He’d woken her early knowing he had to get on the road. He knew he’d taken her a little roughly. He sometimes felt desperate for her. Insane for her. Like a wild, feral beast that had to ensure she knew she belonged to him. He had to hear her say it. He had to taste her, all that wild honey that drove him crazy. He had to see the helpless pleasure on her face. Mostly, he had to see that love for him shining in her eyes.

He’d set up an office in the back room of the bakery. Timur hadn’t objected, and now he knew why. His brother had come to look upon Evangeline as a younger sister. She had known instantly that Alonzo was going to do something dangerous. Timur objected strenuously to his telling her anything, but she deserved to know. He wanted her to know, to go into their life together with her eyes wide open. It was important to him that Evangeline love the man—the real one. To his astonishment, she did.

“With Mitya taking over Amodeo’s territory, we’re spread very thin, Fyodor. I’ve put in a call to the others from our lairs that we know left after we did. I’ve kept a loose connection with them. If they had planned to turn me over to Lazar or Rolan, they would have done it. I heard through the grapevine that they have prices on their heads as well.”

“You and I both know that can be manufactured.”

“I’ll vet them first with Gorya and Sevastyan. No leopard can tell us a lie without our knowing. With the three of us there it will be all the easier to know if any one of them is a plant and a danger to us.”

“We need to recruit humans as well, Timur. Joshua and Elijah both have a mixture. They are just as valuable. Ted Freemont and Ralph Hurley are two men I trust. They’re good soldiers and it’s lucky you assigned them to Evangeline.” He might have turned the car around had it been anyone else.

“We still have Arnotto’s network. Most of his soldiers remained loyal once they were aware they’d been duped. There were only a few that left and maybe one or two I keep my eye on.” Timur eyed his brother. “We need more leopards, Fyodor. Half will be going off with Mitya. Even if Drake pulls in others from Borneo, we’ll still need to recruit those we can trust.”

Alonzo sighed. “Interview them, Timur. And then keep a close watch. I don’t trust anyone we aren’t absolutely certain of with Evangeline.”