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He halted and looked down at her hand Her fingers didn't even curl halfway around his forearm As a deterrent her hand seemed rather absurd to try to stop hi over her "Don't worry about eline"

"I think when you said if there was a problem, you'd take care of it yourself, youto let you do that"

He reently and stepped away, toward the door "You don't really have a choice one way or the other" He walked out like he always did--without looking back

Evangeline waited for him for the next teeks She had the envelope filled with cash waiting for him or for the two men who came to collect each week Neither showed up and that worried her Had so happened to hiet in touch with him She didn't know his last name or where he worked

The other customers, the ones in their suits that she was certain Alonzo had sent, suddenly stopped co in as well She'd heard on the news that Antonio Arnotto, famous for his wines, had been murdered It was rumored he was actually a crime boss, and his territory ide open for takeover Speculation of a war began with various faces being flashed on the television screen She watched carefully, but none of those faces belonged to Alonzo

Another ent by and still he didn't come She was fairly certain he wouldn't now, and she went over every single thing she'd said and done She'd touched him She knew better He was a man alone He was frozen Dead inside Without emotion--and she'd crossed a line

She wasn't able to sleep very well, drea he'd been shot and killed Beaten and stabbed Buried alive in ce, but it didn't see at home and work On week five, she saw a picture of hi beside another known crime boss, Elijah Lospostos, and his wife, Siena Siena was the granddaughter of Antonio Arnotto Alonzo Massi had been a soldier for her grandfather and was now her soldier The news anchor asked if Alonzo Massi was the new cri out of the ranks to beco over Arnotto territory

At least she kneas alive Still, she kneouldn't be coeous She couldn't hope to hold a candle to her, whether or not her Iceeline the ht be eline was beautiful next to Siena? Was he taking care of Siena? Her soldier What did thatback That hat it meant

2

"NOT a good idea, Fyodor This is the kind of thing that will get you killed"

Fyodor Amurov stopped abruptly on the sidewalk in front of the bakery, his long coat swirling around his ankles Glaring at his brother, he shook his head "Never use that name I am Italian I was born Italian My name is Alonzo Massi You have to remember that at all tiaze swept the otherhim "Both of you should have known better"

"I'ust in his tone "But I'oing the sae vehicles We watch over you and yet you insist on co back to this place The otherto think your sweet tooth has nothing to do with the goods in the cases and oods behind the counter"

Alonzo didn't saze was restless, scanning the streets, the sidewalks, and lass s of the Small Sweet Shoppe She was there, just as she alas Working Beautiful Breathtaking He shouldn't be there He was the last aze on that woht She was his Achilles' heel

He sighed and put his hand to the door, shoving it open because he couldn't stop himself He was a disciplined ht months he'd come to the bakery at least three tio every damn day He'd stayed away over a month, nearly two He could count the weeks, days, hours and minutes since he'd last seen her

"Bad idea, boss," Timur muttered He was deadly serious and when he pushed past Alonzo to take a sweep of the small interior, his body in front of his brother's, he scowled at the wo to be the death of his brother if Fyodor kept this madness up

Alonzo paused inside the door, taking a moment to drink her in Savor her Just for thathis breath A part of him almost wished she had a man That she wouldn't look up, see him and smile that innocent, shy smile that told him she was interested in a monster On the other hand, if she didn't smile at him that way, he'd be crushed Shattered It had been so da since he'd laid eyes on her, and he couldn't take it onethat way for anotherto do with his leopard

Her naeline Bouvier She was small and curvy with beautiful breasts that called to him Her hair was a thick, dark silky mass that cascaded over her shoulders nearly to her waist She wore it pulled back from her face in a thick, intricate braid that always made him want to run his hand down it to the very end, where it rested in the sweet curve of her ass And she had a very nice ass He spent far too le part of her

Evangeline glanced up, and instantly it was there That smile she reserved solely for him He'd seen countless customers come in over the last few months She always smiled at them, but not like that That smile was reserved for him alone and that told him she didn't have a man No one had come in and tried to steal her out from under him

She had a fantasy mouth--one he'd dreamt of many times He'd woken up every one of those tiht around hireen, rich and war up at him when he fucked her mouth He always dreas he wanted to do to her, she'd order him out and lock the door behind hihts about her and he knew it, that man would be dead within the hour

"Alonzo, I haven't seen you in a while"

Even her voice got to him Low Sexy So damned sweet he wanted to take a bite out of her He stepped up to the counter Behind him, Timur prowled to the restroom, yanked open the door and looked inside and then ht about pulling out a gun and shooting hih that hat he was

Gorya orse His cousin was a ladies'He had that lean, lithe build wo Alonzo wasn't Alonzo was all corded ed He always looked like he had a two-day growth on his jaw, noover Evangeline and probably inti the hell out of her If he didn't, he should He had scars on his face and neck More on his body He didn't smile, nor did he kno toby any standard, and next to his cousin, he would come up short every time

Evangeline's gaze left his face and moved to Gorya's She flashed a sers curling into a tight fist inside his thin leather gloves He had the fists of a fighter and he'd never lost a fight yet He hoped like hell Gorya remembered that fact He hoped he are of just what the tattoos covering his body meant as well

He realized she had given his cousin her loatt smile Polite Sweet, but iut, tied up in knots, relaxed a little

"Good m

orning Can I get so for you?" That was directed at Gorya

Her voice stroked caresses over Alonzo's skin Men like Alonzo didn't have a woerous He didn't live in Evangeline's world He stayed in the underbelly, where it was dark and ugly and everyone existing there was dark and ugly as well He knew the business inside and out, s, the list went on and on He knew thely world--on the other side of the world in Russia, but still the saotten out of it Not even when he'd come to the States

Gorya winked at Evangeline "I had no idea the women were so beautiful in this city or I would have come sooner"

"Gorya" It was a warning No one couldelse Alonzo wasn't about to have his cousin flirt with his woman Okay She wasn't his Not yet She never would be, because along with taking over the Arnotto territory when Antonio Arnotto had been inable

His leopard, an A Fast as hell Ready to fight at the drop of a hat Prodding, raking and clawing Alonzo every moment of every day The cat hated everyone equally Woer Alonzo could fuck theht because his leopard was so savage after, he was never certain he could control the beast There were no cozy dates and romantic interludes He'd never had that The only place his cat subsided and gave hiht, when he slept, his cat wanted to hunt and often challenged him He'd had to put upon the doors to ensure his cat remained indoors while he slept What man could ask a woman to share that kind of life?

Evangeline was a woman a man kept He wanted her in his bed He wanted to wake up to her, go to sleep with her Have those fucking ro at Gorya until his cousin moved nervously away from the counter