Page 121 of Captivated

“The point,” Lucian stressed thickly, “is that as clean as this has been working with you to get rid of the others, it’s now dirtier than sin.”

Ah.

Yeah.

Joe hadn’t considered that. His mind was focused in on other things—Liliana, most importantly, and keeping her as safe as he could for the time being.

“When Rich goes—”

“And he will go,” Joe interjected.

“Of course,” Lucian said, “but when he goes, our name is already tossed into the mix. They’ll be looking at us for a while. Attention will be hot, and heavy. We had prepared for that, anyway, sure, but maybe things are a bit more complicated now, considering you and … well, her.”

Shit.

Yeah, difficult.

“That’s one way to put it,” Joe mumbled.

“We’ll need you to go underground, or get back to business in Chicago, Joe. Stay out of sight, and have absolutely no connection to the Marcello family until this dies down, or at least until they have no reason to suspect you were the means we used to pull this off. We don’t want to purposely give them something or someone to dig into. That’s how it all comes crashing down. I know I don’t have to explain why, but—”

“Nature of the business,” Joe cut in.

“It might not be for very long that you would have to stay away.”

But it could be.

Days, certainly.

Weeks, more likely.

Months … probably.

Joe didn’t really want to talk anymore. “I should get back.”

He didn’t offer anything else.

Lucian didn’t ask. “I’ll be seeing you soon, Joe.”

One could only hope.

That meant this would be over.

Joe’s gaze drifted from the flat screen television on the wall to Liliana’s towel-wrapped form as she slipped out of the bathroom. This much larger, and expensive, hotel was likely more up to her tastes than the first one they had used for a night, but she had never said a thing. She didn’t offer him a single complaint.

She only really talked when she wanted food.

He kept her in his peripheral vision as she moved across the room, and sat on the edge of the bed. Her hair hung in damp waves down her back like she had run a towel through it, but still left the strands a bit wet. He knew she had taken her things—an outfit change, and whatever else—into the bathroom with her, so why she came out wearing nothing but a towel was a mystery to him, and not one he wanted to prod into.

She said nothing.

Joe was used to that.

He went back to watching the basketball game playing on the television. Basketball wasn’t really his sport, but it was the first thing he found when he turned on the TV. It would do for his purpose of distracting him, and he wasn’t in the mood to channel surf until he found something more appealing.

“I’m sorry.”

Joe stiffened.