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Speaking of, two of them stop just behind her, and Big Luck joins us, panting and glaring at the beauty who is well and truly trapped.
"She had something in one of the machines, Boss. I think she was—"
"Shut up, Luck," I tell him smoothly.
I don't need these other security guys, who are also in the Caputo family, to know what she was up to. I already knew she was hacking again, and I can't have them running off to someone else in my family and running their mouths—especially not to my father.
But why the fuck did Loren come back here? She's sharp as a tack and wouldn't be back here to scam slots for the hell of it or to prove a personal point or anything like that. I study her eyes because, to her credit, she still hasn't looked away from me.
She must have needed something to show up again when she was clearly afraid of me. Still, she swallows and lifts her chin. As if she's ready for whatever punishment I'll dole out.
It would be charming if she didn't put herself in this situation.
And I should punish her. She was fucking banned. If it was my father still running The Golden Flame, she would already be in one of the back rooms with a couple of mobsters torturing her for the details of exactly how she hacks the machines before they left her corpse somewhere out in the desert.
The idea of that happening to her makes me beyond uneasy. Besides, my father isn't running this casino anymore. It's mine, and I have decided on a much more efficient way of handling our little hacking problem.
Skills like hers shouldn't be wasted.
"Return to your stations," I instruct, finally looking at the guys behind her.
They know better than to question me and swivel around immediately, leaving us alone, but Big Luck scowls at me. My friend is on edge, glaring at Loren and folding his arms as he towers over her.
"But Boss, she's a fucking ha—"
"What did I just say?" I give him a look.
"To shut up," he grumbles, making a face at her. "Fine, but are we taking her to the back rooms, or aren't we?"
I look her over slowly, noting how her cheeks warm. She looks good in black, and if anything, her curves have only gotten more pronounced over the time that's passed since I last saw her. Loren finally looks away from my gaze for the first time to make a face back at Big Luck.
"Too bad brains aren't a muscle, or I'm sure you could figure out the answer yourself."
There she is. The same sassy, sharp woman who enchanted me that night three years ago.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he growls.
"Just pointing out your very muscle-focused…everything," Loren gestures at him. "Shouldn't the answer be obvious? You caught me fair and square." Then she looks back at me, and I catch the fear on her face again before she tries for an awkward smile. "Look…mister, there must be some way to forget about this since I never even cashed out—"
"Why are you calling me mister?" I demand.
She looks away, unwilling to accept that I'm making it clear I remember her. "Oh, you know, just a sign of respect to a stranger...unless you'd prefer I call you sir or something."
Irritation prickles at me, and I lean forward to speak into her ear so Big Luck won't overhear. Her cherry blossom fragrance envelops me as I do, and it's staggering how quickly it makes me remember that night and how it felt to have this little minx all to myself.
"I'd prefer you to call me the same name I made you scream out three years ago, and don't you dare call me mister again,fiore di ciliegio."
Cherry blossom.
A fitting nickname for Loren. But I can see by her wide-eyed expression that she doesn't seem to have learned any more Italian over the last three years, and she obviously knows now that I rememberexactlywho she is.
“Shit,” she grimaces.
Big Luck is looking between us, raising a bushy brow at me. I nod at him to signal that he should stay behind us, and then I look at Loren.
"Follow me. If you make a run for it, remember that Big Luck is faster than he looks."
She doesn't make a run for it. Instead, Loren looks like a nerve-ridden lamb being led to the slaughter as we leave the casino floor, and I unlock the highly secure employee-only doors that lead into the back of the gambling hall to the areas where the security feed is constantly being watched by the Caputos who know security better than anyone.
