“Is he going to get it?” She knew the answer. None of those men would form an alliance with a man with so little control. Alonzo and Elijah were the epitome of control. She suspected Joshua was as well. Emilio was just a nice older gentleman surrounded by sharks, at least he seemed that way. So far, the times she’d been around him, she hadn’t seen evidence of his criminal activities, but if he was with them, he had to be dirty as well. She sighed. So much for a nice older gentleman.

He remained silent, and it occurred to her that he’d said more to her in the last few minutes than he had in the nearly entire year he’d been coming to her bakery.

She covered her face with her hands for a moment and then scrubbed them down her cheeks hard as if she could wipe away every evidence of tears from him. “Bondye, Alonzo, do you not see that he’s goin’ to come after you? Because of me? You stopped him from touchin’ me, somethin’, I might add, that happens more often than you might care to know about. I could have handled it. Now that odious man is goin’ to try to kill you. Because of me.”

He shook his head and crouched down, so that his head was level with hers. “Not because of you, Evangeline. I chose to stop him. I had a choice. I know what kind of man he is. Do I look like a man who needs my woman’s protection? I protect you. You should never have to put up with a man touching you inappropriately. No woman should. Never think for one moment that I didn’t know exactly what I was doing.”

“You still shouldn’t have. You put yourself in danger unnecessarily.”

He reached out, his hand cupping her jaw so gently it took her breath. His thumb traced her lower lip, sending little wicked spirals of desire threading through her veins. “I’m coming home with you, malysh.”

He shook his head when she attempted to pull back, a little forbidden thrill making its way down her spine. How perverse of her that she wanted him to come home with her, even when she knew they couldn’t have a relationship. If he was willing to just have sex, she was all over that, but a relationship with a man like Fyodor/Alonzo was something else altogether. Throw in the fact that he was leopard—a vicious, killing leopard—that sealed the deal as far as she was concerned. Yet every cell in her body was aware of him. More, she wanted his mouth on hers again. It was all she could do not to stare at it or lean forward and kiss him.

“Just to spend time. I promised we’d take this slow, and we will.”