Her eyebrows shot up and she smiled before she could stop herself because Emilio had to be sixty if he was a day and very sweet. “No way. Why did you think that?”

“He told us so. Joshua shut that shit down. But he would have asked you.”

“He’s a dear, sweet man, at least I thought he was. I didn’t know he was into whatever it is you’re into. I would have said no very gently.”

“You do not say no to a man like Bassini, Evangeline. He wouldn’t have taken no for an answer.”

She threw her arms into the air, pushing at him as if she could shove him and his honesty away from her. “What is wrong with me that I attract criminal types?”

“The cop isn’t a criminal.” It came out an accusation. “I had to watch that idiot undercover cop flirt with you and then insist on dating you for far too many weeks. Every time he came into the bakery, my leopard went insane, and each time he touched you, which he did every time you handed him his coffee, I wanted to rip his head off. I showed admirable restraint.”

That made her want to smile at him again, but she didn’t. “He’s probably a dirty cop,” she groused.

That made him smile for one tiny, brief second and then it was gone. He didn’t smile ever. Not ever, and that smile changed his face. It didn’t warm the cold of his eyes, but the hard lines carved so deep softened, just for a moment. She liked that more than she wanted to admit. The moment he gave her that ghost of a smile she was lost. She was very grateful he didn’t try another kiss right then because she would have been all over him just for that smile.

“Probably not, but he’s looking to take me down now.” All warmth disappeared, leaving him as cold as ice again. “He follows me all the time. Like I’m not going to notice him or his clown friends.”

He was probably right about Brice. He wanted to find a way to get to Alonzo and probably planned to do it through her. Still, it was cheating just a little bit that Alonzo’s leopard could scent Brice at a great distance away. He could track him as well. He could track her . . .

She lifted her chin—she couldn’t think about that. She was intelligent. If she could stay alive in the swamp as a little child, she could certainly maneuver her way around the situation. She just had to stay calm.

“Do you know why you waited, Evangeline? Why you didn’t date? Why once you laid eyes on me there was never going to be anyone else?”

She shook her head. “That’s not true.” It was a lie and they both knew it.

“You. Are. Mine.”