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Finally spent, I drop beside her in my firm California king bed and pull her tightly against my side as we both catch our breaths. I feel better than I have since I woke up with this stunning woman at my side over a week ago before I had to rush her back to her apartment.
Being with her like this lightens the perpetual weight on my shoulders and takes my mind off of the things about my life—aboutmyself—that I don't always like. I kiss her cheek, frowning at the two stitches above her temple. She keeps a little band-aid there that is just barely visible in the dim lighting of my room, but I still dislike seeing the reminder of the Wild Seven trying to attack my cherry blossom.
It makes me livid to think about that ogre of a man who was grabbing her in the parking garage. She had been so shaken. And hurt. When I find the Wild Seven, I'll hurt them far worse, but I still dislike that this happened to her at all.
Loren catches the frown on my face, and her brows go up. "Shit. I thought that was pretty damn good, but you look all dangerously sexy and stormy. Honestly, it's giving off mixed signals. Does that expression mean round two, or are you regretting this whole night?"
I keep my smile at bay. "I've never regretted anything between us."
My bit of raw honesty seems to take her aback, and she studies me, propping up beside me and reaching out to run small fingers through my hair. I shut my eyes to enjoy the sensation.
"Not even the morning after that first night, when you figured out what I was doing at your casino?"
"No."
Her fingers trail down to lightly brush over my jawline. I open my eyes to see her with a contemplative expression on her face.
"I didn't regret any of it, either," she murmurs. "Don't get me wrong, there's a lot in my life I regret. Alot. But that night and everything else between us…yeah, you're right. Oddly enough, I don't have regrets there, either."
I'm glad to hear that.
"What was bothering you yesterday?" I ask.
Loren gives me a stern look. "There you go again, trying to ruin our post-coital relaxation time with questions neither of us wants to deal with. Just let it go."
She's wrong. I do want to deal with whatever was making her so unhappy. She looked borderline murderous yesterday as she glowered at my casino and snapped at me, which makes me wonder if something is amiss in her home.
I've had protection posted everywhere Loren goes, and Big Luck is still following her from a distance to ensure the Wild Seven doesn't try to get a jump on her again, but I still don't like the old, dilapidated apartment she's living in. It's not safe enough. She must be stressed about the security there, too, considering her daughter is there much of the time.
At the thought of Loren's child, I consider asking for details, trying to see if I can gather anything without letting on that I know about the two-year-old. Perhaps I could find out who the child's father is—surely Loren knows.
And if it's me…
It's not. The chances are next to nothing that the kid is mine, but I still feel the questions nearly burning my tongue with the desire to ask before my phone buzzes on the nightstand.
I glower at the invasive device. Speaking of our "post-coital relaxation time" being ruined…I should really answer it, considering my status as the don of my family. Caputos could be contacting me about any number of things. Or it could be regarding the casino or my other business pursuits. It could even be my father, but I want nothing to intrude upon these moments with Loren.
She smirks when she sees my irritation and then promptly scoops up my phone and places it against my chest, pressing a brief but sensual kiss against my lips.
"I wouldn't want to be the reasontheDomenic Caputo didn't tend to business as usual," she murmurs. "Plus, this will give me a chance to clean up before I get out of your hair."
I don't fucking want her out of my hair. I want to rest deeply with Loren in my arms again and wake up beside her as I did before, but she's already out of my bed and ignoring my protesting scowl as she winks and goes into my bathroom.
Reluctantly, I answer the call. "Calvin. What is it?"
Calvin is one of my enforcers, and he sounds winded on the other end, his voice tight. "Boss, you might want to get over here. Someone left a fucking corpse outside the casino, and the media is having a heyday."
I swear and begin to dress quickly. "I'll be there soon. Don't give any statements."
Loren is humming in the shower, and my gut clenches at having to leave her. It's a weak reaction—the kind of reaction a don shouldn't have. If I don't watch myself, she'll become a genuine weakness for me, making me go soft when the Caputos need a ruthless leader.
I leave the keys to my Porsche on the bathroom counter in case she needs them and leave, determined to resolve this and finish my night with Loren back in my arms.
The Wild Seven are a real pain in the ass.
After arriving at the scene where reporters, police, and a slew of other unwanted attention was simmering, I quickly resolved things as smoothly as possible. I make regular payments to corrupt law enforcement leaders in the area, so I'm less worried about cops than I am about the crowd that was trying to get close and see the body bag deposited by the Golden Flame Casino.
Luckily, I have the Caputo family claws in pretty deeply with local media outlets, too, so running damage control for this shouldn't be too bad. The corpse was a nobody to me, probably someone who owed the Wild Seven money, but I'll know more after the autopsy report.
