Page 76 of Captivated

He had someone else to talk to.

She should tell him.

It was Liliana’s story, not anyone else’s.

Joe was regretting putting off these hits for so long, and being as difficult as he had. No doubt, Lucian had looked at this situation the same way Joe was now seeing it. It wasn’t the Marcello’s man’s place to out his daughter’s personal business, but especially not something traumatic.

It took Lucian a second to speak, and his tone came out as flat as Joe’s when he said, “Good. I’ve been waiting for this to get started.”

Yeah, Joe bet.

“Watch the news, Lucian. It’ll look like an accident.”

Unfortunately.

But if he was going to do these hits on high-profile men, Joe was going to do it right. And safe.

They deserved worse.

TEN

“WHAT ARE YOU doing right now?”

“Soaking my feet, drinking coffee, and watching the morning news,” Liliana replied.

Cella laughed. “Multitasking.”

“It’s the only way I get anything done.”

“You sound … better today.”

Sure, to Cella. Her sister was only getting the sound of her voice on the phone call, though. She couldn’t see that Liliana’s eyes were dimmed because she hadn’t been sleeping well the past couple of days, and she didn’t know that her sister couldn’t keep still. Fidgeting, and always needing to do something.

Anything but think about—

“So, are you going to tell me what happened with Joe at the charity event, and after?” Cella asked.

“Well, I wasn’t.”

“Um.”

“And then you brought him up,” Liliana grumbled.

Taking another sip of her coffee, Liliana kept an eye on the television. As usual, the anchors were first going through the highlights of the day before, and she wasn’t interested in any of that. She went back to her sister instead.

“He’s working for Dad—or Dante,” Liliana corrected quickly. “I’m not really sure which one; hell, it could be both.”

“Working for them how?”

“Watching me, I guess.”

Cella made a noise under her breath. “Ouch.”

“Yeah.”

See, her fucking sister got it.

Why couldn’t Joe get it?