Alonzo and the others shifted as well, pulling on clothes and fitting the weapons from the pack easily back onto their bodies. Weapons were part of them and they felt naked without them, whereas they didn’t feel naked without clothes. It had been drilled into them from birth to always be prepared for any situation.

“Thanks for keeping her safe.” Alonzo said. “Timur, call Elijah. He can deal with this mess. If they’d just gone after the son of a bitch right after he left the bakery, he wouldn’t have had time to do all this damage. Have him find out about the contract. Does it end with Amodeo’s death? I need to have the information. Also, I want an update on Mitya. He needs around-the-clock guards. I want him protected at all times.”

Timur nodded, already on the burner phone. Getting rid of seven bodies wasn’t going to be easy. Because they’d been killed by a leopard they had to be disposed of so no one would find them, a task much harder than most people thought.

Alonzo took a deep breath and clapped one hand on Sevastyan’s shoulder, relieved that he was safe and grateful he’d watched over Evangeline. “Thanks,” he reiterated, unable to articulate just what he felt.

Sevastyan grinned at him. “You think she’s only for you, Fyodor, but she’s for all of us. You really feel something for her. She calms your leopard. If that can happen for you, maybe it can happen for the rest of us. If not, we see what she does for you, and she matters.”

Alonzo hadn’t thought of it that way. He looked at Timur, who had one ear to the phone but was obviously listening because he nodded. Gorya did as well. His heart clenched and he set his jaw and turned away from them before he could allow himself to feel the depths of his emotions. And they were deep. He knew that but he’d spent a lifetime not feeling and he didn’t know what to do with emotions.

Barefoot, he moved through the house silently, heading for his bedroom. She was there, inside the safe room, behind the walls where hopefully no enemy would detect her. Still, she’d had so many bad experiences already because of him and the life he led. Every step closer filled him with dread that when he looked into her eyes he’d see everything she felt for him gone. He wouldn’t blame her, but he had no idea what he’d do.