“Do you know a man by the name of Patrizio Amodeo?” Brice changed tactics, his gaze pinning Evangeline’s.

She nodded. “He’s a horrible man. He came into my bakery a couple of days before I was shot and made a pass at me. Well . . .” she hedged. “Not exactly a pass. He was insultin’ and thought he could put his hands on me. I wanted to smash him over the head with a fryin’ pan.”

She gave a genuine shudder and slid her hand into Alonzo’s larger one. He closed his fingers around hers immediately and brought her knuckles to his mouth. She just was too honest not to be believed. No one could mistake the expressions on her face or fail to hear the truth in her voice. She was better than any lawyer Alonzo had, although he wondered where his lawyer was. Timur had to have called him. He would have to stop her from answering if Brice pulled any bullshit.

“He’s dead,” Brice said abruptly. “He died conveniently in a fire last night.”

Evangeline gasped and her fingers curled inside of Alonzo’s. “I don’ understand, Brice. First it’s Crispin disappearin’, although there’s no sign that he actually was harmed in any way, and now Amodeo’s fire. Do you think Alonzo or one of the boys had somethin’ to do with either of those two things? Because even if my bath took an hour, that’s a little preposterous to believe.”

The way she said it made it sound as if Brice had lost his mind and was on some personal vendetta, because no way could Alonzo and his crew be responsible for Crispin’s disappearance and a fire as well. Alonzo just happened to know that the two men lived on opposite ends of San Antonio. San Antonio was the third largest city in Texas and the Arnotto estate was nestled in the hill country outside of San Antonio.

“Are they tryin’ to pin somethin’ on you that you didn’t do, Alonzo?” She sounded a little afraid.

“They have cameras all over the city, devochka moya. They can track any vehicle and most of the time tell who is in the car, isn’t that right, Brice?” He kept his voice gentle. Soft. Loving, even. She needed that. She’d been delivered a blow whether Brice could see it or not. She knew he’d been gone. Now Crispin had disappeared and Amodeo was dead. They both deserved death. He should have killed Amodeo long before the man had a chance to put a contract out on her.