He hadn’t been able to be with a woman without that woman being in extreme danger. Not once. Not ever. His leopard’s fierce, killing nature had gotten so bad he hadn’t bothered to try in a very long time. Controlling his cat was difficult enough on a day-to-day basis, without tempting the beast. His leopard raged at him, and he’d seen the result of his kind of animal and never wanted to witness it again. He stayed disciplined. He didn’t tempt fate.

He glanced at her. She wasn’t looking at him, but he’d already seen the hurt in her eyes. She’d tried to mask it, but it had been there. He’d done that. Acting as if she didn’t matter when she did. Acting cold because that was the only way to save both of them. He had been secretly happy that she’d left his table in place, as if waiting for him. She’d admitted she’d missed him.

But . . . He risked another glance at her. If she soothed his leopard and the hideous man who had confronted her months earlier had been leopard—could she be one? He needed to find out.

Gorya seated himself across the room where he could easily defend both men if trouble came in, but Timur dragged a chair to the left side of the table so he could scowl at Evangeline. “She’s gorgeous. What the hell’s wrong with the men around here?”

Alonzo’s gut knotted and his leopard roared, leaping to the surface so fast he could barely contain the beast. His knuckles ached. His skull felt too tight. The itch of fur rushed over his body beneath his immaculate suit. “Vai a fan culo,” he swore, remembering at the last minute to use Italian and not Russian.

Timur leaned back in his chair. “Oh, yeah. You aren’t going to walk away from her. You’re well and truly caught and you’d better get to a point where you acknowledge it, before something bad happens.” The taunting smile faded and Timur leaned close. “She’s beautiful, Alonzo.” He clearly hated calling his brother by that name. “Some man is going to come in eventually or follow her home or steal her away from you . . .”

“Get the fuck away from me before something bad happens right here,” Alonzo snapped, meaning it. “You know what I have to put up with day and night. Why the hell are you making it more difficult? I can barely contain him and the more you stir him up, the worse it gets.”

Genuine shock crossed Timur’s face. “Your leopard is reacting to what I’m saying? About . . .” He turned his head and looked at Evangeline as she served two women who had come in. “Her?”