Page 85 of Captivated

Tall, and willowy.

Thin, and delicate.

In moments like those, he thought fragile, too.

Yet, he knew better. He knew this woman only looked fragile, and sometimes, the cracks in her beautiful porcelain mind started to show. Everybody had cracks, though. Some just weren’t as visible as others.

“Why won’t he leave me alone?”

Her low, keening words made Joe’s fucking heart clench. And his rage soared at the same time. It was a strange mixture of emotions—sadness and fury. The two fed off one another at the same time they warred against each other.

Joe didn’t have any reason to believe she was talking about Rich Earl—as she didn’t offer a name, or details to say it one way or the other—but he just knew. Somehow, he knew given everything that was going on. Two and two always made four, after all.

“Who—Rich?” he asked.

He figured it was better to let her tell him, than to blurt out what he knew. Who fucking knew—maybe getting her to talk about it would help her a little bit?

“I thought he was gone,” Liliana mumbled into her hands. “He hasn’t bothered me for almost a year, and now …”

Joe cleared his throat, and pulled his girl into his embrace again. Liliana said nothing, and didn’t fight him, either. She just settled into his hold and chest like that was the safest place for her to be, and she didn’t want to go anywhere else.

Frankly, he didn’t want to let her go.

Here, she was safe.

Here, she didn’t hurt.

Here, he could take care of her.

“Now he’s showing up a lot more, huh?” Joe asked.

Liliana said nothing.

Joe decided he kind of needed her to talk, or that festering rage of his was going to boil over. The last thing he needed right now was to go off half-cocked, and make a fucking show of himself. Or worse, a mess he couldn’t clean up.

Pulling her hands away from her face, Joe said, “Look at me, sweetheart.”

Nope.

Nothing.

“Liliana,” he murmured, nuzzling his face against her temple. His lips grazed her hairline, and then over her cheekbone. He was sure he felt her smile just a little, but he couldn’t be sure. “Talk to me—look at me.”

Finally, she did.

Tipping her head back, he found wide, watery eyes staring back at him. And fear, too. He saw her fear.

“I had someone ask me once,” she whispered, “how I fell for a guy that ended up almost killing me.”

Joe frowned. “Why would someone ask that?”

Liliana shook her head. “I don’t know—I don’t think they knew, either.”

“Humans do suck that way.”

Her tiny smile made him grin, but it quickly faded away.

“It’s like people expect you to know who the monster is even though they blend in really well, and they don’t show you the bad until it’s too late. I didn’t fall for a guy who beat the hell out of me—I fell for the guy who approached me after one of my shows, and couldn’t keep his eyes off me. I was drawn to the man who took me to one amazing thing after the other, and made me laugh.”