Page 178 of Captivated

“All right, you know what? You call me when you’ve talked to Lucian.”

“Why?”

“So, then I can tell you that I told you so, son.”

His father hung up the call.

Without a goodbye, too.

Asshole.

Joe shoved his phone back into his pocket, and then wiped his sweaty palms along his pant legs. Jesus Christ, this should not be such a nerve-wracking thing. He wasn’t even the type of man who got nervous about this kind of shit.

Then again, he’d never done this before.

So, what did he know?

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

All right, that was enough of that. Joe sucked in a breath, and refused to sit out here and panic anymore than he already had. At most, this meeting could end one of three ways.

One—very well, and he got what he wanted.

Two—badly, and he was refused.

Three—Lucian could just kill him.

Maybe the last one was a little dramatic, but they had their things. Joe went to the worst-case scenario first, and worked back from there.

That was his thing.

Stepping up to the back exit door of the restaurant, Joe knocked on it and stepped back to wait. Not two seconds later, the door was opened up, and a Marcello enforcer poked his head out.

“Hey, Rossi.”

Apparently, his face was familiar, now.

People even knew his name.

Or … his last name.

“Is—”

“Yeah, boss is waiting for you,” the man said.

Joe blinked.

What?

He hadn’t told Lucian he was coming because this had all been a little last minute. He’d been in New York for a week, but had to get back to Chicago for some work that needed to be done. He’d stayed long enough for Liliana to finish her shows for the week, but now she was done, too.

Done entirely, she said.

Ballet was no longer a need or want for her.

She was flying out to Chicago with him tomorrow. She missed his family, and God knew they missed her if the many texts and calls to him were any indication. They would like his little surprise when she showed up to dinner with him tomorrow evening.

“You coming, or you gonna stay out here looking foolish?” the enforcer asked.