Page 117 of Captivated

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because you haven’t said one word since we left.”

It was just easier to stare at the passing scenery than at Joe right now. She was still trying to connect the man who had touched her with the sweetest hands, and treated her like something precious to the man who she now knew killed people for money.

It didn’t change who he was, sure.

He could be both.

It just … quieted her, for a moment. It took her through a series of revelations about her life, and the people in it. Of course, she knew her family was full of criminals. Of course, she knew her father—a man she loved and adored—could be someone else entirely when he left his home, and family behind.

There was still a strange, small part of her that kept thinking … I never expected to fall in love with one, though.

Because she did.

Love Joe.

Entirely.

“Why did you send me to Chicago?” Liliana asked. “And not just Chicago, Joe, but to your home and your family?”

His gaze drifted away from the long stretch of highway in front of them. “You need an answer for that, love?”

“Maybe I would like to hear you say it.”

“I wanted them to meet you.”

“Your family,” she pressed.

Joe nodded, and put his attention back on the windshield. “And for you to meet them, I guess. You also needed to get the hell out of New York for a while. It felt like a win-win, you could say.”

Huh.

“Where are we going?”

He shrugged. “Just far enough to stop for the night before we move again.”

“And what are we going to do when we get there?”

“Guess we’re going to find out.”

Liliana glanced away from him to see a sign for an upcoming exit ramp, and then a larger sign for a hotel not far beyond it. “I want to call my dad.”

“As soon as we settle in, you can do just that.”

“Okay.”

What else could she say?

Liliana didn’t even know how to feel.

It didn’t take long for Joe to get them off the highway, and settled into an Illinois hotel for the evening. Although frankly, motel would have been a better term.

She wasn’t going to be a snob.

Or picky.

She just … needed to think.