Page 54 of Captivated

“I’ve said that two or three times now.”

Glancing to the side, Lucian said nothing for a spell. Joe thought the man might have been considering his words, but it was possible that it was something else entirely. Like maybe Lucian was trying to check his rage.

But why?

What was Joe missing?

He was missing something, clearly.

“No,” Lucian finally said, “I am not going to answer your questions.”

Joe stared hard at the man.

Lucian stared back, unflinchingly.

“This is Marcello family business,” the man continued, “and you were hired to do a job for us, nothing else. Do your job, Joe, or someone else will.”

Joe’s jaw clenched. “All I am asking—”

“Is for something I won’t give you. Why haven’t you hit the marks yet, anyway?” Lucian cocked his head to the side, and his gaze narrowed in on Joe. “I do believe Dante gave you the okay last week to go ahead with the hits.”

Yes.

The day after Liliana’s show.

Joe hadn’t gone forward.

Yet.

“And why haven’t you done your job?” Lucian demanded.

“Because.”

Lucian sneered. “Because you were digging through information, and waited to see what you could find, hmm? Didn’t want to jump ahead of the gun lest it shoot you in the ass.”

Joe stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I said from the jump that these are high profile people, Lucian. I want to know why I’m supposed to kill them.”

“Just do your fucking job, Joe.” Lucian eased out of his defensive posture, but the hard, coldness in his gaze remained. “You’re heading to Chicago in a couple of days for that … business opening, correct?”

“Yes, the bar with my brother.”

“Do make sure you’re ready—or damn close—to finishing what we hired you for by the time you get back. Understood?”

How was he supposed to respond?

No?

“I’ll see what I can do,” Joe settled on saying.

Being back in Chicago was like crawling back in your comfortable bed after being away from it for far, far too long. Joe stepped off the private jet onto his home soil, and instantly felt like he might be able to let his guard down a little bit. It helped to see his father and brother waiting just across the tarmac.

And yet, something was still holding him back from being entirely happy that he was home a day later. Probably, the text messages coming into his phone, and the beautiful woman he’d left back in New York.

But who knew for sure?

You free tonight?

That had been Liliana’s last text.