya still in surgery. Hours passed. Hours. With no word. When he left Evangeline to go into a private room with his attorney, Elijah and Drake took over her security.

Both men were grim faced and all business. They deployed teams around her and around the operating room where Doc worked on Mitya. All security personnel were leopard. No one was taking chances. This had been an aggressive hit. That meant money, big money, had exchanged hands. It also meant the contract called for the hit to be carried out until it was done. Alonzo understood that. He was familiar with that world and he knew exactly what to expect. He knew what the police would do and what they would find. He knew that if he didn’t take action immediately, sooner or later gunmen would get to him, Evangeline, his brother, his cousins or one of his men. To him, that was unacceptable.

He lived in a hard, brutal world. He understood what Drake and Elijah were trying to do. He understood Jake Bannaconni’s part in it. They all balanced precariously on the edge of a sword. He was a sword. He’d been shaped into a sword from nearly the moment he could walk. He’d tried to fit in. He’d tried to become what they needed, but no one, no one, threatened the life of his woman, put his brother and cousins in jeopardy, and walked around free.

He let the cops question him. He stated what happened clearly and concisely, just as the doctor had. Just as he was certain Timur had. Then he fell silent and let his attorney earn his money. He thought about Evangeline and what he had to offer her. Blood. Death. A life of suspicion. A life of danger. Everyone would look down on her—other than the women of the men in his immediate circle.