Page 172 of Captivated

Liliana seemed determined to bring Joe into their conversation one way or another when she glanced over her shoulder at him. “I see you were all keeping secrets from me.”

Lucian chuckled when his gaze met Joe’s. “We have to keep some tricks hidden up our sleeves, don’t we?”

Sure, Joe had known about Liliana’s upcoming show. She had told him about it over the phone, although she never went in to any great detail about it. He’d never been able to quite tell if she was excited, or not.

She just talked.

But when Lucian called Joe with the suggestion that he come to attend the show, he practically stumbled over every word he said to agree. It had already been four long months since he’d been out of New York and away from Liliana. It wasn’t like he wanted to spend one more damn minute away from her.

He figured shit was still hot and heavy in the city because of the whole Earl thing, but he did his best to keep his head down, and his attention away from any news about New York. A watched pot never boiled, as the saying went.

“Joe,” Jordyn said, drawing his attention to Liliana’s mother.

“Yes?”

“I hope you’re going to join us later.”

“I didn’t know something was happening, actually.”

Lucian chuckled. “Ah, I forgot. Just consider it your surprise, then.”

“Oh, the party,” Liliana said, turning with a smile to face Joe. “They’re throwing me a party at the mansion.”

Lots of people.

A family he wasn’t a part of.

Attention.

The spotlight being with her.

None of that would have been Joe’s thing had someone asked him months and months ago. Yet, he was quick to nod and agree.

“Sounds fun,” he said.

And he meant it.

“You know,” Liliana said, finishing her second glass of champagne, “your brother has texted or called me at least once a week since you left.”

Joe’s gaze drifted from the gathered Marcello family back to Liliana tucked into his side. “Is that so?”

Cory hadn’t mentioned a thing.

Joe wasn’t exactly surprised.

“Yep, he did.”

“And did he annoy the hell out of you like he does to me on a daily basis?” Joe asked.

Liliana snorted, and then smacked Joe with the back of her hand lightly to his chest. “You know your brother loves you. Be nice.”

Joe rubbed the spot she’d hit, although it didn’t actually hurt. “Hey, this is me being nice. Trust me, Cory wouldn’t expect anything different.”

“Yes, I remember. You two show your affection through kicking the shit out of each other.”

He tipped his head to the side a bit, saying, “That, and apparently by Cory calling my girl to check in with her, and make sure she knows the rest of my family hasn’t forgotten about her in the meantime.”

Liliana stilled beside him. “Yeah, I guess that’s exactly what he was doing.”