Evangeline was a woman a man kept. He wanted her in his bed. He wanted to wake up to her, go to sleep with her. Have those fucking romantic dates with her. He didn’t realize he was scowling at Gorya until his cousin moved nervously away from the counter.

“I’ll have a cup of coffee and one of your famous cinnamon cakes Alonzo is always going on about,” Gorya said as he backed away. He glanced at Timur, who was talking into his cell phone, still staring out the window. No help there.

Satisfied, Alonzo watched patiently as Evangeline got the coffee and cake for Gorya. Alonzo enjoyed watching her work. She was very efficient, her movements mesmerizing. He’d spent countless hours watching her, just enjoying the way her breasts swayed temptingly and her hips had a sexy little swing to them. He had memorized her body and knew he would know her blindfolded, and he hadn’t even touched her yet.

Her gaze jumped to his and she blushed. That was the other thing he loved about her. She didn’t look at other men. Only him. He knew better. It wasn’t safe. She would never have the things she deserved if she was with him. Things like neighbors who came over to borrow sugar and leaned over a fence to talk. She would never be able to be alone in her bakery. Hell, if she would even have her bakery, and he could tell it meant the world to her. He didn’t look away, holding her gaze deliberately. He should have looked away, made it clear it was never going to happen between them. He was the last man on earth she should ever be with, but it didn’t matter how many times, how many ways, he told himself that, he kept coming back.

“I missed you, Alonzo.” She whispered her confession for him alone.

He knew his brother and cousin would hear. They were leopard. Of course they’d hear, and he hated that too. That should have been for him alone. Intimate. Just between the two of them. Deep inside, his leopard snarled, catching his mood, and he realized the beast didn’t like the other males close to Evangeline any more than he did.

She might have said such a thing to any customer returning after a lengthy disappearance, but he was not just any customer and they both knew it. His body stirred in spite of every effort not to allow it. Worse, she got to him somewhere deeper. He’d lost everything. His family. His home. His self-respect. Everything important. He’d lost so much he’d placed himself in an untenable position, setting himself up as a target for police and criminals alike.